Guess what doesn't work anymore?

I got out some very old records recorded at speeds other than 78, my Lenco L-78, and a strobe disk I got from High Fidelity Magazine for setting the exact speeds of these old records. I put the record on the turntable, put the special strobe disc on top of it, and switched on the motor.

There were no stationary strobe lines on the disc.

Then a squiggle bulb lit up inside my head. I had recently replaced the aging fluorescent fixtures that were originally in the room (and take the shortly to be banned T-12 bulbs) with new fixtures that take energy-saving bulbs.

Since the new bulbs don't blink on and off with the power line cycles, the stationary strobe lines don't appear on the strobe disc.

Oooooops!

Neither the CFL squiggle bulbs nor the LED bulbs flash at 120 Hz with the power line. The electronic ballasts for the T-8 bulbs don't work either. The only thing I can think of that I can still buy is a flicker-flame neon bulb. But those usually last less than 5 years.

Buy yourself an inexpensive AC line neon tester.
Chop off the probes, and wire on a cord to it.

http://www.morrisproducts.com/images/59020_l.jpg

I have one. But it's too dim to see the marks unless I turn off the room lights.

I found some LED Christmas lights that blink at the power line frequency.

MattTech wrote:Buy yourself an inexpensive AC line neon tester.
Chop off the probes, and wire on a cord to it.

http://www.morrisproducts.com/images/59020_l.jpg

Exactly, I would do the same.

Ordinary 40 watt incandescent appliance bulbs, like the ones in most refrigerators and ovens, should continue to be available for a long time.