Questions on IN-1 nixies

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William Lee

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Nov 22, 2011, 12:41:18 PM11/22/11
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Hi all-

I have recently been accumulating a small number of different nixie tubes for eventual use in clocks and whatever other imaginative uses I can come up with.  Some of the ones I picked up are IN-1s.  From what I can gather, sockets are very difficult to come by for these. 
 
Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives to sockets in terms of mounting/wiring these?  Are there any PCBs out there available for purchase that fit IN-1s?
 
Any tips or suggestions for working with these would be greatly appreciated.

David Forbes

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Nov 22, 2011, 12:59:17 PM11/22/11
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On 11/22/11 10:41 AM, William Lee wrote:
> Hi all-

>
> Some of the ones I picked up are IN-1s. From what I
> can gather, sockets are very difficult to come by for these.
> Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives to sockets in terms of
> mounting/wiring these? Are there any PCBs out there available for
> purchase that fit IN-1s?

The first Google hit for "in-1 nixie" is Dieter Waechter's clock, which
uses PC board socket pins.

http://www.tube-tester.com/sites/nixie/IN-1_LC-516%20Nixie%20Clock/in-1_lc-516.htm

--
David Forbes, Tucson AZ

John Rehwinkel

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Nov 22, 2011, 12:59:21 PM11/22/11
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> I have recently been accumulating a small number of different nixie tubes for eventual use in clocks and whatever other imaginative uses I can come up with. Some of the ones I picked up are IN-1s. From what I can gather, sockets are very difficult to come by for these.

It's not a common socket. It's known as РШ19 (RSH19), U11, Magnal, B11-1, B11-33, and B11-66 socket.

> Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives to sockets in terms of mounting/wiring these? Are there any PCBs out there available for purchase that fit IN-1s?

Dieter's IN-1 clock used 2.36mm pin receptacles in a PCB designed to fit the IN-1 pin circle. I don't know offhand of any PCBs available to purchase, but perhaps someone else will pipe up. You can always have your own made, and see if someone else wants any, to split the costs.

- John

David Forbes

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Nov 22, 2011, 1:12:22 PM11/22/11
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On 11/22/11 10:59 AM, John Rehwinkel wrote:
>> I have recently been accumulating a small number of different nixie tubes for eventual use in clocks and whatever other imaginative uses I can come up with. Some of the ones I picked up are IN-1s. From what I can gather, sockets are very difficult to come by for these.
>
> It's not a common socket. It's known as О©╫О©╫19 (RSH19), U11, Magnal, B11-1, B11-33, and B11-66 socket.

Oh, magnal. I have some magnal sockets, as they were also used for
several WII era oscilloscope tubes. I may have six on hand.

chuck richards

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Nov 22, 2011, 3:59:54 PM11/22/11
to inte...@gmail.com, neoni...@googlegroups.com
There are many ways to make your own sockets.
Here is one I came up with long ago:

Find some wire that has insulation that will fit snuggly
around the tube pins. This is fairly easy to do with pins
that are .040 to .042 inch diameter. It might be a bit more
difficult to find insulation or tubing that will fit the
larger diameter pins found on an IN-1 tube.

Once you find the insulation, cut it into pieces that are
about 3/8 or 7/16 inches long. Cut one piece for each tube
pin.

Then, take your tube and make a pattern of the socket pins
by inserting them into a piece of soft plastic foam such as
the side of a white foam drinking cup.

Using that hole pattern template, transfer the holes to
a suitable material to hold the insulation pieces.
Some examples of materials I have used successfully have
been 1/8 inch thick clear acrylic, and one other time
I drilled the holes into some oak that's slightly thicker
than 1/8 inch.

The holes need to be sized so the insulation bits fit in
with a mild press-fit.

Once that it all done, here comes the socket part:

In each insulation bit, take a piece of #30 gauge kynar insulated
wirewrap wire and insert it up through the insulation and then
down along the ouitside, twisting back onto itself.
Have it stripped off bare for the portion that goes up through
the insulation and back down the outside.

The bare wire being fastened to the inside of the insulation
gets forced up against the tube pin when the pin is inserted
into the insulation. Lead all the wirewrap wires out to
a suitable connector and solder them down to it.

I like to use a 14-pin DIP header plug for this.

It's a bit of work, but you end up with a nice socket
that is easy on the tube pins.

Chuck

>
>
>---- Original Message ----
>From: inte...@gmail.com
>To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
>Subject: RE: [neonixie-l] Questions on IN-1 nixies
>Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:41:18 -0800 (PST)
>
>>Hi all-


>>
>>I have recently been accumulating a small number of different nixie
>tubes
>>for eventual use in clocks and whatever other imaginative uses I can
>come
>>up with. Some of the ones I picked up are IN-1s. From what I can
>gather,
>>sockets are very difficult to come by for these.
>>

>>Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives to sockets in terms
>of
>>mounting/wiring these? Are there any PCBs out there available for
>purchase
>>that fit IN-1s?
>>

>>Any tips or suggestions for working with these would be greatly
>appreciated.
>>

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>>

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threeneurons

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Nov 22, 2011, 7:43:31 PM11/22/11
to neonixie-l
IN-1 has "fat" pins like your typical octal tube (6L6, 6SN7, 6802,
GC10B ...). If you can't track down any sockets, or the sockets are
just too big for your artistic taste, you can use Molex 0.093 female
pins. Solder a wire to them, 24AWG to 18AWG, then cover it with
heatshrink, like in this photo:

http://threeneurons.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/skt_pins093_1.jpg

Heatshrink comes in a rainbow of colors. Molex pins are sold just
about everywhere.

Molex 1381 series. Part number 02-09-1119. $0.076ea in qtys of 100+ at
Mouser.

You can butcher a D-connector for the tubes with skinny pins, and do
the same with the heatshrink:

http://threeneurons.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/socket_pins.jpg

Tyco number: 571-1734348-1. $0.81ea at Mouser.

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