Hello people,
I have recently discovered the world of Nixie tubes. My first clock was based around 6 x IN-12 and 2 x IN-15A tubes, controlled via 8 x K155id binary converters, using an Arduino Mega 2560. Powered by a 12v to +200V DC-DC Boost Converter. All of the above worked fine with acceptable brightness of the tubes. The photo is the DC-DC boost converter I am using. I use Direct drive to power the tubes, having a separate 12V to 5V step down converter to supply the 5V for each K155id converter and the Arduino Mega. I have now moved onto my next clock which is largely based around the first clock with the exception that I am using 6 x IN-18 tubes. Wiring and testing each tube, using 170V as the Strike Voltage and touching each pin with the cathode with a 20K ohm resistor in series, confirmed that each digit lit to an acceptable brightness. With the clock fully wired and powered using the same 12V to +200V DC-DC boost converter, I have set the output voltage to 170V, however some of the tube’s digits do not fully illuminate, especially the 8 and 9, similar to cathode positioning. What I have found is that no matter what I set the DC-DC boost converter to, as output voltage, a multimeter only reads 148V, with an anode voltage of 130V to 133V, based on each anode having a 20K ohm resistor in series. I believe that if I could increase the anode voltage from say 130V to between 140V to 150V this problem of partial illumination will be corrected. I also suspect that the DC-DC Boost converter I am using cannot supply the necessary current in order to support these six tubes.My understanding is that these tubes need typically 6.5mA. I only have a very basic multi-meter and no oscilloscope. I would be most grateful for any help with the above, I am sure that extra information is necessary, so happy to provide it. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/7db8b963-613f-4137-9ccf-fddd2f504dd6%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
