> > Where did you get that many GSA10Gs ? > I found most of them on eBay, and bought them as fast as I could! Plus I got a tip from a person who told me that I could find a few from one seller, whom I had to coax for more than two years into selling them to me (first he denied he even had them, but then he mellowed).
I bought some one by one and then two batches of four and eight. I have a total of twelve GSA10Gs of two different types, eight of them looks more like the GCA10G in design and four like the more common "development sample" GSA10G with "wings" between the auxillary anodes, one GCA10G and one Z572S. Unfortunately one "wing" has come loose on one of the GSA10Gs, I've been able to shake it so it lies loose inside tha glass envelope at the top if you keep the valve upside down - so that one will have to sit upside down to work properly. I only have nine original B27B sockets for them but a bunch of B26A sockets so I'll drill a hole and insert one extra pin in the center for the Anode if I need to, I need these sockets for the GR10J & GR10K too. All of them are still intact and working but they work a lot better near the 475-500V range than below 450V, so I guess that these engineering samples might be just that - engineering samples not fit for ordinary sale. I'm also planning on using six GR10Js for the time display and two GR10K for the 1Hz oscillator derived from 100Hz (50Hz from the wall plug) together with two GSA10Gs for that divider (showing the hundreds of seconds) and then a bunch of Z865Ws for the interstage triggering and alarm/snooze/time-setting logic plus possibly a few GC10/2Ps for the snooze function. So in total it will draw a lot of current. The Z865Ws were especially developed for the GSA/GCA10Gs (if i understand it correctly) as they trigger at low voltages around 5-8V and not at 25V like the GTE175Ms used for more ordinary dekatrons. > I'd been collecting dekatrons since 2003, and I don't have a one of > the GSA10 or GCA10. Last haul of odd dekatrons, I got, was a half > dozen GC10/2Ps. That one was lucky on two points. The more important > point is that the supplier turned out to be a real snake > (understatement). On another audio tube forum, an eBay buyer describes > how this same guy swindled him on a $10,000 deal ! I've also had my share of swindlers on eBay, but so far the Buyer protection on PayPal has saved my hide every time. > > I've looked at the Ericsson datasheet on the GCA10 & GSA10. I can tell > you right now, that you can drop that voltage an additional 30V. > Instead of 475V+/-25V, you can use 445+/-20V. Ericsson "Digitrons" > have 200V strike voltages instead of the 170V, of a more common nixie. > Plus they don't show the interstage circuitry. That interstage > circuitry can be powered by 250V or less. The interstage circuitry is usually used at lower voltages like you say, as the trigger tube only need to produce a voltage of approximately 140v for the GSA/GCA10Gs, but the designs I've looked at in various old magazines usually use just a single voltage for it all if possible and then drop it with resistors in the anode circuit of the trigger tubes. I might have to go this way if it is easier to do so. Power supplies are not as fun to design as the rest of the logic parts, but they are necessary, and I had hoped to use just one voltage if possible keeping the design simpler. /Martin -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
