LIXIE DISPLAYS

[dixter]

Has anyone taken the time to use the Lixie Displays in a clock yet....  I'm getting 6 of these and trying to figure out the best way to use them as a clock..

https://www.tindie.com/products/connornishijima/lixie-an-led-alternative-to-the-nixie-tube/?pt=ac_prod_search

[gregebert]

Years ago I had a digital voltmeter that used these displays, and used stepper relays for the "logic".  I turned it into a clock.

The displays were OK, I prefer nixies. Having LEDs, with the ability to control the brightness of individual digits would be a big improvement.

There rearmost digits will be dimmer because they have to transmit thru more obstacles; making them progressively brighter should solve that issue.

Also, the displays shown on the website were manufactured with much better materials and precision than what I had from ~1960.

I eventually abandoned this clock because the relays were intermittent and would not respond to cleaning attempts.

[Terry S]

Has the seller started actually shipping? This same seller had a previous project go belly-up and never made it right with his investors. It was discussed here not long ago.

Terry

[Robert L]

The Lixie displays had been out of stock for a while, but I requested notification from the Tindie site for when they were available. I ordered a set within minutes of receiving the back in stock notification a few days ago. They were again out of stock shortly after my order.

The displays arrived yesterday... very well packed and very nicely built. Have not yet started playing with them, though have the support libraries for Arduino loaded.

I was a bit hesitant to order based on the sellers history, but the Tindie site has what appears to be a pretty solid guarantee.

Best regards,

Bob

 

 

 

[JohnK]

There are "tricks" to cleaning ordinary relay contacts, but I am assuming that you mean the stepper relays here?

Stepper relays are usually exceedingly reliable right to the point where the contacting metal is worn away. There is a caveat though - the voltage needs to be high  (eg 48V)  and the current preferrably in the multi-mA plus region.  Steppers don't have that awful problem of having enough contact pressure at the de-energised position [which pressure then affects the field required for the enrgised state]. Wiping too of course.

Unless you mean you had problems with the actuator?

 

[I can tell horror stories from the 60s and 70s].

 

John K

Australia

 

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[gregebert]

It was a set of 4 stepper relays. Emphasis on past tense; poor old clock was likely sent to the landfill about 12 years ago. I abandoned it in my previous cubicle.

Even though it was the first clock I ever designed, the sentimental value was drowned-out by it's unreliability.

The actuator was fine, made a nice ka-chunk.  I got a lot of curious looks from nearby cube-mates when the time rolled-over at the top-of-the-hour.

Many attempts to clean the contacts, but only got a few weeks of operation before failing again.

Also, the bulb-connections were flaky. Apparently the vibration from the ka-chunking would jar a bulb loose.

Or was it an irritated cube-neighbor that came by and kicked it a few times, in hopes of shutting it up? I'll never know.....

In case you're wondering, I have thought of 3D printing a mechanical gear-clock but I have not yet figured out how I want to put nixies in it........

[JohnK]

 

"In case you're wondering, I have thought of 3D printing a mechanical gear-clock but I have not yet figured out how I want to put nixies in it........"

 

Well, how about using up a bunch of dud Nixies? Use ones with faulty digits and just rotate [carousel arrangement] a working one into position depending on the digit required.

 

:-)

 

 

John K.

 

 

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From: gregebert

To: neonixie-l

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[gregebert]

On Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 5:52:10 PM UTC-7, johnk wrote:

 

"In case you're wondering, I have thought of 3D printing a mechanical gear-clock but I have not yet figured out how I want to put nixies in it........"

 

Well, how about using up a bunch of dud Nixies? Use ones with faulty digits and just rotate [carousel arrangement] a working one into position depending on the digit required.

 

:-)

 

 

John K.

AHA!   That's what I could do with my IN-1's........until now, the only useful purpose I could find for them was putting them into a microwave oven

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYUMy0P560k