Thread: nixie driver
View Single Post
  #4   Report Post  
Old April 4th 09, 08:17 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.homebrew
Norm Mann Norm Mann is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Sep 2006
Posts: 14
Default nixie driver


"JIMMIE" wrote in message
...
I have a Systron Donner frequency counter that uses Nixie tubes. The
counter works fine but I am forever replacing the Nixie drivers
74141s. I started to use it this AM an one was out. Is there a
replacement for the 74141, I couldnt find one, or is there a circuit I
could build on a DIP header to replace them. I could probably design
one but I wanted something tried an tested as I dont want to put my
counter board at more risk than I have to.


The 7441 appears to be pin-for-pin compatible, but with a different decode
pattern (one element is always on). It sounds like you might first want to
check the nixie power supply voltage, not just using a voltmeter, but with a
scope to see if it has spikes which might be destroying your driver outputs.
This is much more likely if the counter is using leading zero suppression
and the failed drivers are in the group which often in the blanked state.

HTH,

-NM