On 8 Jun 2011, at 18:28, Robert Sexton wrote:
I'm wondering what the best option is for getting from the PCB to the tube... What's worked for other people?
1] Use wire ended nixie tubes and solder on regardless. No problem, job done. Put the Nixies on tubular pedestals to preserve some lead length and shove an LED underneath, because you can.
2] Use female receptacles from a cracked open D socket, or a D socket that uses separate socket inserts - just buy the inserts if you can, they tend to come joined onto a strip of metal. Not wholly satisfactory, the metal can relax with time, making less intimate contact than was originally the case.
3] Use gold plated pins of a suitable size, often called 'Mouser' pins around these parts, but actually made by Harwin or other company.
5] Look at some of the sellers on ebay who sell sets of pins - Kosbo sells some gold pins that are different to the Mouser/Harwin jobbies and I personally like 'em.
4] Some have found that tightly wrapping a spiral of wire around the pin, thus forming a kind of spring, has allowed them to solder the other end to the board. I have not personally gone down this route, so I cannot vouch for it.
5] Some tubes, such as some Philips tubes, are on a .1" pitch - standard socket strips can be cut up in a 2-4-4-2 configuration and the tube pins fit just fine and will even fit 'Veroboard' or similar perforated PCB material.
I have had some success with using 'Polymorph' to replicate sockets. I use a drill press to drill the socket pattern, such that the socket pins will be a loose-ish but not too sloppy fit (remember the bit about strain and stress on the tubes). I then put pins into the drilled holes - the Chinese are selling 20 drill bits for silly cheap prices so I use those, smooth end first. I then put something with a suitable sized hole around the assembly, such as an adhesive tape roll, and squidge 'Polymorph' into the hole and around the pins. Once set, in a minute or so, pull the pins out and insert your connector pins instead. Assuming you left enough room and didn't make your socket too deep, you can solder flying leads onto the back on the pins and wire it up. I am currently trying out some socket pins which will solder directly onto my PCB after the 'Polymorph' treatment.
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