At 9:00 PM +0000 1/9/10, <[email protected]> wrote:
I wondered about replacing nixie tubes and associated drivers with 7
segment LEDs in one of my (already hacked) units, to make it more
reliable. I would use the BCD to drive the display, thus requiring a
new interface board to be designed. I wonder if anyone else has
considered such a radical remedy to the failing photocell problem?
In case anyone is wondering 'WHY BOTHER?', my defence is that I too
have an extensive collection of the plug ins, extending the
usefulness of the basic instrument way beyond my budget for more
modern equivalent instruments.
Hope this question is not considered too far off topic for this forum.
Peter Worrall
Peter,
The nixie tube is a wonderful thing. Surely you can't just find a
couple extra counters on ebay and scavenge them for parts? That's
what I did.
If you must redesign it, be aware that HP used 1950s pulsed counter
methods in that counter. It's utterly different from anything you
will find in a part with more than four legs. The circuitry has a lot
more in common with their vacuum tube counters.
The most expedient method to replace the CdS photocell decoder would
be to use a PC board with a bunch of diodes as a logic decoder. Just
make the sense of the diode gates match that of the photocells, and
copy the original 'AND gate' logic of the hybrid.
The storage method is non-obvious. It might require some extra chips
if you do it the new-fangled way.
Nixies are still viable display elements, and they can be driven
nicely with the TD62084 or the similar TI SN75468.
--
--David Forbes, Tucson, AZ
http://www.cathodecorner.com/
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