science

Nimo tube

Nimo tube is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nimo tube rather than just read about it. In short: Nimo was the trademark of a family of small cathode-ray tube (CRTs) used for numerical displays. They were manufactured by Industrial Electronic Engineers (IEE) around the mid-1960s.

Key takeaways

Nimo tube belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nimo tube to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nimo tube from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nimo was the trademark of a family of small cathode-ray tube (CRTs) used for numerical displays. They were manufactured by Industrial Electronic Engineers (IEE) around the mid-1960s. The tube had ten electron guns with stencils that shaped the electron beam as digits.

Details The Nimo tube operated on a similar principle to the Charactron, but used a much simpler design. They were intended as single digit, simple displays, or as four or six digits by means of a special horizontal magnetic deflection system. Having only three electrode types (a filament, an anode and ten different grids), the driving circuit for this tube was very simple, and as the image was projected on the glass face, it allowed a much wider viewing angle than, for example, Nixie tubes, which Nimo tried to replace. The tube required 1750 volts direct current (DC) for the anode and also required 1.1 volts (DC or AC) to heat the filament. Also, the filament and each grid required a DC bias. The relative bias between the grids and filament determined which character was displayed on each tube. This allowed the display tubes to be multiplexed, simplifying the interface circuitry. The German tube manufacturer Telefunken tried to sell an unlicensed copy of the design under the type number XM1000, but was sued by IEE in 1969 and lost, having to destroy all tubes already produced. Only a few survived, most of them not yet labeled. IEE also offered a version of the Nimo tube that could show 4 digits at the same time by magnetically deflecting the electron beam, and had plans for a 6 digit version. The Nimo 64/Nimo 6500 had 64 electron guns with 64 different characters. It was available in 3 variants: EBCDIC, ASCII and Universal which had non-standard characters—each "character" cut into the stencil could if desired be a block of text, up to 5 lines of text with 8 characters per line.

See also Charactron, another tube stencil based character display

References

External links Operation of a Nimo tube on YouTube by Fran Blanche "Developing the Nimo Display Tube – The Untold Story!" with original documents from the original engineers on YouTube by Fran Blanche

Illustrations

Nimo tube: Digits of a BA0000-P31 Tube, showing burn-in of the number 0 — Digits of a BA0000-P31 Tube, showing burn-in of the number 0

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nimo tube

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nimo tube claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nimo tube before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nimo tube ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nimo tube

In research: Nimo tube appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nimo tube in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nimo tube is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cathode ray tube, Television technology, Vacuum tube displays, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nimo tube outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Nimo tube in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nimo tube means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nimo tube out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nimo tube in simple terms?

Nimo was the trademark of a family of small cathode-ray tube (CRTs) used for numerical displays. They were manufactured by Industrial Electronic Engineers (IEE) around the mid-1960s.

Why does Nimo tube matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nimo tube?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nimo tube.