User manual – Glass Clock Design #3
rev 3.2
!
Cold War Creations, 2014
4
2 Introduction to Nixie Tubes
Nixie tubes (gas indicator tubes) were invented during the Cold War in
the early 50's by a small vacuum tube manufacturer called Haydu
Brothers Laboratories. These tubes were sold by the Burroughs
Corporation, who came up with the trade name “Nixie”. This name refers
to "NIX I", an abbreviation that stood for, "Numeric Indicator
eXperimental No. 1”, which was a label for one of the drawings for the
tube. This was shortened to “NIXIE” and the name stuck.
Early computers and test instruments didn't have any means to display
digits easily until the Nixie tube appeared. Nixies found their way into
numerical computer displays, volt/ohm meters, frequency counters,
radiation counters and even calculators. By the mid 1970's, they were
obsolete (replaced by LED's and LCD displays) and were discontinued.
A Nixie tube display, which should really be called a gas indicator tube,
works like a neon bulb. A neon bulb works by a high voltage ionizing
neon gas, causing the gas to glow with an orange color. The Nixie tube
takes this a step further, by shaping the cathodes like a numeral (0 – 9).
When the cathode is energized, the numeral glows orange. There are
individual cathodes for each digit, 0 – 9. Some tubes have decimal points,
and others may contain special characters, such as “F” or “Hz”.
Содержание Glass Nixie Tube Clock #3 IN-14
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