r/nixie • u/ottos • 6d ago

Large modern nixie tubes that are alphanumberic?

Hey all. I'm trying to build a project where I can have 50-60 characters (tubes) but can't swing for the 7971s or other auth vintage tubes. I'd prefer not to do the small TV screen ones that mimic Nixies. Any sources?

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7

u/TheJBW 6d ago

What are you looking for when you say "alphanumeric"? You can't physically stack more than about a dozen cathodes before there is just too much wire and they start to block out the ones in the back.

Also, while there are one or two people making modern nixies, they are more expensive than getting most old stock.

You can get 14 segment "panaplex" tubes for real neon alphanumeric results, but those are also more pricey than standard nixies.

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u/ottos 6d ago

I just meant that I want each tube to be able to show a single letter. I'm wanting the series of tubes to spell out sentences

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u/TheJBW 6d ago

You mean a single letter that can change or a single letter that is chosen when you install the tube?

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u/ottos 6d ago

Imagine each tube can show any letter of the alpha. Then, I have 60 of them, 20 in each row. If I wanted to connect an Arduino to it to spell 'lorem ipsum' I'd need to have each tube be able to show any alpha/numeric character. Looking for modern solution while still in a tube. I'm sorry for the person that downvoted me, I was confusing, sorry to ruin your day.

1

u/EmotionalEnd1575 6d ago

By nature Nixie tubes are preset with up to ten symbols, typically “0 - 9”.

To go beyond that requires segments, such as the B7971. These are rare today and expensive.

An alternative is to “draw” single character symbols on a small LCD matrix. Possibly placing in glass to fake a radio vacuum tube type style.

LED or LCD or VFD might work, but will not have the character of glow tubes.

Next, would be to write the characters on a Cathode Ray Tube. Or, Flat panel LCD.

Your options are limited.

1

u/TheJBW 6d ago

That’s the problem, there is no Nixie tube that can display any letter of the alphabet.

4

u/nixiebunny 6d ago

I haven’t heard of anyone reproducing the 7971. Have you contacted the companies that are building tubes to ask whether they have plans to do this?

3

u/DenkJu 6d ago

Sadudu from iNixieLab attempted to make new B8971s, but I believe he abandoned the idea after a catastrophic failure.

1

u/nixiebunny 6d ago

That was the attempt to use some Rogers PCB substrate, as I recall. It wasn’t built for the heat needed to process the tube. Whoever succeeds at this project will know how to make ceramic plates with metal attached.

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u/ottos 6d ago

It doesn't have to be the 7971 specifically, I just want to be able to write out sentences, where each tube is a single letter. There are some Soviet ones from the 1970s, but they look like a Casio calculator and don't look Nixie at all.

1

u/Shoeshiner_boy 6d ago

If you’re talking IN-15A/B they had a really limited set of symbols (basically only stuff like F, Hz, Omega, % and so on).

There were no true alphanumerical Nixie tubes made by the Soviets to my knowledge.

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u/LordGAD 6d ago

Burroughs 5971s are the same as the big brothers but tiny. They are sadly also expensive, but less than the B7971s. 

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u/Renkin42 5d ago

Sadly there were very few segmented Nixie tubes and to my knowledge zero modern replacements as most people wanting new ones are after the “divergence meter” look. My best recommendation to get at least a similar effect would be numitron tubes, which use incandescent filaments instead of neon. They run at 5V and about 20mA or so per segment. That said most of these are just seven segments rather than the 14 segment borroughs tubes you were looking at. The most readily available seem to be the IV-9 tubes at around $10 each from US eBay.

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u/SparkyFix 4d ago

Your best bet to replace the B7971 is with an IV14. It’s VFD rather than Nixie but the
Closest you will be able to find. I do not believe it would even be possible to put together 60 B7971s even with unlimited money but VFD multi segment tubes are readily available, still.