Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:41 am
I gutted an old JC PENNEY clock radio/cassette that had a fluorescent display. I removed the display, figured out the pinout pin by pin. This can be done by applying a low AC voltage to the filament, just short of making it glow orange, and then connecting a common DC supply; the negative side to either leg of the filament, and the positive lead to each "plate" lead. Mine was around the 18VDC range. Most of these clocks have a seperate filament secondary on the supply's transformer, at like 1.5 to 5VAC. Basically, the filament heats up and sheds electrons, and the plate voltage provides a target, glowing when struck by the electrons. I got individual Vacuum EL Tubes ( Electro-Luminescent), similar to Nixie's , but with a blue/green glow, and around the same operational voltage as the original display "panel". I used two Blue LED's as the colon between hour and minutes.
Anywho, mine used to trigger a Sho-Me Stealth Mini-Lightbar in my bed room with Red, Amber and Clear filters. Waking up to it got old though.
Let me know if you need help finding actual Nixie's; I have a few of them myself.
Elliott, A.K.A. KD8FOV, and Sirenzrok on Youtube