Projects are finished, mostly

[Mitch]

On the left is the 15 digit, Union Square, NYC, Metronome clock replica. Wikipedia has a good description of the clock. It uses 5, HV5530s to drive the displays, with 4 connected in series to drive the 6 digit time on the left, and the 6 digits to midnight, on the right, refreshed every one second. The center three digits are 1/10 seconds and 1/100 seconds, updated every 10ms. Latch and clock lines are separated for this one HV5530. Thanks for that idea, Greg. I'm not sure if both needed to be separated, but I didn't want to go through the trouble to build a test setup, and there were two open level converters on the CD4504.

I just finished the programming this week to get a smooth crossfade. During the fade, which lasts about .25 seconds, 12 digits are refreshed each 5ms, and no GPS updating is allowed during the fade.

This clock uses 15, Z583M tubes. The tube boards for the 7 digit clock are compatible, so several tubes can be used. The center digit uses the period, when the four digit temperature is displayed. Date and temperature are scrolled across the display every minute. GPS and PIR connectors are on the back of the board, and I also added a header compatible with Ublox GPS boards available on eBay for around $15 shipped. They are so sensitive that they lock anywhere in the house, so no separate box and cable are needed.

So far I've built eight, seven digit clocks with IN-14, IN-8-2, Z573M, and IN-12B tubes, and one IN-18 clock pictured. Both versions of the clock use the same software, which is up to 57 software controlled options including automatic DST adjustment, RGB LEDs that turn off when digits are off, light sensitive brightness adjustment, etc. I can finally say that everything works and I haven't found a bug in a week!

On the right is an original Digi-Vista from the early 1970s. I remember reading about it when I was in high school, but I didn't have the money to buy parts, so I built an LED clock instead that I still have. I purchased this clock several years ago. It is in perfect, working condition. The power supply board was probably purchased, other boards were home etched. Notice that it has 1/10th and 1/100th second displays.

After I build a few more clocks for family and friends, I think I'll design an 8 digit version of the IN-18 clock. They did it in 1971, and a nixie driven at 10ms is much more interesting to watch than an LED.

That's it for updates. Thanks to those who helped to get this started. Except for the IN-18, hardware designs in Diptrace format and software, are on GitHub. The IN-18 version will be up there, shortly.

[Nicholas Stock]

Whoa! Nice. I've always thought 7 digit clocks were more interesting too....hmm.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/fb2e5811-b019-4001-8cb5-cc3a6fc113f0%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[David Forbes]

I keep meaning to build Nixie tube displays for our radio telescopes.
http://aro.as.arizona.edu/

They could display the following:

LST (Local sidereal time) and date
UTC time and date
Azimuth and elevation of the antenna
Declination and right ascension of same
Galactic coordinates

The coordinates would all have to be displayed down to a tenth of an arc
second, as that's the basic resolution of the antenna drive systems. The
Nixie displays in the movie The Dish for the Parkes antenna showed only
arc minutes.

I have a bucket load of B5870 calculator tubes, which would make the
most sense for this display, as it adds up to about 50 digits. Rack
mount, of course.

On 12/20/15 12:41 PM, Mitch wrote:
>
> This clock uses 15, Z583M tubes. The tube boards for the 7 digit clock are

> compatible, so several tubes can be used. ...

--
David Forbes, Tucson AZ

[Mitch]

I thought about a Mars time clock keeping time at a well recognized place, maybe where one of the first probes landed, but I didn't get very far on the plan - yet.

[gregebert]

Clocks look really nice, and I'm glad you have the HV5530's working. BTW, photos never do justice to nixie projects; for some reason cameras dont get  crisp or color-correct images.

I'm still working on the wooden case for my clock (fourteen IN-18 tubes +  six HV5530's), hoping to be done this holiday season.

 

[Mitch]

Thanks. Agreed, pictures don't do justice to Nixies but maybe that will help to keep tube prices down! IN-18 availability and pricing appears to be a problem. Check eBay now. Hopefully it's just temporary.

I was concerned that four, HV5530s in series would not update fast enough for a smooth crossfade, but 5ms doesn't seem to be a problem at all. 

I'm going to play with RF now, adding an NTP option to the clocks with the next board order if I can figure it out. 

I have three IN-18 boards from the last order, that are available free to anyone who wants them. They don't have the GPS header, only the phone jack, and one jumper is needed. Just pay shipping. Contact me off list if you want one.

Greg, please post a picture and a description of your project.

[Nicholas Stock]

If you get the light right, you can get some pretty nice pictures of nixies with just an iPhone..

On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 3:36 PM, gregebert <greg...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Clocks look really nice, and I'm glad you have the HV5530's working. BTW, photos never do justice to nixie projects; for some reason cameras dont get  crisp or color-correct images.

I'm still working on the wooden case for my clock (fourteen IN-18 tubes +  six HV5530's), hoping to be done this holiday season.

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/a0032d21-f1d5-4992-bd15-dd9e8dd7d51d%40googlegroups.com.

[gregebert]

Here's a not-so-good photo of my current clock project. There are sockets for eighteen IN-18 tubes, of which 14 are used. The first 8 are for the date in MM-DD-YYYY format, and the last 6 are for time in HH:MM:SS format. On each end, are control boxes. The one on the left is the selector switch, and the one on the right has 4 incandescent status lamps, and toggle switches for setting the time.

I still need to finish wood-staining the center section, and the FPGA code to read the realtime clock module isn't finished yet.  And I need to add colons. If all goes well, the final touches will be laser-printer decals on metal plates, similar to equipment from the 1930's.

[Mitch]

Very nice! Woodwork looks great.

[John Rehwinkel]

> I still need to finish wood-staining the center section, and the FPGA code to read the realtime clock module isn't finished yet. And I need to add colons. If all goes well, the final touches will be laser-printer decals on metal plates, similar to equipment from the 1930's.

If you have access to someone's CO2 laser cutter, you can use it to put really nice permanent markings on metal plates with Lasermark ink.

- John

[Nicholas Stock]

Agreed, that looks marvelous! 18 IN-18's!

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/3da7896a-034f-40e3-998d-1dd8a14a4e4c%40googlegroups.com.