Photos of Burroughs counter modules?

[Dekatron42]

Hi All,

 

Does anyone have any photos of the Burroughs counting modules named DC-102, 102, 103, 112, 114, 116 or 115, preferrably photos that clearly shows the PCB's from different angles so I could make my own PCB's like the original design?

 

I would like to build similar modules and I would like to check how the PCB's have been routed. I have not found any information on these modules on the Internet. I do have some black and white printed photos from datasheets but those do not show close ups of the PCB's.

 

/Martin

[greg...@hotmail.com]

The Burroughs nixie catalog, which can be found online, has a few pictures of the DC-112, DC-114, and DC-115 modules. They are dekatron-based. I wouldn't worry about trying to match their PCB layout; your bigger challenge will be tweaking the design to work with readily-available dekatrons such as the A101. The schematics are also in the datasheet

The Burroughs catalog shows their Beam-X devices (lots of luck finding those....) operating at 250V; I had to run my A101 at 450V to get solid performance. I'm sure there are other tweaks necessary.

[threeneurons]

They are trochrotron (actually Beam-X) based. I've not looked at the circuit too closely, so I'm not up, on how to step them. They do have target/anodes, that you hook up directly to nixie cathodes. With a dekatron, you'd either have to find those special ones with the auxiliary anodes, or add transistors to the cathodes of a selector, like an A101.

I have found those module circuits, it catalog 616. They do show a schematic.  

On Saturday, September 21, 2013 8:43:30 AM UTC-7, greg...@hotmail.com wrote:

... They are dekatron-based. I wouldn't worry about trying to match their PCB layout; your bigger challenge will be tweaking the design to work with readily-available dekatrons such as the A101. The schematics are also in the datasheet

[Dekatron42]

The DC-10X modules use the BD-301 Beam Switching tube and the DC-11X modules use either the BX-1000 or BX-2000 Beam-X tubes, to my knowledge there have never been any modules by burroughs that uses a Dekatron. These modules are described at various places on the Internet but I have never seen any real photos of them, just black and white printed pictures from various Burroughs Bulletins.

 

/Martin

[David Forbes]

My friend Tom Jennings has one of those modules. It's a real work of art. 

Word has it that they were subject to cosmic particles bumping the count occasionally. 

David Forbes

http://www.cathodecorner.com/

On Sep 23, 2013, at 9:08 AM, Dekatron42 <martin....@gmail.com> wrote:

The DC-10X modules use the BD-301 Beam Switching tube and the DC-11X modules use either the BX-1000 or BX-2000 Beam-X tubes, to my knowledge there have never been any modules by burroughs that uses a Dekatron. These modules are described at various places on the Internet but I have never seen any real photos of them, just black and white printed pictures from various Burroughs Bulletins.

 

/Martin

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[threeneurons]

Look what I just stumble across in storage:

I forget where I got it. Westdave could have given it to me. I know he gave me a bunch of the loose Beam-X tubes, but not so sure about this module. I have to get this thing up and running.

[Dekatron42]

Does it say DC-106A on your module?

 

I own a few DC-105 and DC106 modules (which I am unsure of their original numbering as it says "modified by Babcock Computers" on a sticker on most of them) plus similar modules from a frequency counter where the Nixie is placed on a separate board, you can see the counter close to the end of this webpage: http://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/the_trochotron_beam_switch_counter.html it is the FR-114. I also own the DC111A & B types plus the DC-113. There is some other information at Radiomuseum but that is mostly from printed documents and not many real photos. All of my modules work very well (even found a few unsoldered components which made the non working ones work again) and I have a bunch of spare Beam Switching and Beam-X tubes for them, there are enough modules to build a few clocks with them.

 

I have seen that Burroughs have edited the photos in their printed documentation to "simulate" one type of module but it is in fact another type (transistors have been removed on a DC-116 module to look like a DC-114 module). This is one reason why I am looking for true original photos and not just the ones found in datasheets and technical bulletins from Burroughs.

 

I would also like to have some information (schematics if possible) on the unit used in Xerox 2400 Photocopiers, you can see it here: http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/articleview.php?item=578 - I have contacted Xerox several times without finding anyone who could help me.

 

/Martin

[threeneurons]

On Wednesday, September 25, 2013 12:50:52 PM UTC-7, Dekatron42 wrote:

Does it say DC-106A on your module?

Yes, it does. Though they mangled the "D", by double stamping it.

I found the datasheet on the Ericsson VS10G trochotron, and it has a circuit example that looks curiously similar to the devices found on this Burroughs module: 

http://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/022/v/VS10G.pdf

I wonder if there was some cross-pollination going on ?

It was standard practice, in the tube era, for one tube maker to buy tubes from another, for various reasons. Its not uncommon to have a counterfeit Telefunken tube, that's really not a counterfeit, nor made by Telefunken. Because Telefunken, itself, bought those tubes from someone else, and stamped their logo on it, and stuck it in their own box. Maybe because they could not keep up with demand, or they simply didn't make that particular model, but wanted to present a complete catalog.

  

[Nick]

White-labelling across the whole valve/tube market was rife in all areas, not just display tubes - there are some "manufacturers" in the audio world who have never made anything themselves (maybe cardboard boxes). e.g. Edicron.

Nick

[Dekatron42]

If you ever get some time left it would be very kind if you could take some nice photos of the PCB of your DC-106A module, but you'll have to unscrew at least 8 screws to be able to remove the PCB from the unit, four for the BD301 and four for the PCB. I'm interrested in seeing if your module is like any of mine. I can see one difference form your photos and that is how the 150K resistors on the BD301 socket are connected, mine ar straight whereas yours are lying down sideways so a photo of that socket will also help me.

 

The circuit diagrams for all of the different Burroughs modules are similar to the VS10G diagram but they differ in how the flip-flop is connected and also how the reset circuit is connected. These circuits differ since the modules were made for different speeds, 110KHz and 1.1MHz plus the requirements for driving them in chains also differ between the DC-105 and DC-106 modules.

 

I haven't looked inside the different tubes from different manufacturers to see if there are any differences or if they all were manufactured by Haydu/Burroughs.

 

/Martin