Hi,
Does anyone have any idea about these? I’ve bought from eBay, six of z5730m tubes . Second hand from Russia. Probably dead😂

I’m looking to buy a clock kit for my son. I don’t know if the tube types are any good, all the kits are for IN12, IN14, or IN16 tubes. Not much more info available to my eyes. I might just buy a kit, ( they’re sold without tubes) and work the tube issue out later.
I did see an article today online, about a guy in Czech Republic who started making new Nixie tubes about 2012. So perhaps I can buy new ones .
Thanks, Murray

There's a guy in Sydney who has been developing a nixie tube clock kit. I'll chase that up for a status report.

Not going to help you, but somewhere in my workshop is a Nixie tube Frequency meter I made in the 1960's.
I will try and find it and see if I have any detail about the circuit/tubes for interest.
Fred.

Googling produces many finds for that nixie tube.

Thanks, I’d appreciate that greatly. At the moment all I see are China😬UK and Czech Republic vendors. I would be stoked if I can get it for Xmas.

I think there were articles in Electronics Australia or ETI with Nixie tubes. Russian tubes may work faster? I still have a Sharp ELSI-MATE PC-1201 with a 14 digit fluorescent display http://www.johnwolff.id.au/calculators/Sharp/PC1201/PC1201.htm.

Non volatile memory is handy: Yes it still works but the scriber has been busy where function letters have vanished (still have book).

I followed up. He is not making kits as such, just finished clocks using his supply of nixie tubes.

This ad from Poland says IN-12 Included tubes provided. (NOS of course.)

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/172319700960

My wife bought me a kit from UK made by QTC Nixie. This uses 1N14 Nixies & I think the kit is available without the tubes. It's a good kit, the clocked worked first time & it's running in my lounge at the moment😎

I would love to build one of these kits, all transistor no IC's

https://tube-clock.com/

I ended up buying from a uk eBay seller, kit and separate in-16 valves . Not too expensive, and might even get here by Xmas. I’ll keep the first set for myself, as another seller said I should be able to use them on his kit with a few of the leads moved around/ rerouted.

Hi All,
I located my Nixie tube frequency counter.
I cannot find any details in my work books so will reverse engineer for a circuit.
I cant believe I actually designed it from scratch back in the 1970's, I was not that smart!
I do have my tape artwork for the PCB's in an archive and remember making copys for other users.
Where the circuits, drilling plan and component overlay have gone is a mystery, they must have exisited and sitting in a folder somewhere.

I have a vague memory of copying something from a magazine and possibly this was an ETI or an AEM of the 70's.
I don't think RT&H ever touched a Nixie tube design.

The nixie board has 4 x ITT type GNP-7A tubes driven by 7441 nixie drivers and BCD logic from 7490 dividers.
The input and time base logic has 9 off 7490 chips and a lone 7400.
I must have had a bag of 7490's and used them for every thing!
I will do the reverse design and do a set of digrams and photos.

Does any one have a memory of a nixie clock/frequency counter described by ETI or AEM?

Fred.

I located my Nixie tube frequency counter.

How many digits?

I have a suspicion it was EA in the seventies, or very early eighties.

Electronics Australia:

200kHz Digital Frequency Counter Mar 70 (uses 3 x XN3)

70MHz Digital Frequency Counter May 70 (uses 3 x XN3)

200MHz 4 LED Digital Frequency Counter Dec 73

200MHz 7 Digit Frequency Counter (Meter) Aug 78

500MHz 7-Digit Frequency Counter (Meter) Dec 81

2MHz 4.5 Digit Frequency Counter (Meter) Aug 83

Thanks GTC i'll see if I have those issues in store somewhere.
I guess I have just forgotten totally about those projects...that's old age for you...……………

I made the meter read 99.99 or 099.9 Hz selectable by a switch.
The purpose of the meter was to check 50 or 60 cycle motor generator set frequencies on test, hence the low range only.

I've done a rough survey of the unit to try and understand what I did.
The input signal usually 208 or 240 volt sine wave is isolated by a PF2566 transformer, through a pot and into a back to back Zener to drive a 7400 gate to square it up to TTL level. That signal train then goes straight to the 7490 and 7441 driver board with the nixies.

The mains supply has a PF2235 transformer that supplies a TO3 5v regulator to power feed all the TTL chips.

Also has a HV winding , a diode and filter to give 150 volt? for the Nixie tubes.
Also the AC secondary feeds a resistor and Zener diode to give a 50hz square wave and that feeds straight into a bunch of 7490 to provide a reset pulse to define the count time base. There is a switch to give the 99.99 and 09.99 counts (shorts out 1x 7490).
Thus the accuracy of the meter is defined by the mains frequency count and that was good enough then to give me +/- 1% reading accuracy in a background of +/- 2.5% operation.

Going by the number of cut tracks, bridges and general fudge ups it looks like I either adapted a existing design or made up a thought bubble prototype and wing-ed it from there ! That's possible as I was making and fixing TTL computors like the EA DREAM 6800 Motorola based and similar and was a dab hand with TTL.

I'll continue my reverse engineering and fire the thing up and make it work again.


Fred.