Hi all, It's taken me months and months of spare time (what little I get these days) to work on this, but I finally think my most recent project is finished-enough to warrant sharing. A couple of years ago I built a word-generator clock using IV-4 alphanumeric VFD tubes, that somewhat approximated the functionality the venerable FLW piece. Since I can't afford a quartet of B-7971s, I went with the readily-available and slightly more capable IV-4.
Anyhow, I posted about my project at the time on ye olde NEONIXIE-L group on Yahoo. For those that (understandably) have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a pic of the old version: http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.50008288.jpg In a serial fit of total engineering-OCD flareups, I designed, scrapped, redesigned, scrapped, and re-redesigned the entire thing from the ground up. The bullet points: - Runs from a 12V DC wall-wart instead of tougher-to-get 12V AC flavor. - Now talks USB to computers. It enumerates as a standard HID-class device, so no special drivers are required. Here are some pics of the thing: Under construction: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/709108/iv4lw2_unfinished.jpg An early test pattern, filaments visibly overdriven: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/709108/iv4lw2_test1.jpg With flash, so you can actually see it: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/709108/iv4lw2_finished.jpg Finally, the device talking USB to my computer and scrolling a message: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/709108/iv4lw2_daisydaisy.mov I've been wracking my brain lately trying to figure out what kind of case to put it in -- it's small enough to fit in a manhandled Altoids tin, so I'm going to give that a shot tonight. I'll have design files and what not available eventually. Hope you guys enjoy the pictures and movie! Sean -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
