Big Nixies

[Cubdriver]

Everyone here is likely aware of Dalibor Farny, the guy in the Czech Republic who's begun making Nixie tubes again. I just saw a new video he’s released - for several years now they’ve been working on a BIG front-display tube (the 'H' tube, 150mm/6” dia), and it seems that they’ve come a long way towards it on the bugs out and are getting a bunch of them ready for an art installation.

[youtube] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7FBVD0Uk0HI[/youtube]

Very cool - want!!! It’d be cool to re-tube a 5245L so you could read it from across the street….

-Pat

[MED6753]

That is so cool.

[BU508A]

Yes, those Nixie tubes are very cool. Also the special ones with the Hiragana letters in it.

What do you think the "H" is standing for?

My assumption is "Hiroshima".

[nixiefreqq]

bigger is not always better.


but in this case it is.

[tggzzz]

Personally I rather like these....

There is a yoootooob video about making them, but it only shows some wanky "artistic" pictures of it working, not a simple section showing what it looks like. Should keep 99.999% of people away from making videos.

[Specmaster]

Those Keysight nixies are nice.

[mnementh]

Everyone here is likely aware of Dalibor Farny, the guy in the Czech Republic who's begun making Nixie tubes again. I just saw a new video he’s released - for several years now they’ve been working on a BIG front-display tube (the 'H' tube, 150mm/6” dia), and it seems that they’ve come a long way towards it on the bugs out and are getting a bunch of them ready for an art installation.

Very cool - want!!! It’d be cool to re-tube a 5245L so you could read it from across the street….

-Pat

Yeah, I might not even need my glasses...

mnem
*crunch*

[mnementh]

Hmmm.... big nixies times lots of rows prolly means lots and lots of angry pixies.

I have to wonder how much juice that art installation draws overall. I have no idea if they can all run from a common HV, or if there needs to be a individual boost converter for each choob...

mnem
How much chooch does your nooch?

[Cubdriver]

It looks like the boards will be fed with external HV, but I didn't notice anything about how many HV supplies there will be. I'd guess multiple ones, perhaps each row or column will be ganged together. I'll bet they draw more than the roughly 2.5 mA that the small ones we're used to typically do!

-Pat

[mnementh]

Yeah, same thing I was thinking. Thankfully, no heaters to power as well; we'd be talking stacks of my favorite HSTNS-PL11 1200W HP server power supplies...

mnem
Huh... (does the math) not near as bad as I thought. Considering a typical 12AX7 at ~150mA, that's 18A for 120 choobs... A KT88 at around 1.3A x 120 choobs would draw ~156A, but they're 6.3V, so could gang them in series for ~78A, right at the limit for a HSTNS-PL11 on 120V.

It sure would be in screaming-mimi turbine-jet mode as far as fan noise, tho!

[vk6zgo]

Yeah, same thing I was thinking. Thankfully, no heaters to power as well; we'd be talking stacks of my favorite HSTNS-PL11 1200W HP server power supplies...

mnem
Huh... (does the math) not near as bad as I thought. Considering a typical 12AX7 at ~150mA, that's 18A for 120 choobs... A KT88 at around 1.3A x 120 choobs would draw ~156A, but they're 6.3V, so could gang them in series for ~78A, right at the limit for a HSTNS-PL11 on 120V.

It sure would be in screaming-mimi turbine-jet mode as far as fan noise, tho!

That could be obviated by using a really decent sized centrifugal blower ("snail fan"), but you would be trading off a scream for a roar!

[mnementh]

In all honesty, I don't think you can get enough volume of air through one of those tiny little boxes any other way than with that little screamer fan... short of some form of positive displacement pump. Trying to nozzle down a big squirrelcage would, I think, be met with too much static resistance.

mnem
*minds drifts off, idly imagining a Weiand 0.6-0.71 blower for his little PSU*