13 Mar
2012
13 Mar
'12
8:51 p.m.
Nixie tubes were extremely popular in the early days,
beginning with the
first electronic calculator (Sumlock/Anita Mk 7 & 8), and lasting into
the mid-1970's. The SCM Marchant-I "handheld" electronic calculator
used Nixie tubes...the only "portable" electronic calculator that I know
of that did this. There were also the unusual Nixie-like displays,
Somewhere I haevw a portable (battery-powered, but a bit too large to
hold in a hand) 4-banger with individiul 7-segment gas discharge display
tubes. Not really nixies, of course.
where a number of digits worth of Nixies were combined
into a single
tube (Lago Calc LC-816).
[...]
As Nixies started to wane in favor of less-expensive
display
technologies, lots of manufactures went to Burroughs Panaplex panels,
which were less expensive, and easier to interface. Lots of machines
(of few of which are Wang 600, Commodore US*1/US*8/US*10, Victor
1800-series, Friden 1203) used these panels.
HP9815 too.
Although HP used nixie tubes in amy of their digital instruments, AFAIK
there was never an HP calcualtor that used them for the display.
-tony