23 Oct
1999
23 Oct
'99
5 a.m.
>If you don't mind direct drive, there are TTL
BCD-to-10 decoder chips
>intended specifically for driving Nixie tubes. I just looked in my
>newer databook at the 7445 and 74145, and they don't *say* "can directly
>drive Nixies", but they do have high-voltage open-collector outputs.
These "HV" decoders have 30 and 15 volt
output devices. The one for neon
lamps or Nixies was the 7441.
Thanks for refreshing my memory! Unfortunately NatSemi/Fairchild no longer
list the 7441 in their TTL lineup, but I'm sure a dedicated hobbyist could
find the parts at Halted Specialties or similar place.
Looking in the Fairchild books, the 7442 is still around as a DIP, and
combined with a transistor array it'd do a fine job as a Nixie driver.
The 74154, I see, is available as a SOIC for surface-mount. Hmm - now
all we need is a Hexadecimal Nixie! Did such a thing ever exist?
It'd be so cool to have fully formed A-F characters... though of
course there would be religious wars over upper vs lower case :-).
Tim.