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Full Version: Wow. Old BIG commodore desktop programmable on ebay
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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. :-)

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 . . .

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.

I once had a Monroe desktop calculator with nixie tubes. I traded it with Bruce Lamm for a copy of his book on calculator.

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.

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! :-)

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!

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 :-)

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

Here is a nice site for nixie lovers:

http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/count.html

Regards,

Nelson

does my old freiden count? :)

It's already at $900.

You can buy a manual from here:

http://www.surplussales.com/Manuals/man_heath.html

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...