Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!husc6!cmcl2!beta!hc!ames!sdcsvax!brian From: brian@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Brian Kantor) Newsgroups: sci.electronics,talk.bizarre Subject: Re: "Magic Eye" tubes - the Nixie Clock Message-ID: <3452@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU> Date: Tue, 14-Jul-87 17:35:44 EDT Article-I.D.: sdcsvax.3452 Posted: Tue Jul 14 17:35:44 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 16-Jul-87 07:34:31 EDT References: <1495@frog.UUCP> <35ffa63b.b8ab@apollo.uucp> Reply-To: brian@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Brian Kantor) Organization: UCSD wombat breeding society Lines: 22 Xref: mnetor sci.electronics:970 talk.bizarre:2494 In Electronics World Magazine in the middle 60's there was a circuit for a quartz crystal clock with Nixie display. As I recall, you could build it either with 12AU7 twin triodes, or 6SN7s, depending on whether you had more octal or 9-pin tube sockets sitting in your junk box. I got it about half built and couldn't afford the timebase crystal. Sigh. There were a number of ICs on the market in the early 70s that were Nixie tube drivers - you could use ICs to divide down the timebase and count the minutes, but LED displays were too expensive, so you'd go to Nixies for output. 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. Ah, the old days of firebottle technology. (Vacuum-packed depletion mode electron-emission devices with built-in indicator lamp and environmental heater.) - Brian I am NOT an old fart.