GIANT VFD clock anyone?

martin martin

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Apr 7, 2020, 11:01:45 PM4/7/20

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This is interesting from Russia...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ASSEMBLED-ILC1-1-8L-VFD-CLOCK-WATCH-WITH-giant-TUBES-REMOTE-and-TEMP-EXCLUSIVE/223931420395?_trkparms=aid%3D777001%26algo%3DDISCO.FEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225074%26meid%3D385167be714340ea96b2377bada59081%26pid%3D100651%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26mehot%3Dnone%26itm%3D223931420395%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26algv%3DPersonalizedTopicsRefactor&_trksid=p2380057.c100651.m4497&_trkparms=pageci%3Ae27a159a-7944-11ea-8d53-74dbd180e88b%7Cparentrq%3A57b9ee3a1710acc402ab2150fff4d21c%7Ciid%3A3

Bill Notfaded

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Apr 8, 2020, 12:25:18 AM4/8/20

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I bought one it's pretty cool and super unique. I bought one of his numi queen clocks too... He builds nice clocks with good programming.

Bill

gregebert

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Apr 8, 2020, 12:33:35 AM4/8/20

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I'm very impressed at the price (99 USD). I bought 7 of these tubes awhile back for a future project, and I know it's going to cost me a lot more to build it, not to mention the amount of time to develop it.

I'm skeptical about the power consumption (5V@1 amp = 5watts). The filaments alone will require 2 watts for 4 digits, and the segments need about 1.6 watts each. And then there's the grid supply......

Bill Notfaded

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Apr 8, 2020, 12:50:23 AM4/8/20

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His prices have always been good. I really respect his skill in clock building too. The numiqueen clock I have he made is awesome 4 tube with all kinds of tube effects. The IV-13 are hard enough to find as it is so it's super neat clock. I still have an unbuilt kit from Jürgen Grau and 6 new IV-13 I'm saving for it. I've got the wireless module for it to send GPS to it as well. IV-13 really are neat numitrons.

Bill Notfaded

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Apr 8, 2020, 1:30:30 AM4/8/20

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I think maybe it's two different builders now. My numiqueen was made by someone else... Well now I hope it's similar... I think I have another clock by sparktube guy though or it's a tube tester. The numiqueen was made by kamalabs

Bill Notfaded

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Apr 8, 2020, 1:31:46 AM4/8/20

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Anyhow yeah I couldn't build one for a c note I don't think so...

Michail Wilson

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Apr 8, 2020, 1:39:57 AM4/8/20

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Funny, I was thinking of buying that clock, but instead, I bought a bunch of the VFDs.

1-8L is what I got and what is in that auction.

1-7 is nearly double the size of the 1-8L, but at $150 each, I had to pass.

Michail Wilson

206-920-6312

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gregebert

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Apr 8, 2020, 10:15:25 AM4/8/20

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Michail - Have you decided when you are going to start the design work ?

I will be using the displays in groups of 2, with one of them turned upside-down.

This allows you to use the decimal points for a colon, and it reduces the wiring clutter because the pins face eachother. I was thinking of using a small-ish PCB to solder the 2 displays, and bring that to an appropriate connector.

I have 2 datasheets, but they disagree with eachother on all parameters, so I'm not sure about their accuracy.

Nick

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Apr 8, 2020, 1:00:49 PM4/8/20

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On Wednesday, 8 April 2020 04:01:45 UTC+1, martin martin wrote:

This is interesting from Russia...

Small point - this is from Kiev in the Ukraine - absolutely NOT Russia.

Ukrainians are very sensitive about this stuff (and justifiably so).

Nick

martin martin

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Apr 8, 2020, 1:06:09 PM4/8/20

to neonixie-l

Ahh -- Good point. I'll look closer next time...

~

mcve...@gmail.com

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Michail Wilson

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Apr 8, 2020, 8:11:04 PM4/8/20

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I have not.

I only just ordered them a few days ago. Will take about a month to get them.

Also, I will not be making clocks with them (at least that isn’t the intent). We will see as I ordered 48 of them. He didn’t want to go down on the price, but instead offered a bunch of extra tubes which I didn’t need, so I had to agree. J

You’ll likely get your project done long before I receive them. J

Michail Wilson

206-920-6312

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gregebert

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Apr 9, 2020, 12:33:01 AM4/9/20

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Ping me when you start energizing them. I've already done some basic experiments and there are some learnings you will want to leverage.

celzey11

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Apr 12, 2020, 6:23:54 PM4/12/20

to neonixie-l

That's really cool, there were clocks made by Elektronika in the USSR that used these tubes.

celzey11

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Apr 12, 2020, 6:27:47 PM4/12/20

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/GIANT-BIG-VFD-RARE-CLOCK-ILC1-1-8-LIMITED-EDITION-USSR-RUSSIAN-NOS-FREE-SHIPPING/250961847801

Bill Notfaded

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Apr 18, 2020, 8:35:37 PM4/18/20

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Here's the clock I bought in the dark! Thanks for pointing it out Martin!

Bill Notfaded

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Apr 18, 2020, 8:36:49 PM4/18/20

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If you look really close you can see my 7 tube B-7971 clock turned off behind it.

Bill

Michail Wilson

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Apr 18, 2020, 10:07:44 PM4/18/20

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Love it.

I can’t wait to get my units (not clocks, but the modules).

I like my medivac unit as well, but need to program to add the features it’s determined to be.

Michail Wilson

206-920-6312

From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Bill Notfaded

Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2020 5:36 PM
To: neonixie-l

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Bill Notfaded

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Apr 18, 2020, 10:12:43 PM4/18/20

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Me too I was hoping maybe Mahdi updated the code some more? It's kinda stuck right now. I'll show you what I'm working on right this minute...

I have my Datum 4040A Cesium frequency standard opened up working on it.

Bill

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IMG_20200418_191046.jpg

martin martin

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Apr 19, 2020, 3:54:53 PM4/19/20

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Looks good!

Does it keep time?

On Tuesday, April 7, 2020 at 8:01:45 PM UTC-7, martin martin wrote:

Michail Wilson

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Apr 19, 2020, 3:56:27 PM4/19/20

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I would hope so.

It has a DS3231 on it.

Michail Wilson

206-920-6312

From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of martin martin
Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2020 12:55 PM
To: neonixie-l
Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: GIANT VFD clock anyone?

Looks good!

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Bill Notfaded

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Apr 19, 2020, 4:01:55 PM4/19/20

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It's one of the most accurate frequency devices in the world. It's not a clock in the sense of telling the time of day but it creates different frequencies out of the back 1, 5, and 10 MHz based on the behavior if the Cesium atoms in it's Cesium beam tube. The SI definition is: The second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom. This is what it does essentially... Monitor this hyperfine transition to create the most accurate frequency references. Some are good to 10 to the minus 13.

Bill

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