why didnt you embed his youtube clip?

Posted at 7:20 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by rasz

Woah… very cool.

Posted at 7:56 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by adamziegler

great read, thanks.

Posted at 8:12 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by gio

i have also seen these used in ring modulation effects… google it.. just fyi…

Posted at 8:51 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by kljsf

“[Friedrichs] points out that his 2008 ford has a VFD for the multimedia display.”
And people wonder why the US autoindustry is in pain.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it weighs 3 ton and has a huge umpteen liter gas-gobbling engine too.

Posted at 9:53 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by JB

the rest of HPFriedrichs’ website is really interesting too! lots of homemade tube experiments.

Posted at 10:00 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by noah vawter

Wow, now thats neat. Bravo!

Posted at 10:04 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by Clay

From his site, he’s got a good YouTube demonstration video you could use for your usual “blah blah blah, after the jump/break/etc”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiszksJs9C8

Posted at 10:15 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by macegr

That’s surprising and surprisingly cool!
Well done!

Posted at 10:39 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by strider_mt2k

Kainka already did this years ago: http://www.b-kainka.de/bastel72.htm (german)

Posted at 11:07 am on Dec 1st, 2008 by pepe

Here is the ring modulator link:
http://www.electronicpeasant.com/projects/ringmod/trmod.html
ring modulator made from VFD.

Posted at 12:19 pm on Dec 1st, 2008 by dnny

@jb: What’s wrong with a modern car using a VFD? They’re easier to read than LCDs, and provide a more visually pleasing and more washout-resistant display than LEDs. My ‘94 Honda had VFDs for the clock and radio display.

Posted at 12:49 pm on Dec 1st, 2008 by Orv

orv: notice you said “my _’94_ honda”

case in point :)

Posted at 2:25 pm on Dec 1st, 2008 by andrew

VFDs are still relevant devices today. They’re cheap to make and reasonably efficient. You wouldn’t be able to manufacture an LED or lcd display with the same variety of designs and colors as a VFD without increasing the cost and complexity by a significant amount.

High brightness and readability are key factors in automotive applications. They could have used some other technology but that would have left them in a worse position than they are now.

Plus when the zombie apocalypse comes, I certainly won’t be complaining about easy to come by amplifier tubes.

Posted at 11:13 am on Dec 2nd, 2008 by AnarKIT