What did you build over the holidays?

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Nick

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Jan 13, 2015, 5:31:27 AM1/13/15
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Well.. I built the "Letter/Box" piece detailed elsewhere and am now going on some proper neon sign making courses.

What's everyone else been up to - I can't believe that with over 700 members, no-one has built a project or had an idea that is worth the envy of the rest of us!

Come on, then - what have you all been up to?

Nick

Dan Harboe Burer

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Jan 13, 2015, 5:51:43 AM1/13/15
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..I’ve have been slowly and steadily continuing work on my automatic Tube Tester – The “Roetest” V5 from Helmut Weigl.. I’m actually building TWO of them..
It’s a massive project; each tester consists of approx. 20 PCS with a zillion components on..
I might even finish them one day :p
 
..and I almost finished assembling an RC Tamiya CC-01 Unimog modified with crawler tracks. Another ”crazy just for fun project”.
 
..and together with a friend I began designing and building a low-cost CNC milling machine prototype(approx. A3 sized work bed) – made of plywood. It is intended for learning the quirks of the software, but will be able to mill e.g. PCB boards. When we both have acquired some basic SW skills, we will design and build some more massive machines :)
The frames are made – on a larger CNC machine . Bit and pieces are on the way from various ebay sellers..
 
Nothing Nixie-ish I’m afraid of ;)
 
Dan
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Jonathan Peakall

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Jan 13, 2015, 10:15:16 AM1/13/15
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An indoor/outdoor thermometer, using DS18B20 sensors and the Pixie tubes I got from Walt a coupleof months back. It's only a lashup but I wanted to play with my new Pixies. You can do some fun "casino" effects with these tubes, spining around and such.
 
I also go my Raspberry Pi working and talking to my favorite uC, but that is a post for another forum.
 
Jonathan
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Grahame Marsh

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Jan 13, 2015, 10:31:18 AM1/13/15
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I've been working on a chimes sounder for a clock.  I've always ben inspired by this

http://elm-chan.org/works/sd20p/report.html

But I've used a pukka 16 bit audio DAC to play WAV files off a SD card. 

G

Nick

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Jan 13, 2015, 10:40:10 AM1/13/15
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On Tuesday, 13 January 2015 15:15:16 UTC, Jonathan wrote:

An indoor/outdoor thermometer, using DS18B20 sensors and the Pixie tubes I got from Walt a coupleof months back. It's only a lashup but I wanted to play with my new Pixies. You can do some fun "casino" effects with these tubes, spining around and such.
 
I also go my Raspberry Pi working and talking to my favorite uC, but that is a post for another forum.
 
Jonathan

That's neat - I also got 8 pixies but have not yet powered them up.

Also been doing a bit with RPis - just used two B+ versions to turn dumb 40"+ flat screens into smart wallboard monitors - interrogates max pixel depth & resolution over HDMI, sets the screen to max resolution with no borders, sets up an equivalent frame buffer on the Pi and then runs the matchbox window manager & chromium in app mode to display the pages full screen with no boarders or titles, mouse etc. If the TV is turned off or the HDMI unplugged, the Pi goes through the query & set cycle again so you can swap screens etc. and it'll always be full colour depth and full screen size.

RPis are good at this sort of stuff.

Nick

gregebert

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Jan 13, 2015, 1:35:43 PM1/13/15
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My panaplex watch is coming along. The realtime clock is running, keeping accurate time, and the display looks good on battery power. At 10 illuminations per day, I should get almost 3 months of battery-life per charge (1150mA-hr lithium) based on accelerated runtime tests. Last major hurdle is debugging the 3.3V DC-DC converter (Linear LT3561A device), then I have to cram it all into a wearble case. Photo attached.

The display is a Sperry SP-151


bench_1.jpg

Petro Vodopyan

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Jan 13, 2015, 3:57:05 PM1/13/15
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I've assembled a couple of clocks.


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David Forbes

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Jan 14, 2015, 12:21:02 PM1/14/15
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Cool! I can't wait to see it on your wrist!

That 5U4G tube in the background, is it part of your voltage tripler?
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gregebert

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Jan 14, 2015, 3:03:52 PM1/14/15
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That 5U4G tube in the background, is it part of your voltage tripler?

Ha-Ha! That would be a hilarious addition to a wristwatch....I use a flyback converter to generate the anode-voltage without a multiplier.

Actually it's a 0B2 regulator tube that I accidentally fried with excess current. I was hoping to get a nice glow from it for another nixie project, but sadly the purplish glow is hidden inside. I wanted to abuse the large metal 'can' inside the tube as a large glowing cathode.

Years ago I did this with a 0A2; nice glow. I got a bit carried away and pumped so much current thru it the innards got red-hot and melted the glass, which subsequently shrivelled. Unfortunately youtube didn't exist in 1978 so the whole 10-15 minute death-sequence of the straining & buzzing 300V power supply and brightly-flashing 0A2 is forever lost.

Paul Parry

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Jan 15, 2015, 3:31:52 AM1/15/15
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I finished off my Steampunk Nixie Clock ' Gemini' for a Client in Singapore:

You can see some more details here if interested: http://www.bad-dog-designs.co.uk/woodclocks.html

It has 2 synchronised Nixie clocks sharing a common 32Khz Timebase, Displays Temperature and Humidity and a couple of Dekatrons for good measure, and a whole load of brass!

Cheers,
Paul

barnbwt

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Jan 15, 2015, 8:36:05 PM1/15/15
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I actually got into the hobby over the holidays, as a break from wood/metal working out in a cold garage.  Got one of those little IN-14 QTC kits from PV Electronics, and got it glued together over a few hours after marveling at how fast stuff ships internationally (3 days from the UK for the kit, I think 5 from Ukraine for the tubes).  Things were going gangbusters with the first tube, which was a seconds-counting machine.  Moving that tube over to the minutes however, was a solder bridge too far (at least, I think that's what caused the zap, sizzle, lightshow I witnessed).  Kind of an inauspicious start, but it's not like I wouldn't have to learn about debugging circuit boards sooner or later.  Haven't done any electrical stuff since my circuits course in school 6 years ago, but I'm finding the subject more engaging this time around.  I think it's because the nixie and vacuum tubes are actually big enough to see what is going on directly, while a solid state transistor has no bright flashy parts to keep my meager attention span.

Now I've got all sorts of ideas and ambitions on what to make after I get this first clock working.  I think I'll start with a Shaker-style (oval shaped) hat-box type wooden housing for this one, which shouldn't be terribly difficult and will look cool.  After that, a taller and bigger version, with some IN-18's up top poking through a brass lid (or 14's if those are silly big), and a pair of speakers barking through holes in the front.  Probably jimmy a Bluetooth stereo board inside there to drive them for now (since a tube pre-amp is definitely beyond my priorities or abilities at this time), and rig up some means of magic eye VU meter to dance around with the output.  Gotta fix this current mess first, though... 

TCB

Joe Croft

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Jan 16, 2015, 8:00:14 AM1/16/15
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I worked (and am still working) on my Nixie tube thermostat for my heater. Though it will have 4 relays for controlling anything. I only have a heater (radiator), I am using a PID controller to regulate the temp. Cooling will just be a standard stupid algorithm, one  tested by turning on and off a room AC.

When I get a chance I will post more details. I am hoping to have a kit before next winter :) We'll see ;)

-joe

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