Welcome & please introduce yourself!

[neonixie-l]

Ladies & Gentlemen,,,

We are getting a steady stream of new members - it'd be great if, instead of just lurking, you could introduce yourselves with a bit of detail about your interests, what you've built or intend to build/dream of building. Even what gets you up the morning and makes you smile!

Even existing members (there are over 1,000) could chip in - there's some great stuff around...

Welcome, one and all to this great community!

Nick

[Bill van Dijk]

Someone once said that there is more to be learned from listening than talking. I like to use this as my excuse for being (mostly) a lurker. I have built several different types of clocks, including a Numitron based clock which was featured a while back in the Nuts and Volts magazine, and made available as a kit. I like old electronics, so many tubes are included in my (fairly large) inventory of “things”. I hyphenated that word since my wife calls it entirely something different. I was educated as an electronics engineer (back when transistors were just a curiosity…..) but ended up in mechanical engineering as a profession. I suppose that was good at some level, since not everyone likes their job and hobby to be the same. I do lament the lackluster interest the younger generation seems to have for the “basics”, they seem much happier to plug a fruity board into a shield, load a prebuilt software library, and call it a project. Some would not know the difference between a Volt and an Amp.

 

Anyhow, I am (mostly) just a retired and lurking Old Phart……

 

Bill van Dijk

 

From: neonixie-l [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 11:03 AM
To: neonixie-l <neoni...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [neonixie-l] Welcome & please introduce yourself!

 

Ladies & Gentlemen,,,

 

We are getting a steady stream of new members - it'd be great if, instead of just lurking, you could introduce yourselves with a bit of detail about your interests, what you've built or intend to build/dream of building. Even what gets you up the morning and makes you smile!

 

Welcome, one and all to this great community!

 

Nick

 

 

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[gregebert]

For me, nixie-tube projects are a double-dose of what I love to do: vintage display devices and electronic design.

I started in electronics at age 5 by destroying things, then taking them apart, then fixing or salvaging, and finally, creating. That process took almost 15 years.

In 1976 I got a piece of surplus equipment that had 6 nixie tubes, and it was the coolest thing I ever saw. I would turn it on, just to play with it; so many knobs, colorful illuminated switches, and of course the nixie tubes. I used the frequency counter a few times over the next 10 years while I took up computers as a hobby (as in, soldering S100 kits, wire-wrapping, writing *all* of my software), then scrapped it. The nixie tubes sat in my junkbox for about 25 years.

Then in 2011 as our 2 kids got closer to college I had more time on my hands and accidentally got back into electronics: I had an older PC that was uselessly slow running windows, but as I literally held it over the trashcan I had an epiphany that there must be something useful that his computer could do. So I found a bunch of free software (Linux, gEDA tools, Altera FPGA tools, SPICE, Verilog simulators) and had a fully working CAD system that I could design anything, and debug it, then build it. Now all I needed was a project.........and what do you suppose I found in my junkbox ???

Each project starts out with objectives, and the first project was to layout a PCB, have it fabbed, and have it work the first time. It also had to have CMOS logic gates that were powered directly off the AC line without a transformer (dont ask...it's a weird idea that popped into my head years ago and I had to try it out). And it had to have battery backup because I hate resetting clocks when there's a brief power blip.

That project went so well, each of our 2 kids built their own.

So, that's the "what" behind my projects. As far as the "why", I'm an EE by education and passion. I like making things, but my day-job as an engineering manager at a major semiconductor manufacturer leaves me unsatisfied because in the business world there are ridiculous schedule pressures, politics, endless frustration with design tools and methodologies that make no logical sense and take far longer with more effort than 'old school' methods. By doing my own designs, I'm completely free to do what I want, how I want to, in whatever timeframe, whatever cost I choose, and I can do things I find interesting regardless of their commercial value. It's also a test-of-will, because I have never given up on any of my nixie projects (or project cancellations as they are called at my day-job).

My current project (NIMO tube clock) has things like op-amps, A->D, D->A converters, lots of diagnostic code written in C,ncurses,  high-voltage supply, and a lot of analog peculiarities. I didn't exactly have to design it that way, but I wanted to because I've never done a design with any of those things and this was a chance to learn all of them. Not only have I learned way more about all of those things than I ever thought I would, it's led me to other things I want to explore on my next project. My only fear is that I have more projects that I want to do than years remaining in my lifetime.

[J Forbes]

Old member here...Jim Forbes, in Arizona, USA.

I joined a long time ago. My brother got me interested in Nixies again, in the early 2000s. when he started making clocks and his Nixie watch. (David runs Cathode Corner)

I made a clock way back then,  http://selectric.org/nixie/index.html  and wore one of the prototype 2 tube watches for a while, although a few years later I got a production round watch, then I got one of the Beta square watches, which is what I usually wear these days.

Still waiting for David to get that Nixie automotive instrument thing going, so I can put some of them in my old cars.

[Thomas Kummer]

New member, but I’ve already posted here before. Anyway, my only completed project was the spectrum1040 with B6091 tubes, really loved everything about that project the soldering, making the case etc. I have a 12V UV LED disk that I will be attaching to the power supply then a bottle of Nuka Cola quantum will be mounted onto the clock to give it some fallout looking appearance. 

As for a future project I plan on making nixie car gauges, from IN-17s so they’ll fit into a standard size gauge housing, posted the schematic a few weeks ago, I had a buddy who was gonna do the programming for me, but I don’t know that he will now and may have to learn C++ on my own. I have little to no formal training in electronic engineering, but have been more or less successfully self teaching myself. 

Sent from my iPhone

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[David Forbes]

Hi. I'm David Forbes. I'm an electrical engineer, working in the field of radio astronomy. But electronics is also my main hobby. 

I started playing with Nixie tubes in 2000, when Tom Jennings gave me a few that he had been collecting to build Nixie clocks. He also got me interested in oscilloscope CRTs as a numeric display device. 

I developed a scope clock, a few Nixie clocks, and a Nixie watch in the next few years. I still make Nixie watches, having produced a couple thousand since 2005. They seemed to become popular as a result of the Woz wearing one. You can see Seth Rogen tell Steve Jobs all about the Nixie watch in the 2015 film Steve Jobs.

I am currently going through some life changes, so I haven't had time to focus on my projects much. I have a big pile of tubes that want to get turned into products.

On Wed, Sep 19, 2018, 8:03 AM neonixie-l <neoni...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Ladies & Gentlemen,,,

We are getting a steady stream of new members - it'd be great if, instead of just lurking, you could introduce yourselves with a bit of detail about your interests, what you've built or intend to build/dream of building. Even what gets you up the morning and makes you smile!

Welcome, one and all to this great community!

Nick

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[Nick]

Well, I suppose I should reply to my own message!

I am an EE by training - did my degree and then worked for one of the major players, initially working on digital filtering for the radar for Harrier jump-jets - I learnt to drive by pretending to be a Harrier - we couldn't have a real one on site for the whole project, so we had a big LandRover with about $2M work of equipment in the back and a big, remote controlled, telescopic mast on top with our transducers on the end. I spent a lovely summer driving up and down a field with the mast going up and down, pretending to be a Harrier coming into land.

Moved out of being a professional EE pretty quickly - always liked running my own businesses, so went into financial software for big banks - after 10 years, that business was sold and I went through a few more startups. Some were great, some crashed & burnt! Worked at HP, DEC, start-ups, a hedge fund or two, a big derivatives exchange etc. along the way. 

Last couple of years have been having fun in the UAE.

Still very much an engineer at heart & love designing & building stuff. I have far FAR too many tubes - over 10,000 of which a large percentage are nixies of all types.

My main interests are in ultra-low-power environmental monitoring using IoT motes, valve audio, bees and building & designing eco-houses.

Now getting to that stage of life where I want to have less stuff, so am downsizing the stock and am in the process of designing the next eco-house with my wife (of 30 years, this week!).

Nick

[Paul Parry]

Hi, I'm Paul and I started making Nixie clocks late 2013, I remember taking a calculator apart in the late 1970's that had Nixies in, and they have stayed with me ever since!

I took what was a hobby at the time, into a a full scale business, and I now make Nixie clocks for a living, and run Bad Dog Designs with my wife, and we have a couple of guys in on a part time basis to help out. 

My work is primarily commission based, and I make the clocks more as art pieces than time pieces. I love doing what I do and as long as people still want them I shall keep going. 

[Jeff Walton]

I’m more of a consumer of the talents on display in the group.  My background is EE engineer that spent most of the career in technical sales with 25 years in semiconductors (Texas Instruments, Signetics, Mitsubishi).  Today I do tech support for some engineering design software and manage a small network of 30 computers and a server.  Otherwise, my working days are coming to an end.   Nixies and clocks are an expensive hobby but I’ve met some really brilliant people all over the world doing it.

 

My love of nixies goes back to a senior college project to design something for use around the home.  I had to do this as a graduation requirement for my college advisor and document starting from concept to demonstration of a final product.  I bought some B7971’s (two for $7.95) from a magazine ad by Burnstein-Applebee along with a bunch of TTL logic chips and some perfboard.  Back then, software was on punchcards with a mainframe, so the clock logic was lots of gates, flops and counters.  I quickly figured out that a 15 segment display had the added joy of coming up with a font logic and lots more transistors for the breadboard, so I switched to a real “nixie” CK8754 (NL-840) and built the clock with newly released SN74141 outputs, point to point wiring and no sockets.  Along with a filament transformer and a crude voltage doubler, my dorm room clock ran reliably for another 35 years before one of the HV caps in the doubler circuit decided to dry out, catch fire and try to burn the house down.   I learned a lot about the value of no mains in the clock housing.  I also learned that a well designed nixie could run for a LONG time.

 

Today I build and modify kits and complain about firmware and I always manage to find bugs somewhere.  I finally got to use those B7971’s that were sitting in storage since the early 70’s!  I don’t do software but still get the urge for design so most of my “enhancements” are small.  The thing that still fascinates me is the amazing nixie tube in all of its variations.  There is no substitute for the soft glow of a cross-fading PWM controlled nixie.  I’m thrilled to see people like Dalibor completely reinvent the art of the nixie and all of the really talented folks around the world that have designed some really beautiful kits.  There is SO much more possible with processors and the FET technology that was not around when I was starting.  Vacuum tubes, BJT, and early TTL were the black magic of my college experience and PCB manufacturing with surface mount is light years ahead of the stuff of the 60’s.

 

Thanks for keeping the group going and for some of the incredible sharing of concept and design.   

 

Jeff Walton

 

 

From: neonixie-l [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 10:03 AM
To: neonixie-l
Subject: [neonixie-l] Welcome & please introduce yourself!

 

Ladies & Gentlemen,,,

 

We are getting a steady stream of new members - it'd be great if, instead of just lurking, you could introduce yourselves with a bit of detail about your interests, what you've built or intend to build/dream of building. Even what gets you up the morning and makes you smile!

 

Welcome, one and all to this great community!

 

Nick

 

 

--

[Paul Andrews]

My background is technical/scientific with a very broad reach, which reflects my diverse interests. My day job though, is software engineering.

I can't remember when I first saw a Nixie clock, but at the time they were out of my price range. Fast forward to a few years ago, and they suddenly seemed more affordable, so I bought  a kit and put it together. It was a good kit, but I was also disattisfied with some aspect of it and figured 'how hard can it be'? This should be written on my grave stone. It's a frame of mind that leads me down interesting pathways, and in this case has occupied my spare time for the last couple of years (and is likely to occupy it for a long time to come). Saying it is a path though is slightly misleading. It implies a linear progression from one point to another, but in fact I have been all over the place. My ostensible aim was to just design and build an IN-18 clock, but I have gotten diverted into restoring old radios and other vintage equipment, building a battery-powered nixie clock, building an ITS1A clock, collecting nixies tubes, putting a few more kits together, and (of course) learning enough electronics to do all of this. There is much, much more to learn, and I have barely touched on case fabrication.

So for me, I guess it is a gateway hobby.

To show how easily distracted I am, the phrase 'and they suddenly seemed more affordable' almost derailed this entire response. It strikes me as worthy of a research project.

[Allen Wisbey]

I'm Allen, and I'm addicted to clocks!

I've been lurking around various iterations of NeoNixie-L for quite a
few years.

I don't design clocks, but I do love to build them! I have built all
sorts of electronic clocks, Nixies mostly, but meter clocks, scope
clocks, BulbDial, LED, binary... you get the idea. They are one of those
things you can always find a place for.

My most prized clocks are a David Forbes Scope Clock 200 mounted in an
old PocketScope oscilloscope case. Also a Claus Urbach IN-18 kit fitted
in an aluminum case (Klok) It was upgraded to GPS precision and Claus
sent me a new controller that "fixed" the date to display in American
format rather than International format. Both of these are amazing, I
get many comments on them. They really catch the eye of visitors.

I have in the works for a rainy day a FLW kit, an Approximate Clock by
Nick Stock (I've had the parts for years, just have never found THE
enclosure to put it in). And several other nixie and VFD clocks.

Overall I have built 14 nixie, 4 VFD, 2 BulbDial, 2 Meter, 1 Scope, and
one plain jane LED clock.

I am an Amateur Radio (Ham) guy and have built several radios over the
years as well.

Solder and rosin smoke, I love it :-)

73 de Allen, W1SBY

[MROBOTO]

Hi all,

I gained a degree in Product Design in the eighties, initially designing by hand with pen and pencil then later learning CAD and drafting when PC's became affordable/powerful enough. In 1988 I had an epiphany in a movie theater when I saw a 5 minute animated short film "Tin Toy"  by Pixar, being shown before the main feature. As a result I shifted career sideways into technical 3D computer generated animations and architectural visualizations for the next 27 years until finally I lost the passion for it. Realizing I needed to re-invent myself, I took some time off to think. I was always into designing lighting, furniture, playing with audio gear and tinkering with basic electronics, With the advent of cheaper CNC prototyping tools such as 3D printers and CNC routers I thought I would get back into Product Design. The idea was to start making low production run, high quality, designer items. I just wasn't sure what to make, I just needed something small and easy. I want the stuff I make to be durable and be handed down through generations. I hate the "planned obsolescence" inherent in most products we buy.

Another epiphany came soon after in late 2015 on a world trip. On my last night in Osaka, Japan before flying back home I stumbled across a hobbyist electronics / robotics store. In among the multitude of kits on offer were some Nixie tube and VFD tube clock kits. I knew this was something I wanted to do. I have spent the last 2 years collecting knowledge, tools and parts to make quirky, durable products. Nixie clocks, lamps, speakers and amps are the main focus.The workshop is set up and prototypes are being made. It's taken a long time as I am working a full time day job in an unrelated field to pay the bills but hopefully will transition into becoming a maker full time.

[Dalibor]

Hello,

I am Dalibor, my background is software develpment / running own businesses.

I met nixie tubes first time in 2011 at age of 27 and they immediately became my full-time obsession. Like most of you, I also wanted to build a clock with large tubes - but I came too late, Z568M and bigger ones were already unobtainable. So I decided to build my own tubes.. Set up a budget of USD $5,000 and like true gambler eventually ruined all our household savings of $80,000 ;-) Fortunately I made it and now I run tiny business manufacturing nixie tubes and clocks.

I polish the manufacturing techniques, do research and development and slowly grow to bring new models of clocks/nixie tubes to customers. Keeping the technology of nixie tubes alive became my love, obsession and (business) life meaning. I will do it as long as there is interest in this specific piece of electronic history.

Dalibor Farny

[Dennis]

Hello every body and welcome all the new comers. I'm Dennis and I joined this group back in the Yahoo days. I haven't posted anything in some time but do enjoy reading what's going on. My nixie hobby has taken a back burner since retirement but still enjoy the clocks and other gizmos I have and have a nice stash of tubes. I retired from the Navy and received a great deal of electronic training in all those years. A lot of equipment back then used nixies and neon tubes. My interest in nixie tubes date back to the 60's when you could still buy them at Radio Shack. Most of my stuff I bought on line or from members here but I have built a few clocks of my own. I find it a lot of fun designing your own PCB's even if there are a few failures along the line. I've been thinking about designing something for the ham shack once our new house is finished and I can get all the ham gear and test equipment back in one spot again.

I'm now living in the Philippines and getting parts is impossible so have to wait until I return to the states to get what I need. My programming skills are really terrible, so much of what I do is TTL stuff. Also, IMHO if it glows it's good with me so a lot of the stuff here is vacuum tube tech.

So keep the threads coming and enjoy the hobby. If I get something going here of actual interest I'll post it.

[blkadder]

Hey All,

My name is Ron, and I have been fascinated by Nixie tubes since I saw them in the 80's.  When I learned that I could build my own Nixie clock, I ordered a kit from eBay, and some tubes from Russia.  Then I found Petes clocks, over at www.pvelectronics.co.uk, I have built a few of his kits, and a few others here and there.  What my wife finds funny is that with all the clocks I have built, we do not have any in the house.  Usually I build them and then give them to friends and family.  I recently found some fine grid IN-14 tubes and I am planning on actually building one that I am going to keep.  I hope one day to build a large tube clock with IN-18s or a set of Dalibors amazing tubes.  I have found lots of help here, and I am glad I found this site.

Ron

...Semper Fidelis...

[Joe Croft]

Hi Yall,

Welcome to the list of of the new folks who are lurking or not. I hope yall get as much satisfaction from it as I do!

I'm Joe Croft, I post some on this list but am not super active. I am a S/W enginerr by day and a small electronics hobbyist, clock collector and nixie nut by night. Being unschooled, at least formally, I found it was much easier to make money programming than as a production technician. I still love the smell of rosin and the feal of a good solder joint.

As I have told the story before, my intersest and love for electronics and neon glow lamps started when I was 7 with my dad's nothing boxes. Not to mention the 90volt batteries he used to power them with. My brother tought us to lick the fingers on both hands and touch the contects. He was a sick brother.

My job finally turned to completely S/W in my 40s. No more wiring up equipment in the lab for testing my code or soldering wires to pins to see what the code was doing. No more smell of rosin. That's what started my home hobby of playing with electronics at home. It also ended my foray into writing larger programs at home.

That change led me to build my first nixies clock, the NixieNeon. I didn't want just another processor tied to those wonderful glowing digits. I wanted the clock mechanics to match the age of the technology tubes. After some digging I found neon bulb ring counters and I was off running!

Now 9 years later, the NixieNon kits are still selling and I've come out with a second kit. The NixieStar. This kit does use a 8 bit processor and the IN-13 or IN-9 tubes. I also put my CNC machine to good use and created a wood 'case' for it. My hope was to create a clock that the wives of geeky husbands would like ;)

My clock site is http://www.nixieneon.com. On it I have various information on Nixie tubes and other stuff as well as pictures and videos of my dad's nothing box that started it all. You can also check out the kits and buy one if you are so moved.

-joe

On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 10:03 AM neonixie-l <neoni...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Ladies & Gentlemen,,,

We are getting a steady stream of new members - it'd be great if, instead of just lurking, you could introduce yourselves with a bit of detail about your interests, what you've built or intend to build/dream of building. Even what gets you up the morning and makes you smile!

Welcome, one and all to this great community!

Nick

[Richard Arndt]

My Name is Richard Arndt. 

As I read your stories, I find myself smiling as though you are long lost friends, kindred spirits from ages ago :-)  I was bored to death back in elementary school (1960's).  My teachers said I was a smart fella but that I could not stay focused and was always day dreaming... This is true!!!  I was bored to death.  I didn't want to sit, I wanted to do something with my hands.  Fortunately the second time through 4th grade, my teacher took a special interest in me and introduced me to crystal radios.  That's when it all started for me... my first love!  I built a Knight-Kit CB radio in 7 grade... got my Amateur Radio License in 8th grade... proctored the students Morse code test for my teacher Charles F Rockey (W9SCH) in my 9th grade electronics class... got my FCC First Class Radio Telephone licences in 11th grade... then got some lucky beaks along the way ending in a 40+ career as a hardware/software engineer doing some fun things.  Later I even wrote a technical article "SuperSCAF and Son" in QST which resulted in a small business for several years.  Most of my career however was spent in the telephony industry designing modems, telephones and telephone systems... all thanks to a 4th grade teach who took a special interest in me, and my mother who supported and encouraged my interests.

In 2010 I got caught up in a layoff of 200+ engineers, which began some sole searching.  Over time, as we entered the the 90's "Information Age", hardware development and manufacturing migrated to countries with greater economies of scale for this sort of work, which meant I was mostly writing software.  I was growing tired of staring at an LCD screen punching keys all day, while trying to meet unrealistic schedules with insufficient budgets and minimal man power.  I was missing the days of being locked up in a lab at my work bench with the oscilloscope, signal generator, voltmeter, tons of electronic parts and the smell of molten solder... and of course... a few burn marks and cuts on my hand!

My sole searching lead me to teaching at a university.  I am now facing students, not an LCD screen... and teaching basic electronics and micro-controllers (I love 8-bitters)... and I have a lab again!!!  OH... and by the way... I have made several one tube Nixie Clocks, which I call "OneNixie".  I even made one using Dalibor's tube, which was on display at Hyder Art Gallery here in my home town.  I recently designed a single digit mechanical 7-segment display clock which I call "OneVane" :-)  The only problem with OneVane is that it displays hours::minutes one digit at a time... and listening to it drives me nuts!!!  Click... click... click... click... click... etc... like a dripping faucet.  If only I could tether it within a vacuumed bottle (Dalibor?) !

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardarndt/

Regards, Rich

On Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at 11:03:23 AM UTC-4, neonixie-l wrote:

[Morris Odell]

Hi all,

I'm Morris, here in Melbourne Australia. My first degree was in Electrical Engineering and although I changed careers to something quite different a few years later I have retained an interest in electronic and mechanical engineering. I started making nixie clocks about 20 years ago and my first all TTL clock with six ZM1040 tubes is still going strong in the family room. I've since made many different types of electronic and electromechanical clocks with lots of different technologies - nixies, E1T counting tubes, incandescent edge lit displays, vacuum tubes, GPS controlled, mains frequency controlled, quartz controlled, nixies driven by telephone exchange uniselectors, dekatron pendulums, a few CRT radar clocks including one with a four letter word display on screen, a B7971 four letter word clock of my own design, a rehabilitated HP Cesium (sic) standard with its Patek Phillipe movement and  a nixie IRIG repeater, electronic chimes & strike, a nixie clock in a skull for my office at work - you name it.

Recently I've taken up mechanical clock repairing and intend to actually make some mechanical clocks, with or without mechanical features once I have more time available after I retire next year. There's a lovely IBM electromechanical master pendulum clock ticking and kachunking away behind me as I write this - synchronizing the pendulum to the GPS 1 pps will happen eventually.

I'm always interested in weird, unusual and obsolete technologies and look forward to making lots of unusual clocks and other devices in future.

Cheers,

Morris

[Nicholas Stock]

My name is Nick and I'm a nixieholic. There, I've said it...I've heard that admitting the problem is 50% of the solution, but I digress...

I'm not an EE by trade, but my dad is and I blame him. It started when I built my first stereo (a John Linsley Hood Mosfet Amp from an Electronics Today International article back in the late 1980's/early 1990's from a company called williamshart who sold the kits..it still works to this day..). It's been a downhill slope ever since. Cut to 2001 and my first job in the Pharmaceutical industry (I'm a medicinal chemist by trade) and I stumbled on Jeff Thomas' website....oh dear, that's when things really got out of hand. I built one of his Commemorative Nixie tube clocks as a kit (including drilling out the sockets for the tubes as Jeff didn't have any....;-) and it still runs to this day. Then came the Nixisats, WWVB, Nixichron, GPSII etc etc and then all the other great designs out there. I've lost count of how many clocks I've made. I then started to 'add value' by building nice cases for them and thus started a small hobby that could 'almost' pay for itself...(ha ha, who am I kidding...). Interests then broadened to dekatrons, VFD's, CRT's and numitrons....life has never been the same since and my wife thinks I'm crazy (but she does like the end products, so that's a relief...). One of the most rewarding parts of this is all the people and friends I've made across the globe who are similar fans of antique displays...I've even met up with some of them and had drinks, dinner etc. I'm now trying to learn more about how to build the things from scratch, but with two young kids and a day job, I only know enough about electronics to ask very stupid questions....hopefully this will change one day...we shall see, I've been stockpiling bits for just that occasion....

Welcome to the new members, there's no such thing as a stupid question (unless you ask the same thing twice...;-), there's a wealth of very smart people on here who are generous with their time and knowledge.

Cheers,

(Pharma) Nick

On Thursday, 20 September 2018 01:03:23 UTC+10, neonixie-l wrote:

Ladies & Gentlemen,,,

We are getting a steady stream of new members - it'd be great if, instead of just lurking, you could introduce yourselves with a bit of detail about your interests, what you've built or intend to build/dream of building. Even what gets you up the morning and makes you smile!

Even existing members (there are over 1,000) could chip in - there's some great stuff around...

Welcome, one and all to this great community!

Nick

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[Terry Kennedy]

On Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at 11:03:23 AM UTC-4, neonixie-l wrote:

Even existing members (there are over 1,000) could chip in - there's some great stuff around...

My name is Terry Kennedy (though it probably says that on top) and I describe myself as a "semi-retired Internet Geek". One of my first jobs in the early 70's during [US] High School was working in a TV repair shop, back when those still existed. We made house calls and swapped tubes - anything more complicated came back to the shop.

My first exposure to Nixie Tubes was on Radio Row in New York City (pre-World Trade Center), where I bought 2 of the inexpenive board + 2 tubes that were surplus from the Ultronic Systems stock ticker systems. I never did get enough money together to purchase the kit of parts to actually turn them into a clock, though I do remember being able to get them to light up.

Fast forward [quite] a few decades and I saw link somewhere to Ray "take the money and run" Weisling, and foolishly pre-paid for 2 sets of GeekKlok + GAM kits, which were never delivered, although there was no shortage of excuses (a pattern repeated to this day on crowd-funding platforms). I put my 7971s away and waited for the day I'd have something to use them in. During that time, my search for information on Ray's status led me to the Yahoo! group, which I believe he co-founded with AF. I found a bunch of like-minded folks and bought a few assembled clocks (the Jeff Thomas Nixichron being one of the first) as well as a large number of assorted kits, ranging from the mundane (6 IN-18) to the bizarre (ITS1A with MTX90 ring counters). I also had the first Qlocktwo (from B&F) in the United States. Most rooms in my house have at least 2 clocks, which led to a variety of solutions to keep them all synchronized.

Somewhere along the line, I discovered the MOD-SIX clock from Carl and Michael and finally had a project for my 7971 tubes (and a need for more). I got in pretty early (serial 018) and contributed a number of suggestions for the assembly notes. I also decided that a clock that nice deserved to have more than the usual page or 2 of instructions that accompany the average clock / kit and accepted the challenge of making a commercial-quality manual for it. That manual has now grown to 130 pages in 2 documents and I was promoted my Michael to be the third guy on the project - http://badnixie.com/MOD-SIX_Info_Page.html

I also have a pretty large stash of oddball display devices and there will likely be an interesting project announced (with kits available) in the New Year.

When I'm not working to keep all of my clocks in sync, I also have a number of retrocomputing interests, as well as taking up an old hobby of mine, exploring old mines with groups of like-minded folks.

[Tomasz Kowalczyk]

Hi, I'm Tomasz. I'm one of the youngest in here - being born after the end of production of nixie tubes, even in USSR.
I've made my first contact with nixies while studying - Warsaw University of Technology is still using Meratronik equipment, because it is considered idiotproof  - and first year students would damage a brick, if they were given one. Shortly after my first times with electricity in a lab I've got into hobbyist level electronics and it quickly succeeded my previous one (origami). Some time has passed and I am doing electronics as a hobby, as my job and I am studying it too. 
I've designed only one clock so far. I'm not very proud of it, as it is controlled by spaghetti code written on Atmega328 using Arduino IDE. Also, the power section has some issues. The clock is working for 2 years now. Designing the clock was challenging to me, as it involved doing almost everything for the first time in my life - making a stable step up converter, timer management through registers directly, PCB design etc. All of that was a good lesson to me and I think the clock was more valuable than my CV when I was applying for my first (and current) job.

I am actively working on an upgrade using STM32 as core and with more universal power source - USB. 

However, the work has been greatly slowed down, because I've got involved into yet another vintage electronics hobby - vacuum tube amplifiers. So far, I've designed a headphone OTL amplifier based on E80CC in preamp and a White follower made with E88CC. It packs 50mW/channel into my 150Ω headphones with 1% THD (and then breaks into distortion quickly). At normal-loud listening volumes THD is lower than my scope could measure. Also my friend and me have recently built a copy of Marshall JTM50 amplifier with few tweaks (changed all ground routing and added a switch, which essentialy changes it into Plexi. Also there is a rectifier switch - silicon/vacuum). It sounds great and has lower noise/hum than original Marshall amplifiers!
So, for now, I am more of a nixie tube hoarder than actual clock builder. Searching for cheap/very rare tubes became a hobby on its own. But hey, at least I've got plenty of material to work with in the future! Plus, nixies are probably a better investment against inflation than gold or any other precious metal or mineral.

[petehand]

Pete Hand here. I've been a member of the group for at least ten years but I hardly ever post. I just scan the digest and log in if I see something of interest. I'm a retired EE. I'm probably best known here for my Four Letter Word designs, which I created because I had promised my daughter a Weisling FLW for a wedding present and he didn't deliver. Since then I've probably distributed about 150 of them in three or four formats. I mention this because people still occasionally ask me for one and I was considering making some more.

[John Harwood]

Hey Pete,

 

I am new to the site and like you just watching at least for now.  I actually joined because I am working on a “Steam Punk” espresso machine, and I wanted, as much as possible the display electronics to be visible inside a glass dome.  But I am about as inexperienced electronics engineer as you find and I am looking for someone to build those parts for me.  Might that be you?

 

Best

John

 

 

From: petehand
Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2018 12:02 AM
To: neonixie-l

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[Nick]

They were great clocks Pete - I've got 3 - still got a couple of boards left over from the European distribution list.

I'm sure if you made up another batch they'd go like hot cakes - I use PCBway now and boards (good quality) are soooo cheap.

Nick

[Donald Stramock]

Hi Peter,

I bought one and the acrylic case way back, and your clock still going strong.  I too, feel you should make more, I would be interested again!

Regards,

Don S

Sent from my iPad

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[petehand]

I quit making them because I didn't think there were enough B7971s left to justify it.

[Nick]

What about the ZM1350 version?

[Shaun Merrigan]

Pete,

I’d certainly be interested in a couple of B7971 FLW boards/kits if you decide to do another run. Also the ZM1350 would make an interesting project.

Thanks,

Shaun Merrigan

Sent from my iPad6

No Regret


> On Oct 3, 2018, at 02:43, Nick <gerbilp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> What about the ZM1350 version?

>
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[Thomas Kummer]

What about a B-5971 version, or a IV-17, I know the latter isn’t a Nixie tube, but in my opinion they’re still neat.

Sent from my iPhone

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[petehand]

Like these?

[John Harwood]

Yes but to go on stalks inside the glass dome.

 

John

 

 

From: petehand
Sent: Wednesday, October 3, 2018 1:10 PM
To: neonixie-l
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Welcome & please introduce yourself!

 

Like these?

 

 

 

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[Nicholas Stock]

Yes, like those Pete.....please? I'd build one for the ZM1350 and the IV-4/17 ....

On Wed, Oct 3, 2018 at 1:10 PM petehand <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:

Like these?

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[Jan Wuesten]

Hello List,

good idea to start such threads from time to time.

Since this list moved to google I am pretty much off-list because I hardly use my gmail account.

Anyway, this is me: Jan Wuesten, owner of askjanfirst.com

We are suppliers of tubes, also nixies, and have helped a lot of projects starting in the past like the Karlssonclock, the Jeff Thomas Nixiesat etc.

Nixies are getting rarer now but we still hace some.

Not to many, but  we do also have many more projects in the pipieline.

For october an equaliser kit using EM800 Telefunken tubes is in the pipeline and we also supply all you need to build a scopeclock.

All the best

Jan

Am Mi., 19. Sep. 2018 um 17:03 Uhr schrieb neonixie-l <neoni...@googlegroups.com>:

Ladies & Gentlemen,,,

We are getting a steady stream of new members - it'd be great if, instead of just lurking, you could introduce yourselves with a bit of detail about your interests, what you've built or intend to build/dream of building. Even what gets you up the morning and makes you smile!

Welcome, one and all to this great community!

Nick

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[Kevin A.]

Hi everyone,

My name is Kevin, and I've recently developed a nixie obsession. This seems like the place to be for those who are obsessed with all kinds of glowing tubes!

Also, I'm currently working on a project to make a 10 digit display from NL840 tubes, with dots and a plus/minus NL843 tube (primarily for a calculator). It is driven by four Microchip HV5530 serial to parallel converters and an arduino (12v to 3.3v logic level shifter of course). Here is a quick demo video I've made of testing the display (haven't quite figured out the software yet; first time!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=468QV6E7rm4

Currently, I've found myself getting stumped with the software aspect of driving these four daisy chained HV chips. They are essentially 32 bit shift registers back to back, for a total of 128 bits. Some of the outputs are not used too, please see the pcb (I didn't make a traditional schematic). If anyone can see my bitbanging code that was used in the video (https://github.com/verrucktmechaniker/nixie-calculator/blob/master/bitbang_test) and my board layout image (https://postimg.cc/LnKstKLh) and make sense of how to control this, that would be awesome! I definitely plan on releasing this project as a step by step do-it-yourself once I get some help and figure out the software/control side of things!

Thanks

On Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at 11:03:23 AM UTC-4, neonixie-l wrote:

Ladies & Gentlemen,,,

We are getting a steady stream of new members - it'd be great if, instead of just lurking, you could introduce yourselves with a bit of detail about your interests, what you've built or intend to build/dream of building. Even what gets you up the morning and makes you smile!

Even existing members (there are over 1,000) could chip in - there's some great stuff around...

[Kevin A.]

I forgot to add that two details not visible in my PCB are that the polarity (POL) line on the HV5530's is pulled high, and the blank lines (BL) are connected to the microcontroller on a PWN pin, as defined in the code. 

[Paul Andrews]

Use the SPI Library - it handles the bitbanging and the timing for you (I’m typing this on my phone, so it is a bit rough)

You may need to use a different SPI mode. There are four possibilities

You will also need to figure out which pins the SPI library uses.

In setup:

     digitalWrite(LEpin, LOW); // Initialize latch

  SPI.begin(); // 
  SPI.setDataMode (SPI_MODE3); // Mode 3 SPI
  SPI.setClockDivider(SPI_CLOCK_DIV128); /

In loop:
To write data:

Write a byte

SPI.transfer(iTmp);

Lock data:

  digitalWrite(LEpin, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(LEpin, LOW);

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[Kevin A.]

Thanks Paul. I'll give SPI a shot tonight and play around with the different modes. Thank you

[Gary Gaspar]

I'm a retired electrician Maintenance Supervisor last work for Coca-Cola from 1986 to 2016 my best friend has been building nixie tube builds clocks since the 70s I have been building Tesla Coils longer but like clocks too but do not build any just like to read about what's new. In many areas

On Tuesday, October 2, 2018 12:02 AM, petehand <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:

Pete Hand here. I've been a member of the group for at least ten years but I hardly ever post. I just scan the digest and log in if I see something of interest. I'm a retired EE. I'm probably best known here for my Four Letter Word designs, which I created because I had promised my daughter a Weisling FLW for a wedding present and he didn't deliver. Since then I've probably distributed about 150 of them in three or four formats. I mention this because people still occasionally ask me for one and I was considering making some more.

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[Gary Gaspar]

yes

On Wednesday, October 3, 2018 1:10 PM, petehand <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:

Like these?

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[Tyler Bourne]

Hello!  Just thought I would post since I've been lurking for quite a while. 

I'm somewhat obsessed with vintage display technology and vintage electronics in general. 

I have several clock projects in the works as well as a couple pieces of equipment that incorporates Nixies that I would like to get working.

I'll post about those projects eventually.

[Ron Walsh]

Welcome to the nuthouse Tyler.  You will find many people who have fallen under the spell of the Nixie. 

...Semper Fidelis...

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[Nicholas Stock]

Never a truer word spoken Ron!

Welcome Tyler, this is a great community.

Cheers,

(Pharma) Nick

Sent from my iPhone

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[John G. Cross]

Greetings all, my name is John and I recently got started in electronics and Arduino as a hobby. I am a total newcomer but I stumbled across a Nixie tube clock on Instructables and I think they are the coolest looking things in the world. So I found this group and joined up because I want to know more about them.

To be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed and really don't know where to start. As someone with very little knowledge about electronics (besides the basic stuff like LEDs, resistors, capacitors, etc) and a pretty basic understanding of Arduino, where should I start?  Should I just buy one of the Nixie Tube clock kits and go to town?

Thanks for advice/support and I can't wait to spend all my money on this rabbit hole! :)

-John

[Thomas Kummer]

Yes, like those!! I would love to buy an IV-17 FLW clock from you!! Please!! 

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 3, 2018, at 15:10, petehand <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:

Like these?

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<Auto Generated Inline Image 1>

<Auto Generated Inline Image 2>

[alb.001 alb.001]

could you send these images as jpeg's   I did not see anything when I downloaded them

thanks Phil

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[petehand]

Ok, I'll probably make some more after Christmas.

[Thomas Kummer]

Thank you 

Sent from my iPhone

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[David Sloan]

Hello!! I only have the one Nixie Clock, designed and built by my dad in 1969, but I love them! I had a friend, a former NASA engineer, who built an arduino clock to replace some dead electronics in it to bring it back to life after 35 years. I’ll post pictures!

[Ron Walsh]

Looking forward to seeing what you have.  I am especially interested in an Arduino controlled clock.  I have built several clocks, most of which came from Pete over at pvelectronics.co.uk.  I still do not have a clock of my own,  much to my wife's  annoyance.

Ron

...Semper Fidelis...

On Saturday, January 26, 2019, 3:39:29 PM EST, David Sloan <davidsl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello!! I only have the one Nixie Clock, designed and built by my dad in 1969, but I love them! I had a friend, a former NASA engineer, who built an arduino clock to replace some dead electronics in it to bring it back to life after 35 years. I’ll post pictures!

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[lokn...@gmail.com]

If you are interested in a project that is controlled by a RPI Zero I found a great 6 x IN-4 clock that connects to a IOT Cloud portal and then pull traffic data from Google Maps API. The clock can then let you know the best time to leave the house for your commute. 

https://surfncircuits.com/2018/04/01/what-is-an-eta-nixie-tube-clock-and-how-do-you-build-one/

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[lokn...@gmail.com]

If you want a nice kit and do not mind soldering surface mount components GRA-AFGH has Arduino controlled clocks.

https://gra-afch.com/product-category/shield-nixie-clock-for-arduino/

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 26, 2019, at 16:09, Ron Walsh <mgb...@bellsouth.net> wrote:

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[Kevin A.]

I would also recommend tayloredge for arduino type clock projects. He makes a variety of "smart sockets" for all kinds of nixies which are I2C addressable; perfect for microcontroller based builds:

https://www.tayloredge.com/storefront/index.html

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[David Weiner]

west...@aol.com       i have not got any neonixie-l in a week check my settings please ,turn me on man!

[neonixie-l]

You have two registrations - one from 2018 on Gmail (all posts) and one from 2010 on aol (Digest).

Both are active...

Nick

[Gary Gaspar]

I see you Mr. Dave

On Saturday, February 16, 2019, 11:39:01 PM PST, neonixie-l <neoni...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

You have two registrations - one from 2018 on Gmail (all posts) and one from 2010 (Digest).

Both are active...

Nick

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[Christine Thompson]

Hi All,
As a fifty something, retired ex software engineer, now living in New Zealand, I had the opportunity to get involved in all things Nixie. Coming to the Nixie environment via my work with Arduino based projects I found an immediate interest in these fascinating display devices.

While I freely accept that I am very much a novice in this area, and seeing some of the exquisitely designed and built examples seen on You Tube and here within this group, I hope that through the knowledge and advise from the group's members I can aspire to such devices.

Currently I have completed two clocks, the first a kit based IN-14 six tube multiplex unit, the second an Arduino Mega based direct drive IN-8-2 six tube clock. I am working on a third clock, again Arduino Mega based which has two Arduino Mega boards which support six IN-18, six IN-12A, and two IN-15A Nixie tubes photos to follow.

I look forward to further involvment with this group and the undoubted benefits and help its members can provide.

[Mac Doktor]

[Work in progress. If you receive this it means I hit Send by accident (or forgot to delete this line)]

Yet another 50-something interested in all kinds of funky old electronics. Over the decades I've:

A: Repaired cable TV amplifiers, power supplies and field-strength meters. Much of this stuff was in very bad condition thanks to hurricanes, lightning strikes, etc. I look back on those days as "electronic repair boot camp".

B: Installed satellite dishes, the 10 foot/3 meter kind. I injured my back moving sacks of "just add water" concrete. I did several tall-pole installations, aligning the dish while standing on three levels of scaffolding with no safety railings, harness, etc. I was paid peanuts and had to put up with an alcoholic pothead every day.

C: Worked in a retail optical lab surfacing (grinding and polishing) and finishing (edging and putting in frames) lenses. I'll never work for a major corporation again; Dr. Stanley Perle may have cared about his customers but not so much his employees.

D: Was the jack-of-all-trades for what is now a large, famous software developer during its seminal years. I did everything no one else knew how to do as the company didn't have the money then to pay "real" professionals a decent salary. I created databases, used several different DTP programs (I'm still fluent in all of them), edited fonts, fixed computers, and laid out complex documents in multiple languages that didn't use the Roman alphabet. I wrote several applications in my beloved HyperCard (RIP—thanks, Steve) without which I could never have gotten any of that done. Editing the Arabic fonts to satisfy our translators was particularly fun.

I was utterly indispensable and paid peanuts. There was more than one version of the product that would never have shipped on time (if at all) if I hadn't been there to solve technical problems that were beyond the CS major college students that made up the Tech Dept. They missed me when I left. Even offered me more money (shock).

As you may have guessed from my signature this was all done on Macintosh computers (or clones, which were available before Jobs took up the reins again and killed HyperCard).

***

At this point I'm disabled, the old back injury being one piece of the puzzle. I was drawn into the Nixie et al world about a year ago. Since then I've bought up a number of parts and put a few kits together...

Threeneurons (Mike Moorrees): Dekatron Spinner, Nixie Thermometer

nixietester.com (Marcin Saj): Useless Nixie Device

I'm still waiting for someone to produce a kit for a voltmeter using IN-13s and IN-9s. Not yet another "VU meter" or thermometer, a general purpose device with a HV PS, adjustable input voltage range, and proper slew rate limiting and "pulsing" for reliable operation. I'm ready to pay $$$ for some. If anyone has already done it please tell me!

Finally, I have a small collection of vintage Nixie gear including a Systron Donner Time Code Generator/Reader. It works beautifully as an industrial quality, rack-mounted Nixie clock. No need to build another one. 8D

Oh, and I have a blog. Try not to laugh too hard at my amateurish attempts on various fronts:

https://www.astarcloseup.com/

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

[Bill Notfaded]

My name's Bill aka as the notfaded1, computer scientist, interested in all things retro and pre current technological age.  I have a few nixie clocks and recently I've been getting into IN-18 and B-7971 bulbs.  I recently acquired a Mod-Six V2 clock with GPS repeater and and the polished base.  I have some additional 7971's and am planning a new TES SmartSocket clock as well.  I want to use a Raspberry Pi3 to drive the clock and word display functions so it can interface to wifi and the internet.  If all goes well I'm hoping I'll have an 8 character display depending on the tubes I have.  I'll post some pictures soon.  I'm excited to see there are a lot of long time members of this group and many that go back to when it was hosted on Yahoo.  I'm guessing I've finally come to the right place to where others, like me, have been permanently bit by the nixie bug.

I live in Scottsdale Arizona in the valley of the sun.

Best Regards,

Bill

[Nicholas Stock]

Welcome aboard Bill!

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

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[Bill Notfaded]

Thanks Nick I really appreciate it 

Bill

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[neonixie-l]

Hi Bill - welcome to the group!

I saw you asking after a Ray Weisling GeekKlok - Ray died a few years ago, so support and upgrades are tricky. He was supposed to have given out the source code, but I'm not sure that ever happened. the price for that clock, as it includes the tubes, was very reasonable.

Was that an M-series BMW you had? I loved M3s - had the original E30 LHD homologation series from new starting in the '80s and loved them.

Nick (another one)

[Bill Notfaded]

Thanks Nick... yeah it's an E92 M3 the last of the naturally aspirated and a v8. It's the one with the bump on the hood. People knocked the non straight six when it came out but now o.O! It sure sounds a lot different.

[Pierre-Yves Clerson]

Hi,

Thx for adding me.

Can't wait to get knowledge on how make those damn Nixie bulbs work, ahah!

Next step will be Arduino programming (we are more Scratch and Mindstorm programming here)

[Richard Scales]

Greetings all, 

I have been an addict for over two years now. I started in electronics in 1980 then moved to software, Mostly Z80 Assembler and 6502 (as a hobby). I spent the rest of my career in supporting laser printers until I became self employed in 1997. In recent years I discovered Arduino and combined that with my hobbyist interest in electronics. When looking for something else (and I cannot remember what) I discovered Nixie Tubes and am now totally addicted.

I started with a PV QTC Kit and have built several more since as well as Spectrum 1040, 1080 and 568, Elite, DINK, Quattro, Halo and  FunKlock I have also built kits from Ian Sparkes and Paul Andrews and I also have a few Paul Andrews Single Tube clocks, Now I have started my own tube collection. I am the proud owner of a MOD-6 and have some spare tubes and a stack of 'Smart Sockets' that I will be putting together at some point.

Along the way I have learnt to use KiCad, EeasyEDA, Solid Edge 2019 and  CNC Routers (handy for case designs).

I have also been lucky to meet many talented and helpful individuals in several corners of the globe that have helped me with my stupid questions and ideas and have helped bring my ideas to life.

I am of course running out of organs to sell. The recent post regarding the sale of two B-7971's for over $500 is staggering, especially when I hear the tales of those who purchased them for around $7 a pair back in the day.

In the UK, as a youngster I used to purchase Practical Wireless magazine before moving on to Electronics Today International and it was a PW project that was my first ever clock build - it was a 4 x 7 segment LED clock based on the AY-5-1224 clock IC. I don't remember seeing any adds for Nixie Tubes at that time, but, if I knew then what I know now!

[Mahdi Al Husseini]

Hi, there,

I'm Al, from the States. I've been lurking around here for a few months, but thought to introduce myself. I'm certainly no electrical engineer, but I fell in love early with vacuum tubes of all shapes and sizes. I've messed with Nixies, Boroughs, Magic Eyes, Dekatrons, the list goes on. I started out buying and assembling a few of Pete's kits, then slowly began building my own clocks, calculators, and radios from the PCB up, mostly using Dalibor's tubes. It's been a real great journey so far, and i've got a long way to go. It's great to be here

mahdialhusseini.com

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[Hannah Mishin]

Hello!

I'm Hannah and I am in NYC.  I am really interested in old technologies as they correlate to modern ideas.

I am currently working on a VFD build (no Nixie specific experience) and playing with a flying spot scanner!

Here is a blog on my VFD project.  https://hannahmishin.com/blog/2017/4/30/russian-tri-color-vfd-indicator-clock

I am an Open Source Hardware supporter and believe in the sharing of knowledge (its how I know so much of what I do).

Cheers!

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[Paul Andrews]

Great write-up. I love reading (in detail) how people go about this stuff.

[【ツ】John Smout]

Interesting VFD project Hannah, I am sure you will find yourself at home here and plenty of good advice should you need it.

If you have a problem with sourcing obsolete LM9022 filament driver ICs, you can use an LM4871 - someone here proved it is the same die, just rebadged.

John S

[jb-electronics]

Welcome! This article is gold, thanks for writing it up! Jens

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[Hannah Mishin]

Thanks!  

[Hannah Mishin]

Hey John-

Thanks for the heads up!  I will add that info to the blog!  (I have soooo much stuff, because I buy more than i need before designing things) I wish the internet had a Junk/Free/Donation stash so I could drop stuff here folks might need.  :)

[Hannah Mishin]

<me too.

I do it as a reference for myself as well.  Pick up and come right back into it if I put it down for some reason!

[David Pye]

Hi Hannah,

Really enjoyed reading about this project.

It's got a large number of interesting bits, including design, 3D printing, casting, machining etc, and looks excellent.

I had seen a few of these interesting VFDs for sale via eBay and had a couple of questions and would be really interested to hear your thoughts if you have time.

1) is it possible to use a simple H bridge to provide a rough AC drive to operate the heater?  I presume originally it was spec'd for AC rather than pulsed DC.

2) for the grid control, was there a reason you needed such powerful transistors?  I did wonder whether you could have used one of the high side driver ICs you used for the segments but I am sure you must have considered that!  Another idea I have considered for grid multiplexing was a pullup resistor on the grid to pull up to whatever voltage, and then just an NPN transistor to pull it down to ground to turn it off.  Do you know if that would work?   I ask as I am planning a VFD multiplex design (my current designs are direct drive but for 18 segment tubes it gets a bit unmanageable!)

Regards

David

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[【ツ】John Smout]

I came across this rare lamp for sale today - the guy wants £500 GBP. Someone is already in discussion with the seller, so I expect it has sold. I am not sure if it is neon or not, but I suspect so.

The John Gabel Manufacturing Co. had the distinction of having manufactured the first true jukebox in 1906. Also they made the first light up jukebox in 1936, the Starlight. Their last jukebox was the now extremely rare Kuro of 1940. I think two examples survive, one of which was imported into Holland from the US.

The lamp

The Art Deco Gabel Kuro jukebox

[Paul Andrews]

Wow to both!

<gabel.jpg>

The Art Deco Gabel Kuro jukebox

<kuro.jpg>

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[David Speck MD]

John,

I can't see where such a lamp would have been used in the jukebox that you pictured.  There are no windows apparent on the front of the box that you showed.

From the look of it, I suspect that the lamp is a gas discharge tube that would have illuminated phosphor painted on the metal electrodes, much like an Aerolux bulb of the same era.

I have an 18" long, 1.25" diameter tubular lamp likely from the same era with metal electrodes inside that spell out "Merry Christmas" and light up in orange-red and green phosphors.  It runs in a conventional fluorescent tube fixture. 

Dave

[Bill Notfaded]

I'd you're going to sell the finish product it looks really neat... Count me in!  Nice website btw.

Bill

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[Bill Notfaded]

Nice lamp.  Due to his jukebox history regardless the type it's collectible for sure.

Bill

[jb-electronics]

Fascinating! Does it still have neon? You could hold it to a plasma globe to see. If it has been sold it would be great to get in touch with the buyer. Can you find out?

Cheers
Jens

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[【ツ】John Smout]

The guy messaged me to say it isn’t neon. I’ve asked if it is fluo ’n’ phosphor and if it is still for sale.

John S

On 20 Apr 2019, at 17:41, jb-electronics <webm...@jb-electronics.de> wrote:

Fascinating! Does it still have neon? You could hold it to a plasma globe to see. If it has been sold it would be great to get in touch with the buyer. Can you find out?

Cheers
Jens

On 2019-04-20 7:28 a.m., 【ツ】John Smout wrote:

I came across this rare lamp for sale today - the guy wants £500 GBP. Someone is already in discussion with the seller, so I expect it has sold. I am not sure if it is neon or not, but I suspect so.

The John Gabel Manufacturing Co. had the distinction of having manufactured the first true jukebox in 1906. Also they made the first light up jukebox in 1936, the Starlight. Their last jukebox was the now extremely rare Kuro of 1940. I think two examples survive, one of which was imported into Holland from the US.

The lamp

<gabel.jpg>

The Art Deco Gabel Kuro jukebox

<kuro.jpg>

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[John Rehwinkel]

> 1) is it possible to use a simple H bridge to provide a rough AC drive to operate the heater? I presume originally it was spec'd for AC rather than pulsed DC.

Yeah, works fine. H-bridge, power op amp, gate driver, whatever. You can use series resistors to adjust the current and reduce warm-up transients, and/or capacitors to limit current and float the filament to any useful voltage (I like to run it a few volts positive to get solid cut-of with a grounded grid. As it happens, two 5V H-bridges run out of phase gives an average of 2.5V, which seems to work well, and a series resistor adjusts the voltage/current as needed.

- John

[Dekatron42]

It should be Neon in the Gabel lamp, have a look here: http://www.bulbcollector.com/article005.html .

/Martin

[Bill Stanley]

Hello everybody….My name is Bill and I am a recovering horologist…..

Who do I think I’m fooling?? I’s sitting here with a prototype Nixie clock on the desk and I am writing and testing code right now.

My story goes back 49 years to the summer of 1970. A brilliant (his words) college freshman is taking what he has learned from his Guru, Don Lancaster and his RTL cookbook and wants to build the digital clock he wrote about as his high school senior project. He is ordering parts from Newark, Kierulff, Elmar and Brill. He has 6 National NL-5750 tubes ($6.75 each), a power transformer from Southwest Technical Products, 6 Vector VIP plug-in proto boards for a double handful of Motorola MC7xxP RTL logic gates and 2N3877 transistors. The clock uses a 60Hz line time base and front panel switches to do the setting. A thumbwheel switch is used to select the alarm time (only 1 minute, no snooze). After about 2 months of build, test, fix, fry, rebuild I had a 6 digit Nixie clock!! I got a lot of practical experience such as “walking ring counters have 2 stable count sequences” and “RTL is very sensitive to glitches”. But it worked and it was all my design. Being an EE student, he naturally wrote up the design for a class paper and brought in the finished unit.

I picked up a few degrees and went to work at Shugart Associates building testers for the hot product, the 8 inch, 10MB hard drive. I stayed around hard drives, going to Quantum and then to Adaptec in 1981. Had a few failed startups, back to Adaptec and was a committee rat for a while. Went to Palm in 2000, was laid off, worked for Woz at his startup called Wheels of Zeus (WOZ) for a few years and setup my own consulting company, BillCo Labs (catchy name huh?). Now I work on things and contracts that I enjoy. Mainly hardware design, but also working with ME and programmers.

I am very good with OrCad, OK with Allegro and tend to write my programs in assembly language (I did warn you that I am old).

In 2015, seeing all of the Russian Nixie tubes available, I decided to do my own design based on the 8051 processor from Silicon Labs. A friend and I kicked features back and forth without real adult supervision so we ended up with a vast concept with only a half-vast commitment. The unit worked and has been running in my living room for 4 years. After the running question of “how’s the clock coming?” I dove back into the design. It is now on the Mark II, rev 2.2 version.

I have a lot of “down level” bare fabs and would be willing to supply to anyone who is interested. In addition all of my designs are open source with the schematic, PBC and code being freely available to any interested persons. This is not a business for me and my wife would be happy to clear out some junk. Also, questionable answers are a specialty of mine.

I will write up the information on the current design in a post in the main section to see if there is any interest.

  -Bill-

[Swan Donovan]

Hi. I'm Garret. Into vintage numerical displays. Russian vfd's, edge lit/light pipe, one plane, ect. I'm from Wisconsin USA.

[Bill Notfaded]

You're in the right place welcome!

Bill

[HuggerMugger]

Hi Garret,

Russian vfd's caught my interest.
Though having a nixie clock and spare tubes, I struggle with KR145IK1911
clock IC and IVL2-7/5 vfd's.

/Magnus

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[Swan Donovan]

I've got some "elektronika" clocks I've imported from Russia. Interesting bits of kit.

[Terry Kennedy]

On Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 4:35:53 AM UTC-4, Swan Donovan wrote:

I've got some "elektronika" clocks I've imported from Russia. Interesting bits of kit.

Elektronika ("Electronics") was their general name for everything from clocks to computers from a number of different factories. I have anumber of articles about the Elektronika 7 series of VFD clocks on my blog at https://www.glaver.org/blog/?s=elektronika

[Steve Terry]

Hi, I'm Steve Terry and I've been lurking here for a while. I'm the proud owner of two Jeff Thomas NixieSat's,  In my day job, I work for ETC, the largest US manufacturer of theatrical lighting controls and luminaires.

I'm currently updating the firmware on one of my clocks to use a Haicom GPS puck.

[L P]

Hi..Leif here. Started out as most young lads with interest in electronics, by taking apart old electronics, had components scattered all over my room, and to my mom's horror stuck in the carpet..  I thought a career in electronics was my future, but when I took some classes, boy was it dry..A little too dry for me...So I settled on chemistry..  but I never stopped tinkering with electronics, made a pile of PCB's. murdered some more carpet.... and got into tube amps a few years back, built some of Pete Millett's tube amps..very cool stuff..did at the same time built a nixie clock kit of ebay..loved the look.. ..Fast forward, now i'm trying to know more about them magic glowing tubes..so thanks for sharing the knowledge... 

[Bill Notfaded]

Not a tube amp but I'm rebuilding a nice Hafler DH-500 now.  Good old rock solid power!  I love the filter caps in these babies!

Bill

[Dan Harboe Burer]

Okay I will contribute with my own story:

I first encountered nixie tubes back in the 1980s..  (I was 14 years or so) I was given a PCB from a clock with 4 nixie tubes..well as kids sometimes do I took it apart, dismantled the 4 nixies (I did not know they were called that back then - they were just wierd displays)  - and put them in storage and forgot all about them while playing with meccano, lego and electronics...

Later (1990 or so) I again encountered nixie tubes when I bought my first frequency counter at a local flea market - a Philips....neither did I think twice about them this time.. I just used the counter until I gave to a friend in the mid 1990s... 

Okay now time jumps to around 2001 where I by chance stumbled over a HP 5245L counter ..and dismantled it..at the same time I found Claus Urbachs kits (I think it was) and bought one..and threw together my first clock with the nixies from the HP counter

Within the same time frame I happened to find Raymond Wieslings Geekklok/ FLW kit.. and the lot of B7971s from "usmintquarters" I think they were called?  I managed to purchase approx 25 of them before the prices exploded... I got in touch with R. Wiesling back then and ended up buying and receiving a GeekKlok kit - and later a FLW. I have so far only assembled the Geekklok...

Wiesling recommended the Nixie forum back then.. and I have been here since then... and while collecting /dumpster diving/ scavenging other instruments and gadgets I kept accumulating instruments with nixies and loose nixies of course....

My friends know I like them so once in a while someone shows up with tubes or instruments with them. :)

I have no idea how many loose nixie tubes I have now..hundreds at least (when I don't include the approx 2000pcs IV-6 VFD tubes I still have in my garage). Apart from the IV-6, I stick to the US and German nixies.. I find them more pleasing than most Russian tubes :)

I also have ended up with quite a collection of instruments wit nixie displays.. I haven't got the heart to tear them apart if they work ..so my house is beginning to resemble the lab from "The Dish" :/

And the four tubes I pulled from that clock back in the 1980s?  I still have them here in my collection somewhere! :)

..

Dan

[schmitt trigger]

40+ years of experience as an EE. My very first electronic project that actually worked was a vacuum-tube amplifier, and their warm glow has stayed close to my heart.

Worked as an engineer all my life, with the exception of a brief stint in administration. But as a hobby, I've never abandoned electronics.

As I'm nearing retirement, for my hobby I've been returning to my roots.......discrete transistors and of course everything glass (vacuum or gas filled).

That doesn't mean that I don't use modern technology. Microcontrollers are great to drive Nixies and Dekatrons, and most importantly scanned bargraphs (my next project)

I hope to learn from this community, and most importantly, share some of my own experience.

On Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at 10:03:23 AM UTC-5, neonixie-l wrote:

[Tyler Bourne]

Welcome to the group!

[Bill Notfaded]

Yes welcome!  I love learning stuff you EE types with a lot of experience have to offer.  I'm a computer scientist so we have some things in common but when it comes to Electrical Engineering I alway know where to come for help.

[Frenchyled]

Hello to all Nixies fanatics.

I am a French owner of one awesome Jeff Nixichron for about 12 years and I was very happy with it.

I am a LED flashlight collector since years 2000 and members of CandlePowerForum (not very active now).

So I am a watch and clock collector too ;)

I find your group in searching for a schematic of my Nixichron because today it is not working anymore :(

I will create a post about my problem and I hope to find replies to help me to repare it.

Thank you to accepted me in your great community !

Pascal.

[Nicholas Stock]

Welcome Pascal! First thing to check is that the power supply is working correctly. I presume you have a voltmeter?

Best,

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 23, 2019, at 08:59, Frenchyled <ledfa...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Terry Kennedy]

On Monday, September 23, 2019 at 11:59:42 AM UTC-4, Frenchyled wrote:

I find your group in searching for a schematic of my Nixichron because today it is not working anymore :(

I will create a post about my problem and I hope to find replies to help me to repare it.

Welcome! Jeff (the Nixichron hardware designer) sent the schematic on request to anyone that asked for it, so I don't see any harm in publishing it. You can find it at https://www.glaver.org/transient/nixichron_schematic.pdf 

[Enzo Frangiamore]

Hi All,
I got interested in nixie clocks after popping over to my cousins new flat and he mentioned that he bought one and showed me some pictures. I started to google around and decided to build the Time Flies Levitating Nixie Clock. I’m currently about half way through the build. I’ve always loved messing about with electronics from a very early age since getting my first electronics kit at about age 14. Over the years I’ve built DMX controllers, intermittent wiper units for classic cars, disco light controllers, live wire detetectors... I’m really looking forward to getting my nixie clock finished and getting some pics on here.
I’m enjoying reading through the comments and seeing your pics.

Cheers
Enz