mikes new board

[westdave]

mike's new board ,a no microprocessor approach,to nixie/dekatron clock,

there is a new kid on the nixie block ,the three neurons nixie clock is what ever you need it to be , a quick project or you can spend weeks on it ,adding things on,
designed to be driven by a 9 vac (1 amp)  transformerd wall wart and timed at 60hz,is the easiest configuration , and uses the dekatron pendulum as part of the timing circuit, however

a 12 volt dc switching power supply may be used ,if you go this way there is no 60hz to run the dekatron part of the clock so a 60hz faker has to be made (from a lm555) and added on. also a 1 Hz clock single must be found ,recommended are ds1306, xtal osc at 1hz,
also you can add a GPS mod (EM406a) 5 volts dc input GPS 1 pps output ,in  ttl . for about $40 and have a second that will not drift,i have a few of these set for the same second and they do not drift apart

The cosmos chips are real cheap and the 5 nixie drivers can also be purchased very reasonably (this is where most of the power goes)


learning to use my shop vise to squash the 20 pin header on to the 20 wire rainbow wire and trim with a scissors, was easy,
admittedly working with the raw wires on the other the end of the header takes some time
stripping and tinning but it lets you use any type of tube (and socket) you want and space them any way you want

i like to add two plus minus tubes (flashing a +- every .5hz) instead of colons making a set of 8 nixie tubes also an add on (two 220k resistors and a mpsa42 xsistor and two anode resistors aprox 10k depending on the nixie tubes used)

the switches have no clocking inputs(they just read an add on pulse so you might have to push it 59 times to set the mins 12 times for the hours

 , and a hold switch will have to be added to sync the seconds exactly.

another add on is the leading zero (two 220k resistors and a mpsa42 xsistor)
and
 just to add an extra layer of fun the first run of boards need some reworked, 
to work,this has been carefully worked out by mike and might hake an extra 30 mins to go over, four  wires and two diodes (in4814)are the FIX,

the board has many discreet parts mostly to run the dekatron pendulum
many types of dekatron tubes are supported
needs a Taylor 1363 hv power supply to work,just plugs in (sweet)
other stuff, the diodes are all common 1n400x(7)  1n4814 little glass jobs
19 of the resistors are one value 22k,6 transistors are mpsa 42 one mpsa92 and one mpsa05,make sure the 1uf is 100 volts or more&that 4 are 250 volts
Davester sez ,this one has it all

[westdave]

[threeneurons]

Thanx Dave,

Well, I wanted to keep it low profile for a while, since I don't have any "kitted up". Finally, my package from Bulgaria arrived, with my Russian 74141s. US Customs, ain't saints, either.  I can now make up, and list some kits.

Thank God, for the Russians "stealing" (or at least copying) Western technology, back during the Cold War ! At least we have a source of old parts, without getting our anal cavities stretched by the likes of Richardson's.

http://threeneurons.wordpress.com/nixie-power-supply/nixie-clock-kit-6-digit-discrete-logic-with-dekatron-pendulum/

[Mich...@aol.com]

(Expected) Kit price?

- with/without tubes, etc.

 

Employee discounts?  :)

 

Michail

 

In a message dated 5/16/2012 11:12:04 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, threen...@yahoo.com writes:

I can now make up, and list some kits.

http://threeneurons.wordpress.com/nixie-power-supply/nixie-clock-kit-6-digit-discrete-logic-with-dekatron-pendulum/