My Work In Progress Nixie Device Project

[Zachary]

Hello, I just wanted to share my work-in-progress Nixie device

It's an IN-13 based spectrum analyzer with a IN-17 display and some rotary encoders on the front for user input. The goal is to make a decorative desktop device that reacts to music from your computer and the environment.

The MCU is a Raspberry Pi Zero and it has a MEMS microphone, so the audio inputs for the spectrum analyzer are USB (provided it can also supply power not just data), Wifi, Bluetooth and the microphone.

I've had some issues with the electronics (I got the PCBs ordered almost a month ago now but I encountered hard to debug problems when assembling them) so I went on a hiatus and focused on the enclosure in the meantime which I just finished today and is what I wanted to share:

I went for a 1980s "cassette futurism" style. A glossy plastic shell, matte textured accent panels and some aluminum details. This was just a test fitting, the PCB is incomplete, but soon I'll go back to working on the electronics to finally complete this project. It feels very sturdy even with most of the interior missing and I think it looks professional so I'm very happy with the results.

Here is an old render I made of the device when I was still in the conceptual phase to give you a better idea of what it will look like with the tubes in:

Feel free to ask if you have any questions

[Tom Katt]

That is really cool !  I have always wanted to build something like this myself - the addition of the IN-17's is a nice touch.

I was surprised to see how many 'fake' IN-13 tubes I saw when I was looking for them...  With the popularization of Nixies these days, it seems like there are a lot of led 'clones' out there.  When I saw IN-13's for cheap I almost bought them before I realized they were not real gas tubes.