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Monkey Nixie Tube

"jensboos"
 

Hello folks,

I can't believe what I just digged out: Did NASA actually train monkeys with Nixie tubes?

I would love to find some historical proof like a picture or something like that.

Where did you get this information from, AJ?

All the best,
Jens

--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., "Alan J. Franzman" <a.j.franzman@...> wrote:

--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., chris_w68@y... wrote:
--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., chris_w68@y... wrote:
--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., "Alan J. Franzman"
<a.j.franzman@v...> wrote:
...those weird military ICs that have some of their gold legs
coming out the ends of the nearly square white package, and
turning 90 degrees to be in line with the other pins.
Those are called flat packs:



A relatively common pre-1970 IC package, used in both military
and industrial applications. Note the 50 mil lead pitch; some
were as small as modern SOICs.
If, OTOH, the packages are much larger, and the lead spacing is
0.1", then they probably aren't monolithic ICs at all, but rather
hermetically-sealed thick-film hybrid circuits. (Still called
flat packs, though.)
These have the 50 mil pitch. I'd post a photo but I've already
reassembled the unit sans nixies and modules - it's quite a chore to
open down to the display section.

BTW, if anyone's interested, I have the character lineup of the
alphabetic tubes-
49989: A C G L N R S T V (Delta)
49990: B C D E H T U W (Delta)

Very interesting! These are the first nixies I've found with the
capital delta (triangle) symbol. The only others I know of are the
ZM14 (visible online at
Geschichtliches/Nixie/ZM13U.htm []) and the
(type unknown) NASA tube for monkey/chimp training and evaluation,
but in both of those cases it represents only a geometric shape. At
first I thought I had a bad tube when I only got 9 symbols from
the '90, but close comparison reveals that the cathode stack is
indeed shorter by one element.

BTW, I'm fascinated at the interesting artifacts available from the
BPB Surplus website - does any of us live near enough to Longwood,
Florida to visit their warehouse? I wonder what kinds of space
program artifacts might be available in surplus places around
Houston...

A.J.
Quixotic Nixotic
 

On 22 Jul 2010, at 11:19, jensboos wrote:

Hello folks,

I can't believe what I just digged out: Did NASA actually train monkeys with Nixie tubes?

I would love to find some historical proof like a picture or something like that.

Where did you get this information from, AJ?

All the best,
Jens
I thought a member of this group had actually found some of these recently, with the 'playstation' style symbols on?

John S
"jensboos"
 

--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., Quixotic Nixotic <nixotic1@...>
wrote:

I thought a member of this group had actually found some of these
recently, with the 'playstation' style symbols on?

John S
Hello John,

oh, I didn't know that. Do you recall who found these? I would love to
see some pics..

All the best,
Jens
Don Hackler
 

[edited by A.J. - please trim quoted material]

On Jul 22, 2010, at 3:19 AM, jensboos wrote:
<snip>
--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., "Alan J. Franzman" <a.j.franzman@...> wrote:
BTW, if anyone's interested, I have the character lineup of the
alphabetic tubes [from the C-7417 control and display unit for the
AN/ARN-92 automatic LORAN C/D navigation system]-
49989: A C G L N R S T V (Delta)
49990: B C D E H T U W (Delta)

Very interesting! These are the first nixies I've found with the
capital delta (triangle) symbol. The only others I know of are
the ZM14 (visible online at
roehrenbude.de/Roehren-Geschichtliches/Nixie/ZM13U.htm
[]) and the (type unknown) NASA tube for
monkey/chimp training and evaluation, but in both of those cases
it represents only a geometric shape. At first I thought I had a
bad tube when I only got 9 symbols from the '90, but close
comparison reveals that the cathode stack is indeed shorter by one
element.
<snip>

I can't believe what I just digged out: Did NASA actually train
monkeys with Nixie tubes?

I would love to find some historical proof like a picture or
something like that.

Where did you get this information from, AJ?
AJ and Westdave were discussing this here:



If you follow the links below, you can find a few details...

Biosatellite 3 in 1969


Check out the Primate Psychomotor Test System.

It used Nixes with four symbols.
There's a picture of the device in uses here: Monkey Training #2


I know I've seen more details on the hardware somewhere, but it didn't show up in my search today....
Quixotic Nixotic
 

On 22 Jul 2010, at 12:00, jensboos wrote:

Hello John,

oh, I didn't know that. Do you recall who found these? I would love to
see some pics..
I found the last post from A.J.

Re: Burroughs Nixie.

--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., "iraco2002" <IRACOSALES@...> wrote:
I recently acquired one, Burroughs Nixie with non numeral
characters. End view, one inch diameter, 13 pins. The number on the
side of the glass as best as I can make out is B509 or possibly
B50945. The 45 is offset and possibly 'not' part of the actual
number. Additional markings of E05 and possibly a date code of 6625.
The characters are; a 'square', a 'circle', an 'X', a 'delta'
symbol, and possibly a 'percent' symbol. Two notes. The circle is
a 'perfect circle', I don't believe it is the numeral zero. The
percent (%) symbol is strange in two ways. One, I can NOT make it
light up as it appears to be tied to the anode. Two, the slash part
of the % symbol is absent. Anyone have a data sheet, know where this
might have been used, know with certainty the actual part number,
know anything at all about this particular one???? Any help
appreciated, many thanks Ira.
WOW! I didn't think anyone had much chance of ever finding one of those. The
part number probably is B-50945. The odd printing would be due to being
hand-made in extremely low production -- they were a custom order for NASA to
use in the early days of the U.S. space program. They have been mentioned here a
few times before:

<>
(read the quoted part - original post is missing)
<>
<>

Here are some links to NASA's description of the Primate Psychomotor Test
apparatus and Biosatellite III program. There is additional info on the web.

< hardware_index=29&exp_&#92;index=0>
<>
< Biosat_3.html>

A.J.
David Forbes
 


--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., "iraco2002"<IRACOSALES@...> wrote:
> The characters are; a 'square', a 'circle', an 'X', a 'delta'
> symbol, and possibly a 'percent' symbol.
> The
> percent (%) symbol is strange in two ways. One, I can NOT make it
> light up as it appears to be tied to the anode. Two, the slash part
> of the % symbol is absent.
That "percent sign" sounds like it has the same function as the upside-down 8 that most every normal nixie tube has, that no one ever seems to talk about. In a normal nixie tube, this electrode is connected to the anode and is located in the middle of the digit stack.

My theory is that it provides a physically short ionizing path to the anode for the digits in the middle of the stack, thereby reducing the ionizing voltage of those cathodes.

--
David Forbes, Tucson, AZ
"jensboos"
 

--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., Quixotic Nixotic <nixotic1@...> wrote:

I found the last post from A.J.

Re: Burroughs Nixie.
Oh many thanks for the quote. This mailing list is a wonderful resource, but it is sometimes hard to search for specific topics. Thanks for your help :-)

I think I might be onto one of those monkey Nixie tubes, I will let you know when I have certainty.

All the best,
Jens
"A.J."
 

--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., Don Hackler <donh@...> wrote:
<snip>
There's a picture of the device in uses here: Monkey Training #2
<snip>

Thank you very much for the link; this is the first photo I've seen of the equipment.

A.J.
"jensboos"
 

--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., "A.J." <a.j.franzman@...> wrote:

--- In NEONIXIE-L@..., Don Hackler <donh@> wrote:
<snip>
There's a picture of the device in uses here: Monkey Training #2
<snip>

Thank you very much for the link; this is the first photo I've seen of the equipment.
Oh yes, definetely. Thansk a lot!

Jens

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