Since display CRTs have a comparatively short life, many users in the military and civil aviation sector find themselves faced with the need either to cannibalize existing equipment, or to replace equipment which apart from their CRT, is still in working order.

BSL Technical Procurement Division created a computer-based cross-reference system which covers both active and passive components. It is particularly useful to BSL customers for identification of their CRT requirements (primarily radar CRTs) because of the proliferation of part numbers for tubes with identical specification.

Users often look desperately for a CRT with certain manufacturer's part number or code without realizing that a perfectly matching equivalent is available under another code. This amazing plethora of part numbers is the result of an extraordinary number of acquisitions and mergers in the CRT industry.

The same applies to American tubes and displays which are available from BSL.

You will find from a few examples of the BSL Equivalents Table (below) how many equivalents are available even from a single organization such as Brimar, which has as a result of mergers and acquisitions during the last 3 decades absorbed the development and production of its predecessors Thorn-EMI, Ferranti, Rank Electronic Tubes, Rank-Brimar and now Brimar Ltd - the result of a management buy-out.

After the liquidation of MO Valve in 1988 and of Display Division of EEV in 1996, Brimar is now the undisputed leader in the UK and Europe in CRT and display equipment.

The combination of Brimar's technical superiority and BSL's professional expertise in technical marketing provide a sound basis for an efficient support service.