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| IV-27M on its datasheet. |
When I came home I dug a datasheet looking mainly for the filament
pins, so that I could test the display for good. Then with the DVM I
kept looking for continuity (a low resistance value, few tens of ohms)
but nothing was found.
I spent the next ten minutes looking into through the glass, trying
to see the thin filament and where it should go to pins 1&2, just to
discover that the connection between pins and filament is missing. Now I
am the unhappy owner of a cold-war era leftover.
Lesson learned: do bring a DVM and do use it!
This display does not have a thoriated
tungsten filament, it does not emit weak radiations, so that it cannot be reused
as a test source. It will
remain a warning reminder with a 5€ price tag.
 |
| Can you spot the filament ends in there? |
The same seller had both new (5€/pc) and used (3€/pc) red-coated
Nixies I forgot the model, that I haven't bought because I don't like
red ones. Now I am thinking that used tubes (you can tell if they were
cut out from PCB) might even be more reliable than new ones, that could
have been once discarded but then followed a different route than the
trashbin.
