General Electric F96T12/HO 110W HO and F96T12/VHO 215W VHO tubes

after many years of searching I finally manage to track down some American 8ft tubes for my collection :) (those who have known me for a long time have known that i have been looking for an F96T12/HO tube especially, for almost 9 years now! and I finally managed to track one down and at a sensible price!)

these where bought from a UK supplier and thankfully arrived intact (although I have not yet tested them I see no physical damage)

I was expecting Sylvania tubes as they where the main supplier of US spec tubes in England, so was pleasantly surprised by these GE tubes

the /HO tube is especially interesting as it has 1980s style etch but is clearly from the 2000s going by the CE mark! (and also has the new style date code the VHO tubes have) although I cant quite recall when the CE mark was introduced on tubes... (this style etch was last used in 1992 IIRC)

I hope to light them soon, but they have proper R17D end caps so hooking them up might be a bit tricky without proper lamp holders!

it would be interesting to know if anyone can date them for me :)

they all have number markings further down the tube

the top VHO tube has 25 01 on it

the bottom VHO tube has 26 02 on it

and the HO tube has 45 21 on it