One-Bit Digital Clock
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PsyPhi
Jul 21, 2015, 4:35:02 PM7/21/15
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Hello everyone! I've been lurking on this list sporadically for a few months, and now that I have something specific to share/contribute I decided to join.
I've been a "mad scientist" all my life, and have always been fond of tubes. After seeing several examples of nixie clocks on the web, I wanted to build one of my own. Using all tubes, of course. Soon I realized that the R&D was going to be much more fun than the actual implemention. Deriving a stable 1-Hz clock pulse from the 60-Hz power line (yeah, I'm in the US), dividing/counting pulses, driving the nixie tubes - all exciting challenges. But wait, after I get one digit working I have to make 5 more just like it to actually display the time? Too tedious for someone as ADHD as myself. So I settled on a one-digit design - no, still too tedious - how about just one bit? Display only zero and one, but precisely synchronized. Great; I can do that much. But the result would be kinda boring. If it doesn't tell time, it should at least go "tick-tock" like a respectable clock. So this is what I came up with:
Time Machine on youtube
I've been a "mad scientist" all my life, and have always been fond of tubes. After seeing several examples of nixie clocks on the web, I wanted to build one of my own. Using all tubes, of course. Soon I realized that the R&D was going to be much more fun than the actual implemention. Deriving a stable 1-Hz clock pulse from the 60-Hz power line (yeah, I'm in the US), dividing/counting pulses, driving the nixie tubes - all exciting challenges. But wait, after I get one digit working I have to make 5 more just like it to actually display the time? Too tedious for someone as ADHD as myself. So I settled on a one-digit design - no, still too tedious - how about just one bit? Display only zero and one, but precisely synchronized. Great; I can do that much. But the result would be kinda boring. If it doesn't tell time, it should at least go "tick-tock" like a respectable clock. So this is what I came up with:
Time Machine on youtube
David Forbes
Jul 21, 2015, 5:34:03 PM7/21/15
to neoni...@googlegroups.com
My brother made an all-tube clock, but it uses neons instead of Nixies. The
decade counter modules were found in a thrist store. HP counters also use them.
A person could find the right HP AC-4 modules to make it work with Nixie tubes.
http://www.selectric.org/tubeclock/
http://nixiebunny.com/hpac4/index.html
decade counter modules were found in a thrist store. HP counters also use them.
A person could find the right HP AC-4 modules to make it work with Nixie tubes.
http://www.selectric.org/tubeclock/
http://nixiebunny.com/hpac4/index.html
Instrument Resources of America
Jul 21, 2015, 5:38:26 PM7/21/15
to neoni...@googlegroups.com
I don't know when I last laughed so hard, or had such a big smile on
my face. I think that's just great. VERY creative. I really like
when you reverse the decatron, it stops going 'tick-tock',,,,,,,and
instead goes 'tock-tick'. LOL. Good for you, and many thanks,
Ira.
On 7/21/2015 1:35 PM, PsyPhi wrote:
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Terry S
Jul 21, 2015, 7:47:47 PM7/21/15
to neonixie-l
Does it? Or is that just the way you perceive it?
PsyPhi
Jul 21, 2015, 9:25:34 PM7/21/15
to neonixie-l
Yes, it's merely an illusion of perception. The toggle switch on the left does *not* reverse the direction of the dekatron; rather it reverses the flow of time. As the observer travels backwards in time, the dekatron appears to spin backwards, and the "tick-tock" looks like "tock-tick". It's all relative.
Time-reversal turned out to be a very useful feature. Last fall, my friends at the Glitch Loft (a video/music/art studio) threw a party entitled "A Glitch in Time". That's when I decided to build this nixie clock to bring to the party. Unfortunately, it took longer to finish than I expected, and wasn't ready to be exhibited then. But I kept working on it, and finally brought it to their next party (New Year's Eve). Then, by flipping that switch, I was able to go back and debut my device at the previous event retroactively! :-)
Time-reversal turned out to be a very useful feature. Last fall, my friends at the Glitch Loft (a video/music/art studio) threw a party entitled "A Glitch in Time". That's when I decided to build this nixie clock to bring to the party. Unfortunately, it took longer to finish than I expected, and wasn't ready to be exhibited then. But I kept working on it, and finally brought it to their next party (New Year's Eve). Then, by flipping that switch, I was able to go back and debut my device at the previous event retroactively! :-)
Instrument Resources of America
Jul 21, 2015, 9:41:31 PM7/21/15
to neoni...@googlegroups.com
On 7/21/2015 6:25 PM, PsyPhi wrote:
Yes, it's merely an illusion of perception. The toggle switch on the left does *not* reverse the direction of the dekatron; rather it reverses the flow of time. As the observer travels backwards in time, the dekatron appears to spin backwards, and the "tick-tock" looks like "tock-tick". It's all relative.
So said Einstein!!! So tell me,,,, what happens when the observer
goes back in time, beyond the point when you built this, are they
then lost forever?
Time-reversal turned out to be a very useful feature. Last fall, my friends at the Glitch Loft (a video/music/art studio) threw a party entitled "A Glitch in Time". That's when I decided to build this nixie clock to bring to the party. Unfortunately, it took longer to finish than I expected, and wasn't ready to be exhibited then. But I kept working on it, and finally brought it to their next party (New Year's Eve). Then, by flipping that switch, I was able to go back and debut my device at the previous event retroactively! :-)
I see!!! Did you ever think or try to audition for a part in "Back
To The Future"??
--
On Tuesday, July 21, 2015 at 7:47:47 PM UTC-4, Terry S wrote:Does it? Or is that just the way you perceive it?
On Tuesday, July 21, 2015 at 4:38:26 PM UTC-5, I wrote:I don't know when I last laughed so hard, or had such a big smile on my face. I think that's just great. VERY creative. I really like when you reverse the decatron, it stops going 'tick-tock',,,,,,,and instead goes 'tock-tick'. LOL. Good for you, and many thanks, Ira.
On 7/21/2015 1:35 PM, PsyPhi wrote:
Hello everyone! I've been lurking on this list sporadically for a few months, and now that I have something specific to share/contribute I decided to join.--
I've been a "mad scientist" all my life, and have always been fond of tubes. After seeing several examples of nixie clocks on the web, I wanted to build one of my own. Using all tubes, of course. Soon I realized that the R&D was going to be much more fun than the actual implemention. Deriving a stable 1-Hz clock pulse from the 60-Hz power line (yeah, I'm in the US), dividing/counting pulses, driving the nixie tubes - all exciting challenges. But wait, after I get one digit working I have to make 5 more just like it to actually display the time? Too tedious for someone as ADHD as myself. So I settled on a one-digit design - no, still too tedious - how about just one bit? Display only zero and one, but precisely synchronized. Great; I can do that much. But the result would be kinda boring. If it doesn't tell time, it should at least go "tick-tock" like a respectable clock. So this is what I came up with:
Time Machine on youtube
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Instrument Resources of America
Jul 22, 2015, 1:07:10 AM7/22/15
to neoni...@googlegroups.com
I see that he used an old Beckman, "Universal EPUT and timer" for the
clock basics. Many people do not know what EPUT meant. It stood for
'Events Per Unit Time', just FYI. There's your trivia for the day. Ira.
clock basics. Many people do not know what EPUT meant. It stood for
'Events Per Unit Time', just FYI. There's your trivia for the day. Ira.
threeneurons
Jul 22, 2015, 1:39:24 PM7/22/15
to neonixie-l
Very Clever ! Never thought of using a "1" & "0" as an "I" & "O", though I lived in the era of typewriters, where many portables did not have a "1", or "0". You used the similar shaped letter, instead. Usually a lower case "L", for the "1".
Tom Harris
Jul 23, 2015, 6:33:57 AM7/23/15
to neoni...@googlegroups.com
Ever read Dr. Seuss? In one of my favourites "Dr. S's Sleep Book" we have a special clock:
But I do know this clock does one very slick trick.
It doesn’t tick tock. How it goes, is tock tick.
Looks like yours slipped back in time to the 1960's and visited the good Doctor S.But I do know this clock does one very slick trick.
It doesn’t tick tock. How it goes, is tock tick.
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PsyPhi
Jul 23, 2015, 6:56:32 PM7/23/15
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> slipped back in time to the 1960's
That would make sense. After all, much of it came from the 60's originally. The nixie & dekatron tubes (and their oddball sockets), the 6211 twin triode (used as a flip-flop that also directly drives the nixie), and the 6.3V filament transformer were all obtained back when I was a drug-addled hippie in college. Actually, the whole thing was constructed from "junk-box" parts that I already had lying around. Maybe it got homesick and went on a nostalgia trip.
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