Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rochester!pt!cadre!pitt!hoffman From: hoffman@pitt.UUCP (Bob Hoffman) Newsgroups: sci.electronics,talk.bizarre Subject: Re: "Magic Eye" tubes - the Nixie Clock Message-ID: <5856@pitt.UUCP> Date: Wed, 15-Jul-87 10:45:47 EDT Article-I.D.: pitt.5856 Posted: Wed Jul 15 10:45:47 1987 Date-Received: Fri, 17-Jul-87 05:55:47 EDT References: <1495@frog.UUCP> <35ffa63b.b8ab@apollo.uucp> Reply-To: hoffman@pitt.UUCP (Bob Hoffman) Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science Lines: 26 Xref: mnetor sci.electronics:974 talk.bizarre:2505 In article <3452@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU> brian@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Brian Kantor) writes: > Nowadays, if I had to use Nixies, I'd use some cheap >horizontal output transistors and a BCD-to-10-line decoder. I seem to >remember that you had to switch about 5 ma at 250v or so. That's about right. It depends on the size of the Nixie tube being used. I built a clock some years ago that used some old B7971 Nixies that are 2-1/2 inch high 15-segment alphanumeric displays. They take a little more current than the little ones. I have them wired up like 7-segment displays and run them off an MM5314 clock chip with discrete transistor drivers. >Ah, the old days of firebottle technology. (Vacuum-packed depletion >mode electron-emission devices with built-in indicator lamp and >environmental heater.) > - Brian That's pretty good -- I like to think of them as Hot-Cathode FETs. >I am NOT an old fart. Me neither! :-) -- Bob Hoffman, N3CVL {allegra, bellcore, cadre, idis, psuvax1}!pitt!hoffman Pitt Computer Science hoffman%pitt@relay.cs.net