The dekatron in a digital data transmission system

In data transmission systems used to transmit numerical information over considerable distances for control or indication purposes, the information is sent as a serial train of digits to conserve bandwidth, each digit having two possible states. The paper describes a system for the transmission of such information using the Dekatron tube in a number of roles. These tubes enable the functioning of the timing system to be monitored so that faults may be quickly and easily located by visual observations of the behaviour of the glow discharges.