Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Apollo Instrument Panel Lighting?
petersanch:
The instrument panels in Apollo had words and lines back lit next to all the buttons. Any one know how they did this in the 1960s?
duak:
Well, one can learn something new every day. It's apparently Electroluminescent (EL) backlit as per https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/tnD7290Lighting.pdf
I wonder if the lettering was legible with the EL panels off, important in Apollo 13 when they were trying to minimize power consumption.
sokoloff:
Many aircraft have EL panels today. The labels are white when unlit and plainly visible/legible in pretty much any kind of lighting where you’d be performing a cockpit task.
jh15:
Fran tried hard to duplicate it, I think with some museum help. Gave up when someone else got it 'close enough'.
I was fascinated since around 6 yrs old with the round greenish wall plug night lights. Lasting long enough till I was taking it apart years later and trying to figure how the plug conductor was bonded to the phosphor.
still watching phosphor today: Panasonic ZT60 plasma tv.
texaspyro:
BTW, if you change the drive frequency of those EL wall plug nightlights, the color changes.
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