IEE Status Indicator Teardown

"Feed Hold" -- yes, it does sound dirty! Well, we think of these switches as "over-engineered", but imagine that back then there were no "cap touch" or "touch-sensitive" displays. Today, little material is being moved back and forth and there is no heat to worry about with LEDs and LCDs (except in their drivers...), and so reliability comes down to the semiconductor material, for better or worse? But if I were controlling a guidance system for a missile I would still want the assurance of a mechanical switch that needs no vulnerable drive current to make it work. Anyway, endlessly interesting to look back at the old stuff that got us to where we are now..

Peter Knazko

Engineering as I remember it in the 70's and 80's- everything had a purpose made part and was built to last.

Mike Hughes

Yet another exciting video. You have really been hitting what I like lately. Thank you, Fran.

Simon Mikkelsen

Nice video,as always made me smarter learned a lot!!!!

William Nimmo

Yet another great demonstration of a classic device made to last! I have the same 3x4 display you have in an airborne recording control panel. In my case, all of the light positions were used. Very good contrast lettering. I also had one of these back in the mid 80s and I had access to a photostat machine and was able to make my own negatives from a laser printed page. It involved chemicals and film, but the negatives were very high contrast and heat tolerant. I replaced the original legend layer with the negative film and placed the outer plastic film back on top. It really worked great and customizing it was easy due to its almost all metal construction. The problem today is that I can't get negatives made like I did in the 80s. Technology pretty much killed off the need for photostat equipment with the necessary darkrooms and chemicals. I can't find a high enough contrast alternative where light won;t bleed through the black lettering or background. Also, finding something that could tolerate the heat from a bulb without shrinking or discoloring is very hard. But what a nice, convenient indicator device! So easy to modify due to its construction. Oh, and I used colored gel film used for stage lighting for color gels. That stuff had no problem with heat. It would be great to have a bunch of these and customize them all with anything you can imagine. It's always a great adventure following you through your videos with the same curiosity and enthusiasm I used to have. Even a little thing like this brings back great memories. You can look at it and think "Hmmmm. would would I like to annunciate?" Few matrix lights are as easy to rework as that IEE product. I can't get enough of your late 60s and 1970s classic devices, made in America, and built to military specs! Keep it up! Even the smallest things are fascinating!

Matt Wietlispach

I love the way you verbalize your enthusiasm. That's a very well machined and made device, Very interesting too. Imagine the heat generated by a big desk or panel populated by those!

Dr Andy Hill

Or Fran HOLD 😉☺

Sean Yem

Something like 'Franlab ACTIVE' :)

These are lovely things. Such amazing engineering. I think you should make your own face plate with thin etched PCB. Would look awesome! Another amazing video. Love it x

Sean Yem

Another great video well done. I love your energy and excitement when you do these tear downs of earlier equipment. IEE look like they made things to last, unlike today where we are in a plastic throwaway society along with idiots, who are trained by idiots, who think they know what they’re doing!

A goozy fit -lol