Why is the power drain such a huge issue in the thread? The OP doesn't plan to do anything fancy like having a huge chain of relays to decode bcd, just simply driving them from a microcontroller straight up.
A six-digit nixie clock would only have 6 relays on at the same time, and a normal small 5 volt relay consumes about 150mW. That's just 0.9 W in total - hardly anything to be concerned about especially since the nixie digits draw 400 mW each! On Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 12:51 AM, Mark Moulding <[email protected]> wrote: > > > The clicky sound won't be very loud, but still audible if you use reed > relays, and many of these have the added advantage of being low current > enough to drive directly off the output pin of a microcontroller (25 mils, > or even less). It's a little difficult to find ones rated for 250 or 300 > volts; most have contacts rated for 100 volts, but I suspect that they > would still work fine in this application. > > Here's one that only draws 10 mA, and has the suppression diode built in: > http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G18683 Since > you'd only have one relay per digit energized at any time, the total > current drain for the relays would be 60 mA, or 300 mW. Too much for a > wristwatch, but completely reasonable for any plugged in device. I bet the > nixie DC-DC converter will draw more. > > If a bit of noise doesn't bother you, and you *do* have a beefy power > supply, you could make one using the digit wheels from a pinball machine. > These are mounted on large rotary stepper switches, which draw *amps* while > switching, but only for 50 mSec or so. They're pretty loud, though, and if > you use these, you might as well just leave the number wheel mounted and > have a pinball machine clock - maybe with a nixie remote repeater display... > ~~ > Mark Moulding > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/ae919114-fa05-4efa-81a9-6d66453bbaf5%40googlegroups.com > . > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAEN9bvCU9%3DkiJo9%2Brd-m_Wa%2B4Ce6KY4PzK6NhBDHUhwPm2D19g%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
