ITS1-A on eBay

[GastonP]

Hi guys,
    Not from me nor for my wallet, but I found this item that I thought some of you might be interested in.
If they weren't so expensive (or I had more currency) I would certainly be interested :)
The good thing is that it is not an auction and it seems the seller hit a hidden stash of them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-PCS-RAREST-GREEN-NIXIE-TUBES-ITS-1A-ITS1A-ITS-1-THYRATRON-NOS-TESTED/112011997213

Cheers!
   Gastón

[Terry S]

The description is great: "This tube is harder to find than an honest Congressional candidate"

[Dylan Distasio]

I love these tubes.   The kit clock I built with them is one of my favorites.

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[Paul Andrews]

They do look great, but I am trying to resist. The last thing I need is to try and figure out how to drive another display technology.

[Paul Andrews]

I first came across these tubes here http://www.industrialalchemy.org/articleview.php?item=1073. He has made some great clocks (and other stuff!).

[MichaelB]

Yeah Paul, I would have purchased this cool little clock, but it was never really offered as a released product. I pinged the designer several times, but received no response. Then Jurgen came out with his sweet 6 tube ITS1A offering and I became infatuated with it.

[Dekatron42]

They are quite easy to drive, have a look at a minimalistic clock here: https://radiokot.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1916607#p1916607 there is s full schematic and also the hex code for the processor. When I found this design I wrote about it over at TubeClockDB here: https://www.tubeclockdb.com/component/kunena/4-builders-forum/6151-its1-a-b-6-digit-thyratron-clock-kit.html, I read the text again and remembered the "block" in the code, I wrote:

"If you are going to reverse engineer the code you will have to make sure that pin RA4 receives a high signal in the debugger, otherwise the code will not jump through the time setting routines. A simple "block" probably put there by the designer against people who want to reverse engineer the code."

There is another design here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/neonixie-l/arne/neonixie-l/YbVE-OynVuY/WcNKvy7gj40J

They are very easy to drive with the design in the minimalistic clock, but I made one change after having read the datasheet and that was to include an extra resistor of some 2k on the "Anode-2" wire as a current limiter (both schematics can be found at the bottom of the TubeClockDB link)

/Martin

[Paul Andrews]

Yes. It was the power supply that was my concern with this. But now, I have some ideas! I'm not sure if that is a good thing, but let's see if I can at least get the voltages I need.

[gregebert]

Does anyone know the life expectancy of the ITS-1 ? Given the high cost and rarity, I'm reluctant to make a clock with them.

[Robert L]

A Russian friend (laser physicist...) took a shot at translation of the data sheet for me... See below... Note minimum 5000 hours operation, shelf life no less than 12 years.

I've sent a query to the gentleman who supplied my ITS1A tubes... He's given me some excellent prices and superb customer service. I'll let folks know if he has any more tubes available. Note that he tests the tubes himself prior to shipping with the tester pictured.

Translation follows... data sheets attached.

 This one is tough.  It is not very clear what they have in mind: "The parameter changing during minimal use time -- voltage that opens the first and the second grids (segments)."  It sounds to me like a degradation of the high voltage with time: ie line above defines minimal use time 5000 hours.  The last line is "Shelf life -- no less than 12 years)

 

The maximum voltage is quoted elsewhere and constitutes:

Negative constant voltage on sub-cathode -- 235-265 V

First anode (constant or pulse amplitude) -- 36-44V

Second anode (constant or pulse amplitude) -- 90-110V

First and second grids  needed for discharge initiation -- -0.3 / +0.4 V

Minimal pulse lengths:

on First and Second grids -- 100 us (microsecond)

Discharge quenching while the voltage on the first anode less than 4 V, 2-nd anode less than 10 V -- 500 us

Also voltage for discharge initiation on the 2-nd anode (segment)

in presence of control voltage -- no more than 86V

in absence of control voltage no more than 120V

[Robert L]

Here's a contact e-mail for Sergey who sold me several sets of ITS1 tubes: Sergey Alekseev <allllsergey  AT   gmail  DOT  com>

I've confirmed that he has a fair number of ITS1A tubes in stock. These are probably a mix of the "A" and "B" versions, and also likely a mix of white and pink washers. You will have to ask him for details on what he has.

He did well for me and a few of my friends. His pricing was fair and he provided me with truly excellent customer service and support. I'm a very satisfied repeat customer, but otherwise, I've no connection with him.

Did I mention that I also really like my Mr. Nixie ITS1-A/B clocks? Especially with the double colon mod that Mike B. pioneered...

Enjoy!

Bob

[gregebert]

Gadzooks that has a crazy number of electrodes; I'm trying to understand what inspired the Soviets to develop this instead of a segmented nixie. It's definitely an interesting device, but it has a lot of disadvantages in terms of manufacturing complexity.

Does anyone know if there is some kind of storage/latching action that is built-in ? I see references to 'thyratron' in Ebay listings, which is basically a "gaseous SCR". Maybe the driver circuitry was somehow simpler versus a segmented nixie.

Is the green glow caused by ionized gas, or phosphor ? While many gases do show spectral lines in the green region, it's not a predominant color. I know that hydrogen is used in industrial thyratrons, and I recall from high school when I did a lab experiment with a thyratron, the glow was a faint purple.

[Paul Andrews]

The green is phosphor. See http://www.industrialalchemy.org/articleview.php?item=1073

[Paul Andrews]

Back on Nov 1st, when I posted this link: http://www.industrialalchemy.org/articleview.php?item=1073, I tried to find some MTX90 tubes on ebay. I couldn't find any. Now, you can literally buy them by the hundred. Do they somehow know what is being searched for? It doesn't seem to work for some of my other searches, such as F9020! At least they are more affordable.

[jb-electronics]

Unfortunately, the F9020 tubes were only made in very small quantities
as far as I know, so it is no big wonder they only show up very rarely.
This is different with lots of Russian and East German tubes, which are
literally sitting in warehouses by the thousands, being hoarded by
sellers waiting for the prices to increase.