LEDs for Magic eyes... Ok, or no way?

[steerpike2]

More of an opinion poll than a cry for help:

When the magic eye tube is finished, and a new one is difficult to find, or too expensive, what do people think of substituting a green LED bargraph?

I'm not talking about the technical details, I mean the cosmetic aspect.
No changes would be made to the set, but a suitable display PCB would be added where the tube once lived, showing through the existing window.

Does this ruin the 'vintageness' of an old piece?

Would a moving coil meter be a more appropriate substitute?

[Sandy G]

It wouldn't HELP the "vintageness" of the radio-But it might be kinda neat lookin'. Eye tubes are neat, but are also kinda "rinky-dink" in a way-I prefer a meter.

[steerpike2]

On none of the sets with eyes I have, is the eye really useful, but I do like the green glow! Leds don't give the right colour, but maybe with a green plastic filter they will look better. The plan is to make something that looks as close as possible to a tube.

[mr_fixer]

Yasuo Kondo in Japan has a web page on Magic eye tubes, At the bottom of the page he has made a solid state replacement which he includes the schematic for the circuit. He did a fine job on making it look like a eye tube.
http://www005.upp.so-net.ne.jp/y_kondo/MAGICEYE2.HTM

[leadlike]

The first console radio I restored had a magic eye in it-an RCA 8k. To be honest, that's all anybody cares about when I demonstrate a radio as the magic eye is a very unique item.

I really like this solid state idea, but I think the parts for this thing will cost about as much as a real magic eye!

But we are reaching the bottom the magic eye well...when did they stop production on 6u5s? Maybe the 50s? I was replacing mine with 2e5s as they were still under ten bucks for a long time, but I haven't been able to find any of those lately...

[jeffsod]

I love the magic eyes in my radios and agree when I show them to the unintiated they are immediately drawn to the green glow of the eye. I picked up a nice Graetz that has a switch so you can turn off the eye and save the tube which is a nice feature. Still waiting for the set to be overhauled though.

Mr Fixer thanks for posting that link of the modern replacement eye. I think its a fantastic idea. As they become increasingly difficult to locate this may turn out to be the only alternative short of leaving a dead tube in its place.

By the way if anyone has an EM71 I am in the market for one..

[Hemingray]

Is there any sort of difference between the 6E5 and 6U5?

[leadlike]

6e5 was the first magic eye released in '35 or '36. The 6g5/6u5 came out a year or two later and that is what proliferated in magic eye radios until WW2. Both can be used somewhat interchangeably, although the eye will close differently if it is put in as a mismatch. I believe the 6e5 is a bit more sensitive so it will 'overclose' in a 6g5 radio. The 2e5s I've used seem to be just like 6g5s, just with a lower filament voltage. I guess they were made for farm radios?

[Sandy G]

There was a "military" version, the 1629, as well.