Hey everyone,
Just signed up to the forum but I've been an electronics tinkerer for many years. I started collecting early LED's (1960's-80's) about a year ago and it's quite addictive. I have a few good examples of the very first LED's (visible light) that were commercially produced; however, there's more than one particular model that's been elusive so far.
I was wondering if anyone here happens to have any really old LED's they'd be willing to part with for my collection. I'm planning on making a small display showing the lineage of LED's over the years as well as getting some good photo's of the ones I have and posting them online with any info I've found out about them. I still need to get a good macro lens for my camera - but that's in the works.
What I'm looking for: Typically these older LED's have gold leads and are sometimes packaged in gold cases that look like hacked transistors. The light output is minuscule and typically red, green, or a dirty greenish "yellow". Many companies manufactured them including; Monsanto, General Electric*, Fairchild, Texas Instruments, etc. *I'm having a particularly hard time finding GE LED's from this era that AREN'T infrared (not looking for IR.) The GE visible LED's could be packaged in a silver transistor case instead of gold-plated.
To be fair I'm interested in any of the older stuff or any unusual/odd-ball designs that could be from the early days. They used to call them Solid State Lamps, indicators, or optoelectronics - so it's possible they'll be stamped or in packaging that doesn't mention "LED" on it.
If anyone has anything please let me know. I'll post some of the ones I have with their historys a little after the holidays either way. I love sharing the stories behind them and I suspect everyone here may enjoy learning about them!
Just signed up to the forum but I've been an electronics tinkerer for many years. I started collecting early LED's (1960's-80's) about a year ago and it's quite addictive. I have a few good examples of the very first LED's (visible light) that were commercially produced; however, there's more than one particular model that's been elusive so far.
I was wondering if anyone here happens to have any really old LED's they'd be willing to part with for my collection. I'm planning on making a small display showing the lineage of LED's over the years as well as getting some good photo's of the ones I have and posting them online with any info I've found out about them. I still need to get a good macro lens for my camera - but that's in the works.
What I'm looking for: Typically these older LED's have gold leads and are sometimes packaged in gold cases that look like hacked transistors. The light output is minuscule and typically red, green, or a dirty greenish "yellow". Many companies manufactured them including; Monsanto, General Electric*, Fairchild, Texas Instruments, etc. *I'm having a particularly hard time finding GE LED's from this era that AREN'T infrared (not looking for IR.) The GE visible LED's could be packaged in a silver transistor case instead of gold-plated.
To be fair I'm interested in any of the older stuff or any unusual/odd-ball designs that could be from the early days. They used to call them Solid State Lamps, indicators, or optoelectronics - so it's possible they'll be stamped or in packaging that doesn't mention "LED" on it.
If anyone has anything please let me know. I'll post some of the ones I have with their historys a little after the holidays either way. I love sharing the stories behind them and I suspect everyone here may enjoy learning about them!
