Thank you so much - that is amazingly helpful - the mist has cleared - so in some small way it's a bit like driving a decatron! I have some code which I am trying to follow but - not knowing how the thing actually worked - it was not totally clear to me - now I understand a little more - I'm more confident of achieving something - the display I want to use has 5 phases and the code I am looking at suggests that is possible. Thank you very much indeed. - Richard
On Monday, 16 June 2025 at 06:15:35 UTC+1 Tristan wrote: > These appear to based on the same glow transfer principle as the Burroughs > self-scan displays (almost like one fell out of the back of an SR71 that > happened to be passing over the USSR). So information of driving those > should be relevant the "auxiliary" anode/cathode is called "keep-alive". > The number of phases can vary but the underlying method should remain the > same where the "cathode groups" are sequentially pulled to ground to > transfer the glow along the display. > > https://lampes-et-tubes.info/cd/Bar_Graph_Display_for_Instruments.pdf > > The key part is that only one segment is lit at a time and > persistence-of-vision makes is appear as a solid bar. Conceptually in terms > of program flow, in the Burroughs example you update the display 70 times > per second. That means you for a 100 segment display you reset the display > and advance the scanning cathode each ~143uS ((1/70)/100) once you've > advanced the scan to the number of bar segments that are intended to be lit > you turn off the anode until the next 14.3mS frame time. At the end of the > frame you reset the display (turn on the main anode and initiate the glow > with the reset cathode) and start scanning again. > > Regards, Tristan > > > On Monday, June 16, 2025 at 1:00:59 PM UTC+10 Richard Scales wrote: > >> Hello, >> >> I am looking at some 'panaplex' style bar graph displays with the >> objective of using them as a 'seconds' indicator. >> >> [image: Bar1.jpg] >> Is there anyone in the group that give me a brief explanation as to >> exactly how these bargraph displays 'work'? >> >> [image: bar2.jpg] >> >> I have looked at a post with some details here: >> https://stromrichter.org/showthread.php?tid=3993&page=8 >> >> There is a schematic and some code. >> >> It looks like there are 5 'scanning cathodes' , a reset cathode, an >> auxiliary cathode, Anode and Auxiliary Anode connections. >> >> I have stared at the code for some time and am gaining an understanding >> of the required program flow but am seeking a more basic understanding of >> how the tubes work, how the 5 'scanning cathodes' need to be driven etc. >> >> All pointers gleefully received - thank you. >> >> Kind regards >> >> Richard >> >> -- 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, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/e0f838dc-a4b7-4b15-9ff5-e504b051b2d5n%40googlegroups.com.
