*Its been a long time since I built the wonderful Jeff Thomas WWVB Radio Controlled Nixie Clock. I was never able to get the modified Quartex module to get a reliable receiver lock to keep the time accurately and I reluctantly retired the clock over 5 years ago. Recently however, I was able to source another receiver and for the hell of it removed the larger ferrite antenna and tank cap and replaced the one in the modified Quartex module. The clock synchs perfectly now and it is keeping time to the second even through a snow storm for more than a week. I am amazed that it was just the antennae. I have two more unpopulated PCBs and parts and plan to build 2 more beauties.*
*The only problem now with the clock is that the tubes are very expensive and I want to preserve their longevity.* *I wonder if anyone can help me interface either an IR remote control to switch the HV to the display on and off to permit continued time keeping with the display off. This would increase tube life since I am never home from 7AM to 7 PM and can turn off the display during the day. Alternatively, an IR/Heat sensing PIR motion detector could, via a small relay, turn the display off and on with movement in the room. Perhaps this would be a more sophisticated solution. Looking at the attached schematic it appears that the switch could be placed between the step up transformer HV rail either before or after the Neon indicators. If placed after the indicators the neons would stay lit indicating the clock was still running albeit in display off mode. Thanks for any help or providing another resource to help me solve this issue.* *The schematic can be seen here **http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/wwvb.html*<http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/wwvb.html> -- 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.
