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From: paul@dual.UUCP (Baker)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,talk.bizarre
Subject: Re: "Magic Eye" tubes
Message-ID: <10018@dual.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 15-Jul-87 11:06:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: dual.10018
Posted: Wed Jul 15 11:06:58 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Jul-87 06:22:00 EDT
References: <1495@frog.UUCP> <35ffa63b.b8ab@apollo.uucp> <6@spar.SPAR.SLB.COM> <1841@kitty.UUCP>
Organization: Dual Systems, Berkeley, CA
Lines: 24
Xref: mnetor sci.electronics:975 talk.bizarre:2507

< The "Decatron" tube, which consisted of a round tube with ten
< anodes, equally spaced about a circle.  It was nothing more than
< a multiple neon lamp, since it displayed no digits, but each anode
< was labeled on the panel.  Example: a Baird-Atomic nuclear scaler
< that I once used.

Actually the Decatron was quite ingenious.  It not only indicated, but
also did the counting.  A major plus in pre-IC days.  They were not
particularly fast, I seem to recall a figure of a few hundred KHz.
They consumed little power, just a few mA at hundreds of volts.

There was a whole range of rather odd neon type devices available at one
time, that could be used for counting and other logic.  These typically
had a trigger electrode that "fired" the device and started conduction
between the main electrodes.  Reducing the current through the main path
would turn the device off again.  There must be some people on the net
who actually designed with these things.

Paul Wilcox-Baker
Tel 415 549 3854
Telex ITT 470844
Dual Systems Corp
2530 San Pablo Ave
Berkeley CA 94702