Cathode Corner Scope Clock is nearing production

[David Forbes]

Finally! I have found a way to make Scope Clocks again.
I first made them in 2001, using a plastic case fabricated locally. I
redesigned the case several years ago using living hinges, and made a
couple prototypes on the laser cutter at the local hackerspace,
Xerocraft. This didn't seem to be a sustainable production method, as
their laser cutter is in high demand. So I started building my own
laser cutter in 2019, then I had to build a workshop to house it, then
the pandemic...
The circuit board uses a custom power supply transformer to make the 5
voltages needed form a 12V wall wart. The CRT is a 3RP1-A with a real
socket. The computer is a Teensy 3.6, which has the horsepower and two
DACs to allow circle and line generation in firmware. The code will be
open source. I have already started to write a Pong game for it. Four
letter words and haikus are on the horizon.
The case may be cut in either acrylic or Baltic birch. I also will
provide the enclosure source as an OpenSCAD file. (It's an amazing
program!) I still need to optimize the living hinges for acrylic, as
they are a bit delicate.
Stay tuned for more information.

[Audrey]

Wow that's amazing! Excellent work.

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[martin martin]

Count me in!  I have one other scope clock, but it's not too accurate.  Will look good next to the many Nixie and Numitron clocks..

~

mcve...@gmail.com

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[Richard Scales]

I don't have a scope clock - yet ..... 

I'm looking forward to seeing detailed specifications as and when.

count me in too!

 - Richard

[Michail Wilson]

Me too.  At least one.

 

Going to add Wifi for NTP?

 

Michail Wilson

206-920-6312

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[David Forbes]

Thanks!
The Teensy has a USB port. You can send timing info there. Someone may
want to write that code. I have no strong inclination to make it
super-accurate, because it's just a table clock. It uses a DS3232 RTC
chip.
When I need to know what time it is with picosecond accuracy, I
consult one of the hydrogen masers at our radio telescopes that
participate in the Event Horizon Telescope.

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[Allen]

David,
Put me down for one.

My Scope Clock 2.0(1?) failed. Something in the high voltage doubler circuit. It let the magic smoke out of one of the smt caps. I haven’t dug into it further as I don’t have much experience with high voltage troubleshooting.

Any help would be appreciated


Allen Wisbey, W1SBY


> On Sep 4, 2021, at 10:30 PM, David Forbes <nixie...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks!

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[dixter]

would love to have one of these...  put me down for one please... :-)

[Jim KO5V]

Hi David,

I built one of your kits from about 2008. It works great, but it sits on a a very rudimentary stand.  Will the case for your new clock work with the old version - even with some minor mods?

Thanks. Jim

[Mac Doktor]

On Sep 4, 2021, at 10:00 PM, David Forbes <nixie...@gmail.com> wrote:

So I started building my own
laser cutter in 2019, then I had to build a workshop to house it, then
the pandemic...

I'd like to know more about your cutter: work area, power...

A friend of mine bought a generic K40 recently and I'm hoping to be able to use it once he gets it dialed-in. 8" x 12" is large enough for anything I'd want to build. OTOH, 40W may not quite "cut it" in the case of the thickest acrylic I might need.

The circuit board uses a custom power supply transformer to make the 5
voltages needed form a 12V wall wart. The CRT is a 3RP1-A with a real
socket.

Any possibility of a 5" version? I have a CRT (plus shroud) with that funky dual phosphor combo. A fast blue and a slow yellow. A pendulum would be interesting to watch.

The computer is a Teensy 3.6, which has the horsepower and two
DACs to allow circle and line generation in firmware. The code will be
open source. I have already started to write a Pong game for it. Four
letter words and haikus are on the horizon.

What DACs are you using? I can make out some quantization in pictures of 3" clocks so 5" would be worse. 12 bits might make a huge difference and I'd be willing to pay more for that.

And the big question: thru-hole or SMT?

I'd also love to have analog XY inputs for my Oscilloscope Artist. I'll talk about that in a separate thread.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

https://www.astarcloseup.com

“...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night", Cosmos, 1980