Quick hello

[Matt Wetherill]

Hi all,
I'm a refugee of the old yahoo group but its many years since I have
done anything with nixies. However I recently came across my box of
tubes which I amassed mainly from eBay probably eight or ten years
ago.

I thought I might try something driven by an Arduino - it'll be quite
a learning curve but should keep me busy ;)

[NeonJohn]

On 11/26/2013 06:06 PM, Matt Wetherill wrote:

> I thought I might try something driven by an Arduino - it'll be quite
> a learning curve but should keep me busy ;)

Hi Matt,

Welcome back. Mine may not be a real popular opinion but I do NOT like
the Arduino. It's mangled sorta-C++ is a pain, though you can program
in C except for some libraries. It's expensive for what you get and
quite short on I/O pins. Incidentally, if you just want to play with
the Arduino style of doing things, Digikey sells the programmed chip for
$5. Just add 5 volts, a TTL serial interface and a clock and there you go.

I suggest looking at one of the several chips that have battery-backed
RTCs built-in. Get one in DIP format and assemble something on a proto
board.

BTW, in the next week or two I'm going to be open sourcing (hardware and
software) a nifty little count-down counter that I designed for one of
our products. It uses the ATmega8515 which isn't a very interesting
chip but it has lots of I/O pins which is what I needed. I heavily
document my code, especially that which gets released so it would be a
good starting point. I'll announce here when I get it finished (boards
to be here on Black Friday :-)

John

>

--
John DeArmond
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
http://www.fluxeon.com <-- THE source for induction heaters
http://www.neon-john.com <-- email from here
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- Best damned Blog on the net
PGP key: wwwkeys.pgp.net: BCB68D77

[Dylan Distasio]

John, do you have a chip with a built in RTC you'd recommend?  I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know about them, and have typically used a cheap Dallas RTC on the protoboard clocks I have built as xmas gifts.

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[NeonJohn]

Sorry but I don't know right now. Next on my project list. Others here
are sure to know, though.

John

[Matt Wetherill]

On Wednesday, 27 November 2013 00:14:58 UTC, NeonJohn wrote:

On 11/26/2013 06:06 PM, Matt Wetherill wrote:

> I thought I might try something driven by an Arduino - it'll be quite
> a learning curve but should keep me busy ;)

Hi Matt,

Welcome back.  Mine may not be a real popular opinion but I do NOT like
the Arduino.  It's mangled sorta-C++ is a pain, though you can program
in C except for some libraries.  It's expensive for what you get and
quite short on I/O pins.  Incidentally, if you just want to play with
the Arduino style of doing things, Digikey sells the programmed chip for
$5.  Just add 5 volts, a TTL serial interface and a clock and there you go.

I suggest looking at one of the several chips that have battery-backed
RTCs built-in.  Get one in DIP format and assemble something on a proto
board.

BTW, in the next week or two I'm going to be open sourcing (hardware and
software) a nifty little count-down counter that I designed for one of
our products.  It uses the ATmega8515 which isn't a very interesting
chip but it has lots of I/O pins which is what I needed.  I heavily
document my code, especially that which gets released so it would be a
good starting point.  I'll announce here when I get it finished (boards
to be here on Black Friday :-)

John

 Hi John,
Thanks for the reply - good to have your advice on this.  I'm very new to electronic / microprocessor design - not so bad with coding (I come from an IT background) but I've got a lot of learning to do with regards to hardware :)
I guess I'll look out some reference designs and try to build enough understanding to start hacking some stuff together on proto boards.

The countdown counter you mention above sounds very interesting - I look forward to reading more about it.

cheers
Matt

[John Rehwinkel]

> I'm a refugee of the old yahoo group but its many years since I have
> done anything with nixies.

Welcome back!

> However I recently came across my box of
> tubes which I amassed mainly from eBay probably eight or ten years
> ago.
>
> I thought I might try something driven by an Arduino - it'll be quite
> a learning curve but should keep me busy ;)

If I were you, I'd go a step at a time. Looks like you have all you need, aside from an HV supply.

First, I'd grab a tube, anode resistor, and one of those driver chips, and try direct driving a single digit. Then I'd add more digits until I ran out of I/O pins. Then I'd either try a shift register as an I/O expander, or look into a multiplexed design using anode switches. But getting that first digit lit is a real thrill!

Here's a pic of my first try with an Arduino:

http://www.vitriol.com/images/tech/nixies/nixie-firstlight.jpg

- John

[Matt Wetherill]

On 27 Nov 2013, at 14:03, John Rehwinkel <jre...@mac.com> wrote:

>
> If I were you, I'd go a step at a time. Looks like you have all you need, aside from an HV supply.
>
> First, I'd grab a tube, anode resistor, and one of those driver chips, and try direct driving a single digit. Then I'd add more digits until I ran out of I/O pins. Then I'd either try a shift register as an I/O expander, or look into a multiplexed design using anode switches. But getting that first digit lit is a real thrill!
>
> Here's a pic of my first try with an Arduino:
>
> http://www.vitriol.com/images/tech/nixies/nixie-firstlight.jpg
>
> - John
>

Many thanks John - sound advice about walking before I run!

As you say, I'll find an HV powersupply design / schematic, get it
built and work on that first digit!

Cheers
Matt