[julianburke]

The neon lamp (NE2 type) was a spark gap that was in the blanking pulse and to thwart any arcs that would occur and not arc back into the set. This gimmick was found mostly in solid state sets. I talked to Jim Rinehart (RCA circuit design engineer at Indianapolis) about this and to even cheapen up a spark gap and not use the bulb was sometimes done on the PC board and kind of looked like a butterfly cut into the board. The neon bulb was a 100 volt bulb and would clamp a 90 volt or higher pulse. That is a good question though. GE who invented compactrons used them extensibly in their sets.