Burroughs 4 INDICATOR TUBESNUMERICAL READOUT TUBES ‘The NIKIE tube and the Ultra Long Lite NIKIE tube are k2stilled colé-cathode, tendigit ("through "S") numerics! Indicator tubes. with’ a common ancde. They are a flectroric indine teadout devices and aro iGea! tor con verting electromechanical or electronic signals dinecty to Feadabe characters. ‘hese simple tubes contain stacked elements in the form of metalic numerals. Application of 3. negstive voltage to the solectes character with respect to a common anode veaults fn ite becoming the cathode of a simple sas discharge diode Only the selected information is visible i a common viewing ‘area because the visual glow discharge <5 considerably longer than its metalic source “Those devices ae unusually efficient eloctronictovisual converters since all ef theit electrical energy is comertec into anon plow of relatively natrow optical band with. The eye if a natural titer and distinguishes this glow in nian Solent light. All NDUE tube types exhibit the following. characteristics: 1) Allelectonic with minimum of power required. (2 Higapees rate of change, (3) Simplicity, (8) Wide temper. ature operating range, (5) Uniform characteristics fror: tube to tube and number to number, (6) Human enginested num ‘tal desi, (7) Low cost, (8) Small volume for sumer size, (@) Light weight, (10) Rugged construction, (£1) Goed tease ity for number size, (121 And now longest life ‘The Ultra Long Life NIXIE tube has the added advantage of : rently increased life for those applications requiring com tinuous display of one of the ten charactors for extended periods of time. Under these stringent conditions a minimum ‘of 20,000 hours life on ene numeral can be expected. Where the display is changed sequentially, even as infrequently 35 ‘every 100 nours, life in excess of 100,000 hours can be expected. Circular polarized filtars may be used in conjunetion with 'NIKIE tubes. where maximum operator efficiency is a rtieal factor. This type of filter eliminates reflected light ‘and mproves contrast and readabilty [At tho present time there are four distinet sizes of WIXIE ‘bes: Miniature, Stancard, Super. and Jumbo. Each is avail able in bath regular and Litea Long Lite types. ...) | | | | | | ULTRA LONG LIFE 2 NIXIE TUBE TYPESmuniaTURE STANDARD aumao | 1umB0 Pelee | Been aan men oa Tema | soe ewe MECHANICAL 1s enue nett | 4375" max (et ma | 1.200° ma. a7so-ron. | S858! Srmah | ABER rte fg eh DATA ‘Seated 0.925" max. 1.125" max. 3.00" nom. 4.50" nom. e Feight ed 16s mae 1080" max. | 1.380°max, | 2125° nom. | 2.000" nom Bieter te seer seerins | seores | sures | seores ele 5 ins | seer ‘ fect | 0308" nm 10" wm. | 0808-mon. | 2250° nom. | 2000" um, Soot | Kays wscrogor | wsKiosor | sKu17 say ay ween | Nese | RS ate hee te wee | o2on ee Ob os 4008 toe Noung | See note Scenste2 | Seentte2 | Sennote2 | Seenete2 toon ated iw cio ion ston Borage | Bree — | Bnwae | Bistros ENVIRONMENTAL Shock 55's 550% DATA | vate 109s woes Prats | Pretouee Gps 80 Co. 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Various methods of operating these indicator tubes "uch as from mechanical switches transistors, and Beam Swit ing Tubes ace described. The method of selecting the cireuit parameters such as supply voltage, series resistance, pro-bias Yoitage and switching voltage are discussed, Other genera {design information is al given, ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Nixie Indicator Tubes are current operated devices. They require @ minimum cathode current density to assure complete glow and a maximum cathode furtent limit to provide maximum tte, Sufficient B+ voltage fand appropriate series resistance arc. the means for assuring ianization and controlling the cathode within the Specified tits Figure 1 is the basic Nile Tube test citcuit. This cicuit was used fo obtain the characteristic curves forthe family of Nixie Tubes shown th Figure 2 and Figures 7 through 12. The same circuit with fited @+ ond tned series resistor is used 08.8 production test for all tubes. The &+ and fixed resistor valves Se well asthe cathode current limits forthe various Nixie tubes {te shown in tabulated form under the Test Conditions section of the Electrical Data portion of this brochure. Figure 2 sions the limits of the tube voltage versus cathode ‘current Ev hl eharacteristice curves for the 6844 A Nise. The following interpretation and discussion of the 6844-A. charac teristic curves applies to the curves of the ather Nixie Tube types shown in Figure 7 through 12. As shown in Figure 2, 2170 volt, 15 K ohm lone line intersects the characteristic curves at points Evand F corresponding to the cathode current limits of L5 Ma. land 30 Ma, Other recommended laad lines are also shown. The ‘minimum cathode current necessary for full glow of any cathode js slightly less than 1.5 Ma. for the pe 6844 Increasing the cathode Curent results in greater intensity but shorter tube lite Fi order to obtain sufficient Brilianey and maximum tube life, the 684A cathode current should not exceed the limits of 1.5 Ma, to 3.0 Ma. The optimum design would be a constant current circuit providing a cathode current of 20 Mo, for this tube type. SUPPLY, IONIZATION and SUSTAINING VOLTAGES: [As menildned above, the Nixie is basically 2 current operated device However, the voltage necessary to provide the required tathode current is also very important for satisfactory operation Of the Nixie tube, At shown in tho Electical Data Section of thie brochure, the eecommended min'mum supply voltage is the Sime a5 the maximum fonization voltage. This is to assure ion {zation and proper operation of the particular Nixie Tube type For example, the maximum ionization voltage and. minimum supply voltage for the type 8B42-A is 170 valts. Although many G844-A Nice Tubes will ionize below point & (Figure 2), the ionization voltage range should be considered to extend up to point A, (170 volts). Therefore, A. represents the recommended Iminimum supply voltage. In adcition, if a B, voltage less than the minimum recommenced supply voltage of 170 volts is used, 2 lead resistor smaiier than 15 K ohms would be necessary to {establish the average cathode current of 20 Ma. for the 6844, ‘The resulting loadline would intersect the limiting characteristic curves above and below the recammended cathode curent Timits. Again, this infers that 2 supply voltage of less than the By used in the production tests. Is not good engineering practice and isnot recommended In figure 2, points € and F projected onto the ordinate establish points B and 0. The distances OB and OD, therefore, represent {he limite af sustaining of tube voltage drops as the operating point moves along the 15 K ohm loadline flom point Eto point F PRE-BIAS: Vottage swings loner in amplitude than the recom ‘pended minimum supply voltage can be used to operate Nite tuber by prebiasing the “off” cathodes as seen in Figure 3 Pre-bias voltage is defined here as the potential difference be tween the “on” cathode and the “oll” cathodes. The cune in Figure 4 indicates how the current of the “of” cathodes varies as the pre bias voltage varies, The cifcuit in Figure 3 can be tied to observe the effects of pre-bias. AS shown, ifthe “off Cathodes’ voltage fs raised above the anode voltage (B minus Grop across Ry), they will lake over as the anode and accept flettron curent, The anode anc series anode resistor would then fase contol of limiting the “on” cathode's current, Figure 4 also shows that as the “off” cathodes’ voltage is lowered below the ‘anode voltage, they will accept ion current. If this fon curent is Excessive, all of the “off” cathodes will become visible as & background haze. From this eiscussion it can be seen the upper Timit of the pre-bas voltage i fess than the lowest anode voltagef! yb 2G r = - a vase ego Coase) if of the “high curent” Nixie tube (point D, Figure 1). The lower Timit of the pre-bias voltage is determined by the objection to the eye of the Dackground haze. It should be noted that a red filter eg wratten A” minimizes the background glow in the lttra Long Life Series anc as 0 resut a lower pre-bias voltage than shown inthe following chart (or the Ultra Long Life Series) can be used. As a rule of thumb, the lower limit of pre-bias \oltage is ove-naf of the sustaining or operating voltages (volt: lage between “on” eathode and anoce). The table below illus tates typical pre-bias voltage limits: ‘Tube Ty PreBias Voltage Limits ve (referenced to "on cathode) 7009 ovo 75V 4021 sovte 75V 134032 75Vt0120V 684a-a 75Vto 120V 85031 75vt0120V 7133 75 Vt 120 6033 75Vt0120V The lower the prebies voltage, the tower is the voltage swing required from the driving soures. For example, the diving source ‘would have to provide an eighty voll signal to lower the newly Selected cathode fom the pre-bias voltage of eighty volts to {round or to the potential of the “on” cathode SERIES RESISTOR: For most 6844-A applications, the re- Sults obtained by using a 170 vot supply voltage in conjunction Unit the 15 K ohm load resistor are satisfactory. In many app Cations it is preferred to keep the resulting range of eathose currents and glow intensities to @ minimum. One way of ac- ‘complishing this isto select @ higher supply voltage and use an appropriate higher value of foad resistance. The higher the B4- ‘ane series resister, the more nearly the citcuit approaches @ ‘constant current one and, a= a result, beter Nixie tube opera tion is obtained The method of selecting the seties load resistance, knowing the available supaly voltage, is as follows: {G) Select the desired center value of cathode current, eg. 20 Ma, forthe type 6844-8. (2) Erect a line normal tothe abscissa at this point. This normal Tine wil intersect line drawn midway between and parallel to ‘the limi.ing characteristic curves at point . (3) Connect this point G with the selected supply voltage on the ordinate, eg. 250 volts point A. The inverse slope of this Tine wil represent the necessary load impedance which in this case is 56 K ohms. In other mords the voltage drop across the {eties resistor must be such that the sustaining or tube voltage {s the same forall values of supply voltage. For the 6844.8 type, the series Rin K ohms for any given supply voltage is + ‘minus 140 volts (average sustaining voltage) dnided by 20 Ma (average cathode current. itis evident thatthe range of cathode Current diminishes as the slope ofthe leadline Becomes stoeper Therefore, a higher supply voltage is always preferred; eg. point A 38 compared to A. BEAM SWITCHING TUBE DRIVE: The ideat driver for Nisie Tubes is @ constant current source, eg, the Beam Switeh- ing Tube. In addition to Figure 5, additional specific circuits Using Beam Switching and Nixie tubes car be found ia Bulle. tin 826 and Supplement 1, describing the Burroughs line of decade counters. Beam Switching Tubes and Nixie Tubes have been designed as companion unite for those appliestione requiring Roth counting compatable so that optimum performance of the Nixie Tube readout can be assured. In addition, the Beam Switching Tube ‘can operate muttiple Nixie tube displays, even remotely located Several hundred feet any. In many applications, a Beam Switching Tube can effectively raplace eighteen transistors (ten high voltage ones) and forty ‘odes. New miniature Beam Switching Tubes, type BO-203 and Shielded type BD.316, are now available. These new miniature Beam Switching Tubes have been designed to (2) allow smaller packaging, (2) be compatable with transistor drive eieuits, and (5) provide Nisie Tube resdout TRANSISTOR DRIVE: The pre-ias limits of the Nixie tube limposes voltage requtements on transistors used to drive them. ‘The predbias voltage is the back voltage requirement imposed fon the transistor. This implies that transistors with 75 to 100 volt ratings are required. Tao. such twensistors are the RCA ‘2N39B and GT 1200. The 2N398 is a PNP Xistor and requires fine transistors to be conducting. The “cutoff” 2N398 would bbe associated with the “on” Nixie tube cathode. The GT 1200 is 3 NPN Xistor ané the one associated with the “on” cathode ‘would be conducting. There ate many other transistors capable Of diving the Nixie tubes. The Nisie tube types more compatible with transistors are the 7009 and B4021 (8D-244). Both of these tubes cam be prebiased to lover voltage and hence require a lower drive signal. The difference in the tubes 3s noted in Figure 7 are the tighter production limits and lower B+ voltage requirements for the B4021 IONIZATION TIME: tonization time of the Nixie tubes is an Inverse function ofthe number of available fee fons in te tube ‘and the applied voltage. It may be anywhere from 10 mite ‘Seconds to 100 microseconds of more. The number of free ions ‘can be increased either by subjecting the tube to radiation of by fonizing an unused pin or cathode through a high resistance, 0g, 20 Megehms. FILTERS: For many applications the use of alight fitter may ‘enhance the sppearance and readability of the Nixie Tubes Circular polarized filters (Type HNCP manufactured by Polaroid Corp. Cambridge, Mass) eliminate reflected light and improve ccbntrast. In addition two iayers of the material can be_o: fented to control the light intensity over a wide range. Polsroid Corp. offers a Type HACP Amber filter which makes bath regular and Ultra Long Life Nixie Tubes appear identical. The same fffect is obtained with red or red tinted filters; eg. wratten A DIMMING: Many applications requite lower light output from the Nixie Tube, Methods of employing filters to contra! Intensity are mentioned in the Filters Section of this brochure. ‘The light output of Nisie Tube is 9 function of the average cathode current. Since the Nave is @ current operated device ‘nd, in addition, a minimum eathode currant density is required { assure full numerical glow, it is not recommended to reduce the cathode current Delow the lower test point (see le minimum Test Condition portion, Electrica! Data Section) since partial ‘low may result. This implies that increasing the series resistor fs 2 means of reducing cathede current anc. hence cutput i tensity is not recommended. One method of electrically contol Ting the eutput intensity isto vary the duty cycle of the eathode current by employing a pulsed operation. This pulsed operation of the peak cathode current has been limited tothe average DC Current. In this way the light cutput has been recuced without 2 sacrifice of tube life. In this type of operation, the human eye functions ae a ight integrator sensing only the average Bright-F panes Oe. ope Tint gure &Nice Tube oimming Circuit ‘The circuit, as shown in Figure 6, consists of @ free-running rmultivibrator, one output of which is directly coupled to 2 cathode folloner. The multivibrator produces postive pulses of 200 voits amplitude and 100 microseconds duration at variable ‘repetition rates. The high output impedance of the multivibrator is transformed by the cathode follower to 2 low impedance source ¢riving the Nixie Tube or Tubes. The cathode follower is afso made a functional part of the mult vibrator charging the large 2700 4F capacitor by ite output, Plate one of the mutivibrater is thereby allowed Quickly t0 recover t0 its postive buss being loaded only ty the high in dance input of the cathode follower. ‘The 1.0 megohm potentiometer is part of the time constant that determines the repetition rate of positive pulses appearing. at the output and is therefore used as a brightness contol. Poten tiometers having a logarithmic or similar taper will allow the brightness of the Nikie Tube to be a neeriy linear function of the: control shafts displacement, The cathode follower swings between approximately 50 volts land 250 volts above ground in accordance with the output of ‘the multivibrator and must be capable of handling the total current required for the number of Nixie Tubes used. The type T2AU tube can handle several Nive Tubes and is, therefore, sufficient for most applications of this eiteut. The average ‘cathode current for various types of Nixie Tubes is, tabulated Junder the absolute Ratings of the Electrical Data Section of this brochure and can be used to calculate the total current rain through the cathode follower. #3 yet pee 5s (3) ® Ey cnr coment ton) Every Ninie Tube should have a separate current limiting resistor whose value Is shown below TUBE TYPE VALUE OF R 39K a6Kke 100K ako 3KO aKa Aftor the circuit has been turned off for a longer period of time (24 hours or more) and energized again, it is advisable to in crease the brightness to. maximum for a few seconds before ‘operation at fow briliancy Is attempted. This is necessary be ‘cause of the increase in frization time of the Nisie Tubes when e‘energized for a period of time. A Yew seconds of operation, however, is sufficient to replenish the necessary supply of free fons in the tube and reduce the ionization time For optimum results, the impedance in the cathode citeuit of the Nixie Tubes should be low. The rotary selector switch used in Figure 1 is @ good example. It's possible, however, to adopt this technique to those circuits wnere the Nixie Tube cathodes ate energized by vacuum tubes or ather electronic mean LLUFE:The norma dynamic life expectancy of the standard Nixie ‘Tubes isin the order of 3000 to 5000 hours. Under the speciat ‘persting condition where continuous ionization af only one of the ten cathodes is required, the life would be reduced to from 500 to 1500 hours depending upon tube type and curent. It shouldbe pointed cut, however, that ths static type of operation is unrealistic for most applications f the cathodes are changed sequentially 35 infrequently as once a day (24 hours), the life would then be extended to the 2000 to 5000 hour range. The Ultra Long Life Series of Nixie Tube types recently onnounced have both a static and dynamic life expectancy cf at least 20 times that mentioned. above. They nave the added ad vantage of greatly increased lite for those applications requiring Continuous: display of ane of the ten characters for extended Deriods of time. Under these stringent conditions e minimum of 20,000 hours static on one numeral can be expected, Where the ‘isplay is changed sequentially, even as inftequentiy a8 every 100 hours, ite in excess of 100,000 hours can be expectedINDICATOR TUBES SPECIAL Sopa ea Sansa alsta te abt atthe ff an i gs 2 Auda ins a Eomesnscseste Neg aps Ee ie Ss A a eS Sees io aa a = tee ane ee tbe wich cantang tan cates Coit 0 ant rrypicat eineurr ettn ‘thse Hewore, te weno and by the utitontgn of 2 aoa,