Tech Forum

According to the information about tne DG10A tube, it isn't a Nixie tube (which uses cold cathode shaped numbers that illuminate orange under a high voltage in the neon gas inside the tube), but a fluorescent glow tube, which uses a multi-segment cathode coated to glow green-blue under a high voltage, like the Nixie. This type of display was used in medium sized calculators and some digital clocks because the emitted light can be filtered, and a version with many digits using a multiplexed circuit was later used in calculators until the LED and LCD displays replaced them I still see calculators with these fluorescent displays. on many desks.

I found an eBay offer for the same type of tube (item #251596633619) that sells the tubes but has posted the wiring diagram for it. Look at the item diagrams to wire up the tube and test it.

The DG10A is not a nixie tube but is a 7 segment vacuum fluorescent tube. This vacuum fluorescent readout operates much in the fashion of a triode vacuum tube. A heated filament/cathode emits electrons that are attracted to any of the 7 anodes which are biased with a positive voltage. Each anode is coated with a material that fluoresces when the electrons strike the anode. Changing biasing on the control grid varies the intensity of the electron flow and therefore the brightness of the display. The filament requires about 50 milliamperes, which operates just below its incandescent level. About 0.8 VDC will provide the required current. Apply about 50 VDC to each anode (segment) that you want to turn on. For test purposes, the common control grid may also be biased at 50 VDC to provide maximum brightness. The pin-out for the DG10A may be found at www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_dg10a.html