It's also worth mentioning that with a multiplexed design it's easy to dim the tubes for a dark room and obviously extend the life. I have a bedroom arduino-based clock that has 4x NL5780 multiplexed. The brightness auto-dims so that it's nice at night (and at a level that would be invisible during the day) and then is bright during the day.
On Tuesday, July 13, 2021 at 6:28:29 AM UTC+1 owen.cra...@gmail.com wrote: > Makes perfect sense. Thank you for the explanation. Think I'll be going > down the direct drive route for my designs. > > On Tuesday, 13 July 2021 at 14:43:30 UTC+10 gregebert wrote: > >> If you use 1 decoder for 6 tubes, the duty-cycle is 1/6 and it will >> require more current to get the same brightness as a tube with a higher >> duty-cycle. So, if you use 2 decoders, the duty-cycle is 1/3 and the peak >> current will be less vs 1/6 duty cycle. >> >> Personally, I never multiplex tubes because it requires more current per >> tube, and the wearout mechanism for tubes (sputtering), increases >> exponentially with current. In my opinion, IC's are cheap and readily >> available whereas nixies are much more expensive and getting harder to >> find, so it makes the most sense to drive the tube as gently as possible, >> ie direct-drive, to prolong their life. >> >> On Monday, July 12, 2021 at 8:00:07 PM UTC-7 owen.cra...@gmail.com wrote: >> >>> A little but of a noob question, though looking around at different >>> multiplex clock designs, I see that some setups opt for 2 x K155ID1and >>> others only have 1. >>> >>> A classic example with 2 x drivers would be: >>> http://www.arduinix.com/Main/Gallery.htm >>> >>> Then I find others with just 1 x drivers: >>> https://www.instructables.com/simple-user-adjustable-DIY-Nixie-Clock/ >>> And: https://www.nixieclock.biz/StoreClassicRev5.html >>> >>> Why is this the case? I have also seen similar sketch codes to drive >>> both single and double drivers, so I am wondering what the decision process >>> around this is and if it's even necessary to have 2 drivers to begin with? >>> >> -- 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 neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/dc82083a-5c3f-4131-b3a3-8242d25711d5n%40googlegroups.com.
