For Steampunk Nixie Clock Fans..

[Paul Parry]

I Recently completed my Gemini Clock over the Xmas period and I had some Video production done by my good friend Pete Gardner, who I work with on quite a few of my clocks.

If anyone wants to see it running, steam and all,  then there is a video clip here:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qHnZ_jAoxzA&feature=youtu.be

Best Wishes,

Paul

[jb-electronics]

The first Nixie tube steampunk clock I have seen that literally deserves its name! Amazing work!

Jens

--
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/bc3e170b-217d-4b48-b2b8-a65ccb0d0c9f%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Nick]

That's lovely Paul - very well done !

Is the beam engine driven by compressed air or a meths burner/similar/whatever...

Nick

[Terry S]

Very impressive.

 

Does the steam affect the humidity reading?

 

 :-)

 

Terry

[Paul Parry]

Hi Nick,

Many thanks, I'm hoping to get a bit of good press from it :)

The Beam engine is actually driven by a small electric motor ( out of an old turntable as it has all the speed controller electronics built in to the rear of the motor ) it is hidden away inside a brass mainspring housing, the drive wheel engages with the flywheel of the Beam engine. It is made to look like the engine is turning a small dynamo that powers the clock.

The clock is located in a public area, so for Health and safety reasons I could not have any sources of ignition, or risk it setting off any fire alarms. The Steam is just mist, you can get these piezo based water mister things that produce a fog out of water, I just re engineered one to suit the clock, the brass cylinder underneath contains a water reservoir.

In answer to Terry's question, the Humidity in Singapore where the clock is located is usually 80% plus so I don't think it will add much. It is more a novelty feature and doesn't run all the time, just on a 30 second timer when you press a button on the side.

Paul

[threeneurons]

Very nice. I like the brass work ! Your "steam engine" really puts it over the top ... in a very good way !

On Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at 12:38:47 AM UTC-8, Paul Parry wrote:

I Recently completed my Gemini Clock ... video clip here:

[blkadder]

That is the best looking Nixie clock I have ever seen.  Great work incorporating all that equipment.  I love it.

Ron

[JohnK]

Hey Paul, love that thing !

 

It is sooo nice I won't ask you what you "killed" to get the gyro  :-((

 

[I have an interest in servo-systems, guidance, nav-aids etc ]

John K

Australia

 

--

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/6ad4fb67-a415-4e46-9b0d-b0fd7ffc9ee0%40googlegroups.com.

[Paul Parry]

Hi John,

No Spitfires were harmed in the making of the clock. I have a fondness for old Vintage Aircraft and over the years I have amassed quite a few bits and pieces. The part used on Gemini was a MK IB Directional Gyro as fitted to the Spitfire / Lancaster / Mosquito and most of the other planes of the era. They are abundant and you can get them on eBay for a couple of pounds, I used a scrapped one so there was no chance it would ever go up in the air again anyway!

Cheers,

Paul

On Friday, 20 February 2015 04:28:38 UTC, johnk wrote:



[Nick]

On Monday, 23 February 2015 12:34:56 UTC, Paul Parry wrote:

The part used on Gemini was a MK IB Directional Gyro as fitted to the Spitfire / Lancaster / Mosquito and most of the other planes of the era. They are abundant and you can get them on eBay for a couple of pounds, I used a scrapped one so there was no chance it would ever go up in the air again anyway

Hi Paul,

I, too, have a rather eclectic collection of ephemera... My workshop lights are controlled by an MOD 5C/3023 switchbox as used in Lancasters, Mosquitos, FIrefly Vs etc. - the MOD liked to use the same kit in multiple aircraft as it made store-keeping/spares easier to manage.

Enclosed is an image of my 5C/3023 which I acquired NIB for just a few pounds, and a photo of the inside of the cockpit of a Firefly V undergoing restoration, showing the same model box (look closely!).

EDIT: The "RESIN" switch controlled lights for a type of IFF system - there is much discussion, even today, on the exact nature of this, most choosing to believe that it was IR rather than visible-light based...

Cheers

Nick

 

[Paul Parry]

Hello Nick,

I can feel this wandering off Topic slight.. Again.. LOL

What a wonderful use for a 5C/3023. I did mention earlier that I had a bit of a fondness for Vintage aircraft, I had a complete Vampire T11 in my possession a few years ago XD515 (long story) not the smallest things to house so I donated it to RAF Cosford where it resides in the sheds at the back awaiting re-assembly.

Not come across the 'Resin' on the lighting panel, but I know a lot of planes of the era had UV lighting in the cockpit that illuminated all the dials as they had radium? paint inside that glowed very nicely under UV. It could possibly be used to switch on the UV lamps? It was certainly the case in my T11.

Is that your Firefly?

[Nick]

On Tuesday, 24 February 2015 08:18:16 UTC, Paul Parry wrote:

I can feel this wandering off Topic slight.. Again.. LOL

It doesn't matter in this case. Believe me :)

 

What a wonderful use for a 5C/3023. I did mention earlier that I had a bit of a fondness for Vintage aircraft, I had a complete Vampire T11 in my possession a few years ago XD515 (long story) not the smallest things to house so I donated it to RAF Cosford where it resides in the sheds at the back awaiting re-assembly.

Not come across the 'Resin' on the lighting panel, but I know a lot of planes of the era had UV lighting in the cockpit that illuminated all the dials as they had radium? paint inside that glowed very nicely under UV. It could possibly be used to switch on the UV lamps? It was certainly the case in my T11.

I've looked at some photos of XD515 - http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/xd515 - it was really in poor shape - do you think that it'll ever fly again or will it be a static display? A major task if ever there was one. Top marks for stopping it rotting completely - certainly a long-term project !

 

Is that your Firefly?

Regrettably (or maybe, "thankfully") not - it was from another forum (Britmodeller) where we were discussing the true nature of "RESIN" - lot of argument about it as it was classified and seems to have changed its nature during its life. It was definitely IFF - not cockpit - the real question was was it just very dim/near-IR red lights or true IR - no-one seems to know for sure - some speculation too that it relied on other aircraft having a "Tabby F" system on board... 

Cheers

Nick

[Paul Parry]

XD515 was in very poor condition, it used to live at Newark Air museum under the wing of a Vulcan - outdoors and with a massive hole in the side of the cockpit the size of a dustbin lid. Newark scrapped the plane off, and my friend Erik purchased it for scrap value with a view of restoring it as a retirement project as he worked on them in the RAF many years ago. Over 2 years Erik dismantled the plane on site and brought it home bit by bit in his car and on a trailer, and started work on it. The fuselage is wooden, the same as a Mosquito, so he completely replace the side with the hole in as it would have originally been done by DeHavilland. I joined him on the project a few years later and I worked on the electrical systems, with a view to getting it to power up. I got the rotary inverters going, and a lot of the instrumentation functional. Sadly though Erik developed emphaceama and passed away, and he left me the plane as an on-going concern. I was not in the position to take the plane from Erik's house, or had the room myself to house it all, I already had the Goblin Engine in my garage along with the rear fuselage, no room for wings and cockpit so it ended up as a collection of parts at RAF Cosford, where I hope they will put it back together as it is all there and put it on display. At least it is in the right place, and they have the facilities and room to put it back together.

I don't think the Vampire had any IFF system, there was a very early radar fitted (Rebecca) that used little antennas on the wings and tails but that is advanced as it got, little G4F compass system and that was about it. The engine starting mechanism / timer was clockwork which made me smile.

Never heard of the TabbyF system, makes interesting reading though!

 

[petehand]

Beautiful job, very original and so much work. Pity you had to spoil it with cheap and nasty IN-11 tubes that don't have a proper 5. Maybe you could get some Burroughs B5991s, they're the same shape and base* and a hell of a lot more elegant.

* Although, they will not plug into the Russian IN-11 socket unless you ream out the socket holes.

[JohnK]

OT still, but... there are web hits for Vampire with IFF and Radar.  [Country vs year vs model etc though.]

BTW, the Rebecca is part of an interrogator system; Rebecca finds the Eureka. The system can be employed as a DME.

I am 'restoring' a Rebecca IV. The IV was the British test bed for the miniature 7-pin valves (and other miniaturisations).

 

John K

Australia

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Paul Parry

To: neoni...@googlegroups.com

--

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/f33c1efc-1967-431a-abd3-336d8cd9a37e%40googlegroups.com.

[Nick]

On Wednesday, 25 February 2015 14:25:33 UTC, johnk wrote:



OT still, but... there are web hits for Vampire with IFF and Radar.  [Country vs year vs model etc though.]

BTW, the Rebecca is part of an interrogator system; Rebecca finds the Eureka. The system can be employed as a DME.

I am 'restoring' a Rebecca IV. The IV was the British test bed for the miniature 7-pin valves (and other miniaturisations)

Are you familiar with the wonderful work of Tatjana J. van Vark ? See http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvve/dduck0.html - Not only did she rebuild a complete H2S, replacing all the missing bits she needed herself, she also designed and built a miniature version from scratch - http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvv4/radarind.html .

Her whole site is a thing of beauty/wonderment ! http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/

Nick

(*) The H2S runs in her house! http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvve/dduck7.html 

[JohnK]

Yes, but thanks for reminding me; it has been quite a while since I refreshed my memory. And there is new to me content in those links ! Thanks.

I have been green with envy for all the Vulcun stuff [as a kid I had a walk-through of a Vulcan at an airshow here and was delighted to see one in flight during a visit to the UK in 1980.]

 

John K

----- Original Message -----

From: Nick

To: neoni...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2015 1:17 AM

Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: For Steampunk Nixie Clock Fans..

--

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/f8a64663-0a06-4f03-b38f-902a29f50306%40googlegroups.com.