The tubeclock database (http://www.tubeclockdb.com/) is a good place to start. Akafugu has an end-view clock with colons: http://www.akafugu.jp/posts/products/nixie/
On Tue, Jun 24, 2014 at 3:43 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Today's topic summary > > Group: http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l/topics > > - Saga of the Sperry part 2 <#146ccd40ccf9293b_group_thread_0> [2 > Updates] > - Digest for [email protected] - 1 update in 1 topic > <#146ccd40ccf9293b_group_thread_1> [1 Update] > - Recommendations For A Socket Nixie Clock Kit > <#146ccd40ccf9293b_group_thread_2> [1 Update] > > Saga of the Sperry part 2 > <http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l/t/9e528806dbf9028b> > > Morris Odell <[email protected]> Jun 23 04:14AM -0700 > > Hi all, > > Part 1 described the innards of the Sperry radar indicator that I > wanted to > use for a clock and it's difficult internal structure. Now I'll get > started > on the design. > > The first step was to work out what frequencies and voltages I would > need. > Experience has shown that CRT clocks need to run at a scan frequency > that > is related to the mains frequency in order to prevent stray electric > and > magnetic fields in the environment from wobbling the display. This was > not > likely to be a big issue here as the neck of the CRT was shielded and > by > the time the beam got out of the shield it would be accelerating fast > enough to not be seriously affected. Nevertheless I decided on 900 Hz > as it > is a multiple of both 60 and 50 and was in the design range of the > power > transformers. Looking at the ratings of those transformers I worked > out > that I needed about 50 watts, possibly less if I could derive the +/- > 12 > volt and the shift coil supplies from the mains. I also thought it > would be > pretty nifty if I could drive the scan coils from a rotary resolver > driven > by a stepper which in turn would be controlled by an AVR and GPS > receiver. > Cool huh? > > The only snag was that I didn't have, and would almost certainly never > have, the proper resolver! I did have a couple of surplus 50 and 400 > Hz > synchros though, so why not try? > > The 100 volt 900 Hz power supply had to be a sine wave as that was > expected by the area balance circuit. This meant that the power supply > would be a linear amplifier driven by a sine wave source. Inefficient > I > know, but making a switch mode sine wave inverter was just too hard > given > the difficulty in finding suitable cores to work at 900 Hz. I designed > up a > 900 Hz exciter using a 4046 PLL phase locked to the mains followed by > an > active low pass filter to knock off enough harmonics to make it look > like a > sine wave. I included a voltage controlled attenuator to allow > feedback > control of the output and built it up on a little PCB - it worked very > well > and supplied several other outputs that I thought I would need. > > For the power amplifier I chose a LM3886 which was cheap and capable > of > generating lots more power than I needed providing it was heat sunk > properly and supplied with enough volts. It would need a transformer > to > shift the output voltage to 100 and I raided both my and several > friends > junk boxes to find what I though might work. I had a suitable 80 VA > mains > power transformer already - it would develop +/- 25 volts and had taps > to > also get +/- 17 volts for a pair of 12 volt 3 terminal regulators, and > 6 > volts for the CRT heater thus allowing me to remove one of the 900 Hz > transformers. The junk box yielded a suitable very large heatsink so > away I > went. > > I got to work removing all the unnecessary stuff from the indicator, > Dismantling is definitely a lot of fun :-) Out went the heater > transformer, IF strip, the power relays, fuses and the multi-pin > connectors. All the associated wiring came out of the looms too. A few > charred power resistors and all the electrolytics were replaced as > were > some messy replacement rectifiers that sat on blackened areas on the > rear > panel(!). The variable video time constant parts and switching went, > as did > the heading indicator and signal strength meter. After doing that > there was > enough room to mount the power transformer and the big heatsink for > the LM > 3886. I connected it all up, attached my 400 Hz synchro and reached > for the > power switch - a scary proposition for something that hadn't seen > moving > electrons for along time. > > Well, the good news was that the CRT lit up OK (whew!) and the > waveform > generators all worked but that's where it ended. It was pretty obvious > that > my little synchros would never develop enough secondary current to > adequately deflect the beam. In addition the LM3886 was getting very > hot > and working far too hard to force enough power through my junk box > transformers into the unit, even with a power factor correction > capacitor - > now that's a phrase I never thought I'd ever use again! On top of all > that, > the 900 Hz transformers howled like banshees. It was obvious a radical > rethink was going to be needed! > > That's where I'll leave it for now, so stay tuned for the next > exciting > installment folks! > > Morris > > > > > [email protected] Jun 24 04:04AM +0930 > > Hmmm, love the story so far. Sitting on the edge my chair re the > 900Hz. I am trying to get back to a project that needs approx. > 200W power at 1600 - 1800 Hz [A Rebecca IV]. I have made a couple of > tiny 400Hz supplies for selsyns and looked at the variable frequency > supplies often on ebay [for spindle motors]. One cheap supply spec > said 0 - 2500Hz. Turns out that is period not frequency :-( It > is 0 - 400Hz. > > I have enough 'junque' to try to make a FET 'vibrator' supply or a > high power audio amp. Have even bought a couple of transformer design > books. > > Looking forward to the next instalment..... > > John K > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: [email protected] > To: > Cc: > Sent:Mon, 23 Jun 2014 04:14:21 -0700 (PDT) > Subject:[neonixie-l] Saga of the Sperry part 2 > > Hi all, > > Part 1 described the innards of the Sperry radar indicator that I > wanted to use for a clock and it's difficult internal structure. Now > I'll get started on the design. > > The first step was to work out what frequencies and voltages I would > need. Experience has shown that CRT clocks need to run at a scan > frequency that is related to the mains frequency in order to prevent > stray electric and magnetic fields in the environment from wobbling > the display. This was not likely to be a big issue here as the neck of > the CRT was shielded and by the time the beam got out of the shield it > would be accelerating fast enough to not be seriously affected. > Nevertheless I decided on 900 Hz as it is a multiple of both 60 and 50 > and was in the design range of the power transformers. Looking at the > ratings of those transformers I worked out that I needed about 50 > watts, possibly less if I could derive the +/- 12 volt and the shift > coil supplies from the mains. I also thought it would be pretty nifty > if I could drive the scan coils from a rotary resolver driven by a > stepper which in turn would be controlled by an AVR and GPS receiver. > Cool huh? > > The only snag was that I didn't have, and would almost certainly > never have, the proper resolver! I did have a couple of surplus 50 and > 400 Hz synchros though, so why not try? > > The 100 volt 900 Hz power supply had to be a sine wave as that was > expected by the area balance circuit. This meant that the power supply > would be a linear amplifier driven by a sine wave source. Inefficient > I know, but making a switch mode sine wave inverter was just too hard > given the difficulty in finding suitable cores to work at 900 Hz. I > designed up a 900 Hz exciter using a 4046 PLL phase locked to the > mains followed by an active low pass filter to knock off enough > harmonics to make it look like a sine wave. I included a voltage > controlled attenuator to allow feedback control of the output and > built it up on a little PCB - it worked very well and supplied several > other outputs that I thought I would need. > > For the power amplifier I chose a LM3886 which was cheap and capable > of generating lots more power than I needed providing it was heat sunk > properly and supplied with enough volts. It would need a transformer > to shift the output voltage to 100 and I raided both my and several > friends junk boxes to find what I though might work. I had a suitable > 80 VA mains power transformer already - it would develop +/- 25 volts > and had taps to also get +/- 17 volts for a pair of 12 volt 3 terminal > regulators, and 6 volts for the CRT heater thus allowing me to remove > one of the 900 Hz transformers. The junk box yielded a suitable very > large heatsink so away I went. > > I got to work removing all the unnecessary stuff from the indicator, > Dismantling is definitely a lot of fun :-) Out went the heater > transformer, IF strip, the power relays, fuses and the multi-pin > connectors. All the associated wiring came out of the looms too. A few > charred power resistors and all the electrolytics were replaced as > were some messy replacement rectifiers that sat on blackened areas on > the rear panel(!). The variable video time constant parts and > switching went, as did the heading indicator and signal strength > meter. After doing that there was enough room to mount the power > transformer and the big heatsink for the LM 3886. I connected it all > up, attached my 400 Hz synchro and reached for the power switch - a > scary proposition for something that hadn't seen moving electrons for > along time. > > Well, the good news was that the CRT lit up OK (whew!) and the > waveform generators all worked but that's where it ended. It was > pretty obvious that my little synchros would never develop enough > secondary current to adequately deflect the beam. In addition the > LM3886 was getting very hot and working far too hard to force enough > power through my junk box transformers into the unit, even with a > power factor correction capacitor - now that's a phrase I never > thought I'd ever use again! On top of all that, the 900 Hz > transformers howled like banshees. It was obvious a radical rethink > was going to be needed! > > That's where I'll leave it for now, so stay tuned for the next > exciting installment folks! > > Morris > > -- > 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] [1]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] [2]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > > > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/c5f1b0c1-1242-49de-8153-f7908a986a8b%40googlegroups.com > [3]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout [4]. > > > Links: > ------ > [1] mailto:[email protected] > [2] mailto:[email protected] > [3] > > > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/c5f1b0c1-1242-49de-8153-f7908a986a8b%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer > [4] https://groups.google.com/d/optout > > > > Digest for [email protected] - 1 update in 1 topic > <http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l/t/1b4a813eb25650dd> > > "Dave B." <[email protected]> Jun 23 10:21AM -0700 > > I'm not sure what you mean by "top tubes" unless you mean the IN-17 > variety that have wires instead of pins. > > I built the "Lena" a couple months ago and really like it. > http://nixiekits.eu/ > > The kit is very high quality and well thought-out, and the PIC > programming is quite clever in terms of the various effects that can be > configured. I must say, though, that the fact that the IN-12 tubes use an > upside-down "2" filament for the "5" drives me a bit crazy, so I try to > never look at my clock when there's a "5" in the hours or minutes ;^) . > Also, Lena uses IN-17s for the seconds digits. You would probably want the > Lara kit, which has the same mainboard but a different daughtercard for the > six IN-2s. > > Of course all of those tubes have "on the top" digits; if that's what > you mean then of course none of those will do. In that case, check out > "Sven reloaded" which uses side-view nixies. > > BTW all of those kits have some SMT components, which are > pre-soldered. But the Lena was still a fairly challenging kit to build, in > a good way. You HAVE to follow the instructions closely or you will goof > something up, I'm sure if it. > > cheers, > > Dave B. > > On 6/23/2014 12:55 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > Today's topic summary > > Group: http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l/topics > > Recommendations For A Socket Nixie Clock Kit [1 Update] > > Recommendations For A Socket Nixie Clock Kit > > Dman777 <[email protected]> Jun 22 02:37PM -0700 > > Hi, > > I am looking for recommendations for a Nixie clock kit that uses 6 > *socket* > > tubes(please note this is *not top tubes*). > > > > Recommendations For A Socket Nixie Clock Kit > <http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l/t/899da181320b7dad> > > Paul Parry <[email protected]> Jun 23 01:26AM -0700 > > On Sunday, 22 June 2014 22:37:04 UTC+1, Dman777 wrote: > > > > > http://www.pvelectronics.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=122 > > This uses IN-4 Tubes. I like this clock...but I am not a fan of the > case > > and I would to have column lights > > I do a different case for this kit: > http://www.bad-dog-designs.co.uk/images/Contemp/Desk_3.jpg > > Although get the Halo kit as you can use a wide variey of end view > tubes, I > personally use GN-4's as they are excellent tubes. > > Cheers, > Paul > > > > > > > -- 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/CACGiRxjTOF%3D%2BLYCcZOSj%3DePvb64tFnhHTdSE%2B9DpH9fMc%2BGRsg%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
