Thank you for the pictures. It's a fascinating device!
On Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 5:36:09 AM UTC-7 Magnedyne wrote: > I'll probably leave it as is. I find the curiosity/historical aspect to be > more interesting and important than having something which has a use. It's > just like the homemade computerkits I collect, each tells their own little > story. Some are unfinished, who knows for what reason maybe something got > in the way, somebody lost motivation or something else entirely. I wouldn't > even think about finishing these kits just to have a functional computer, > it's more interesting this way. > Yes I'm certain the tubes are not socketed. The baseplate has holes > drilled in it which the leads poke through. The unused leads have been bent > to the side so that the tube stays in place. I'm uncertain if glue has been > used. The wires are soldered to the pins directly. > For now I'll keep it running for some time, like Terry suggested, maybe > the tubes will come back on their own but I certainly doubt it. > Alex schrieb am Mittwoch, 15. November 2023 um 09:48:07 UTC+1: > >> Nice Find. >> >> Looking at those pics it seems clear to my eye that this has cathode >> resistors rather than anode, one for each used cathode. These will then >> likely be in three groups, Telefunken only, Varisign only and common to >> both. This then yields one anode wire to all (red wire?) >> And three cathode wires (three blacks). It does look like they have only >> put tails on used cathodes. >> Circuit is likely a simple astable / flip flop with a pair of big >> transistors for switching the cathodes, maybe with a variable amount of >> capacitance on its base for the fade effect? >> >> I would suggest an apprentice build back then, maybe the mechanics are >> nice but I would say the electronics are fairly hum-drum. >> >> My approach with this would be to remove the resistor strips, add missing >> cathode wires, make up some ruler like PCBs with serial HV latches on and >> replace the main veroboard with a PCB with your favourite micro / embedded >> solution. This can take in / use the original switches and transformer so >> with the back on it would look the same. You can then keep the bits removed >> for archive or if there is enough space, mount new bits on top as a >> mezzanine. Depends on your goals really, but as is it's more of a curio / >> collector asset only really... >> >> It would blow their minds back then to have scrolling dynamically updated >> text, and would make use of all the segments (assuming those have not been >> poisoned to oblivion with deposits). >> >> For your current segment poisoning, you could parallel another fairly >> high R resistor across the existing ones for that tube to up the drive. >> Certainly no multiplexing going on here! >> >> Are you certain they are not socketed? Looks odd with the wires >> disappearing into the material like that. >> >> Best of luck! >> >> - Alex >> On Wednesday, 15 November 2023 at 07:34:47 UTC Magnedyne wrote: >> >>> [image: IMG_0035.jpeg] >>> >>> -- 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 view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/e4bdb0d2-8ffb-4a9f-a24f-8f7598f2f57en%40googlegroups.com.
