<Of course you can. The exact details are a right fiddle (partly because a
<nixie tube is not a diode, so you are going to get sneak paths!), but
<basically you sequence the anodes of the tubes to the B+ rail and then
<ground the appropriate cathode for each tube.
Nixi is a threshold device so there are no sneak paths but the actuation
voltages are pretty fussy due to the hystersis.
<A _lot_ of calcultors had a multiplexed nixie tube display. It was much
<less common in test gear which is why I guess you've not seen it.
Really, never saw many that did, the vacuum florescent (bluegreen)
were generally mux'ed..
<You want to look at the 7441, and 74141. I seem to recall there being a
<TTL chip with counter, latch(?) and nixie driver all in one package. I
<can't remember the number but it was a 7414-something (74142/74143???)
74142 is the nixi (Counter, latch, decoder) and the 143 is the led/lamp
seven segement.
74141 is an pmproved 7441 and likely easier to find.
<And no, they don't seem to be in the more recent TTL databooks I have
<here :-(. I think there are still plenty about (if only in the junkboxes
<of people on this list :-))
My Ti data books have them (ca1976) as do the reference TI set from the
mid 80s. I'd expect they can be found easily enough.
Allison
Received on Sat Oct 23 1999 - 18:11:52 BST