UPDATE-
I've been using the Bromley Digitron for its intended purpose- as a clock. The problem was , the original Nixies were pretty much shot, not suprising after 58 years. The second problem was the original nixies were GR10H (Digitrons- hence the name), a really early 17 pin nixie made by Ericsson Telephone, that i havent been able to source anywhere, for any amount. My quandary became , do i leave it alone, retain its originality or replace the 17 pin bases for common 13 pin units, fit the nearest available nixie to the original size i could find, thus giving it a new lease of life.
I decided on the latter. Luckily, as a nixie virgin, i chanced upon a very helpful chap called David Knight who advised on some of the alternatives and was willing to answer my dull-boy questions.
What i learned was -
The very early nixies had a very short life (4000 hrs of continuous use in the case of a GR10H)
The worst thing you can do to a nixie is put it in a clock. The first hour digit only ever reads " 0" and "1", a death sentence for a nixie (new modern clocks cycle through all the digits to prevent cathode poisoning)
There are people out there that collect nixies, the big rare ones sell for mad money. I found the GR10H listed as "Wanted" on a couple of the collectors sites.
I settled on a fairly common nixie ZM 1022 made by Valvo, 4mm smaller than my originals. However the life on these more "modern" tubes is 50,000 hours minimum and they can be easily obtained for circa £10 ea-
I'd probably still purchase the original nixies for originalities sake if i could find them
With NOS Nixies
bromley 2 001 (800x600).jpg
bromley 2 004 (800x600).jpg
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