HP Forum Archive 13

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Wow. Old BIG commodore desktop programmable on ebay Message #1 Posted by Gene on 19 Sept 2003, 7:55 a.m. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3048109465&category=3294 How old is this thing? The guy is touting it as the first programmable desk calculator...but I don't think that's correct. :-)

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #2 Posted by Paul Brogger on 19 Sept 2003, 11:29 a.m., in response to message #1 by Gene Anybody have suggestions as to what may be the most economical device available with a Nixie tube display? One of my minor goals is to have a working Nixie device some day . . .

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #3 Posted by dbrunell on 19 Sept 2003, 11:41 a.m., in response to message #2 by Paul Brogger There was a pawn shop that put up a collection of 3 old calculators on Ebay a few weeks ago. One of them was a Sharp Compet nixie device. Starting bid was $20. No takers.

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #4 Posted by Chan Tran on 19 Sept 2003, 12:16 p.m., in response to message #3 by dbrunell I once had a Monroe desktop calculator with nixie tubes. I traded it with Bruce Lamm for a copy of his book on calculator.

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #5 Posted by Dave Shaffer on 19 Sept 2003, 12:31 p.m., in response to message #2 by Paul Brogger Does your "device" have to be a calculator? HP (and others) made all kinds of test equipment with nixie tube displays back in the 60's. I suspect these can be had for just about free if you can find them. Look for a frequency counter or a DVM.

Re: Thanks to All! Message #6 Posted by Paul Brogger on 19 Sept 2003, 1:26 p.m., in response to message #5 by Dave Shaffer All very good suggestions. In particular, the non-calculator idea appears to be a fruitful avenue of inquiry -- an eBay search for "nixie" (in titles and descriptions) yielded several apparently usable multimeters, for example. Thanks again!

Re: Thanks to All! Message #7 Posted by christof on 19 Sept 2003, 6:16 p.m., in response to message #6 by Paul Brogger does my old freiden count? :)

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #8 Posted by Alan Thomas on 19 Sept 2003, 1:10 p.m., in response to message #2 by Paul Brogger I've picked up some nixie tube calculators for $2-20 at the office liquidators around town. They're usually marked $20 but it's usually not hard to talk them down. I mean, come on! It's a really old calculator! I could buy a new one for $5! :-)

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #9 Posted by Trent Moseley on 19 Sept 2003, 5:25 p.m., in response to message #2 by Paul Brogger Paul Your post reminded me of an old calc of mine that was somewhere in one of the closets that hadn't been seen in years. Found it! It was a Heathkit put together around 1972 (model IC-2008-A). I thought it used nixie tubes but these don't seem to look like them. Any ideas? tm

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #10 Posted by Gordon Dyer on 20 Sept 2003, 5:20 a.m., in response to message #9 by Trent Moseley You can buy a manual from here: http://www.surplussales.com/Manuals/man_heath.html

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #11 Posted by Nelson M. Sicuro (Brazil) on 19 Sept 2003, 5:44 p.m., in response to message #2 by Paul Brogger Here is a nice site for nixie lovers: http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/count.html Regards, Nelson

Re: Any suggestions for an affordable Nixie tube device? Message #12 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) on 20 Sept 2003, 9:56 a.m., in response to message #2 by Paul Brogger Paul: a Google search for 'nixie tube' will offer many good places to look at. I specially liked www.nixieclocks.de, www.cathodecorner.com, and www.sphere.bc.ca Yes, I have been bitten by the nixie bug, and plan to design and build "something" nixie-based...

Re: Wow. Old BIG commodore desktop programmable on ebay Message #13 Posted by Andreas on 19 Sept 2003, 1:44 p.m., in response to message #1 by Gene It's actually a Casio, see this very informative page on it: http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/commal-1000.html Hmm... a $1200 buy it now price... Someone is optimistic! I'm also a big fan of Nixie - finally got my hands on my first Nixie calc (a beautiful 16 digit Sharp) a few weeks ago. Granted, the calculator I desire most has a CRT :-)

Oh, I don't know Message #14 Posted by Mike on 19 Sept 2003, 6:39 p.m., in response to message #13 by Andreas It's already at $900.

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