NIXIE TUBES in d'a house!

markn2wae

markn2wae

Mark T N2WAE
As this thread is about test equipment (that can be used for audio repair work) I decided it should work here as DIY.

While getting some parts to fix a friends guitar amplifier, he asked if there is anything else I wanted.

I quickly looked in the stores "as-is" section and found this Systron\Donner Mod. 9015 3 1/2 digit Volt-Ohm meter. for only $10!

It had a plastic piece missing from the right side but was otherwise complete.
(it was later found inside the unit!) :thmbsp:

What prompted me to buy this was the ORANGE front screen, behind it was NIXIE TUBES! :D

My last encounter was many years ago with some type of desktop calculator that I could not fix and was prompted to toss out (I should have saved the tubes!) :sigh:

So, looking up at me from the shelf like some electronic puppy dog, I took it home. :yes:

All the interior parts looked good and the only things wrong with it (besides maybe needing calibration) was the PLUS polarity indicator and the VDC indicators where out (they are 6 Volt bulbs) I replaced them and all seems to work.

Since my current job involves multimeter calibration, I see no problem with this, the adjustment pots inside are marked.

The leftmost digit is a ONE, provided by an extra LONG neon lamp with two electrodes (one of them giving off light).

A red covered neon lamp to the farthest left is an "over-range" indicator that flashes when the input is too high for the selected range.

The second photo shows an 18K 5% resister attached to show a reading.

As an electronics technician, is it too useful as a meter than scrapping it to make a clock. :no:

So their you have it, the nostalgic look at working NIXIE tubes and a useful item for a little cash spent! :banana:

Enjoy!

Mark T. :music:
 

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Cool. I love old instrumentation, cool looking old instruments that are actually usable are even better.
 
First Time I showed up for a Geography Lab.. the room was full of Wang Calculators which all had Nixie type tubes.. the ones with lighting up numbers.
They were all discarded before Semesters end :-)
Recently looked longingly at a Nixie Clock.. Nifty Gizmos.
But also ~200$ by the time tubes get fitted.
 
That's a cool find Mark. I think there's one of these for sale locally, I might have to check it out. I'm old enough to remember (just) when my local electronics store sold Nixie tubes.

Lee.
 
I've been collecting these tubes since before the prices became totally insane. Also designed a generic driver for them a few years ago and used it to build a few clocks.







 
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Once upon a time, I had a GE clock radio that used Numitron tubes for the display. I've been casually looking for one off and on for a while now. My thinking was that if I could score it cheap, I've got a clock driver and a set of display tubes all ready to go. I haven't run across one though. Makes me wish I still had the radio. It was ugly enough to not feel bad about parting out for the guts.
 
Seductive listings indeed.
Sadly unless one gets into IN18 size tubes @~200$ most on offer are the size of cigarettes... Sigh.
 
Tried for calibration but having problems. Need manual.

The meter is at work and I tried to calibrate the ranges but the 1 Volt and 100 Mv ranges seem to have no adjustments, also the other pots for the higher ranges also list them as working for the Ohms ranges too. :scratch2:

Other pots seem to interact with the above, I may need to spend more time with this. :sigh:

Does anyone have a source for the service manual for this item?

Mark T. :music:
 
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