> I have been trying to find a way to fit all my stuff into the storage room, > and realized that it has too many CRTs in it. This has led to me taking the > year off the First Robotics team I've mentored, to get some free time to > design a product that will help me sell all those CRTs.
I too am working on CRT projects. Still wrapping my head around how analog vector generators work. I've got basic designs for the HV supply and deflection amplifiers. I'd like to have a Z-axis driver, so I'm seeing if I can power the logic from the (already floating at cathode potential) heater supply. I'm aiming to have the deflection and anode near ground potential for safety and to avoid waveform distortion if someone touches the screen, so the cathode will be at a largish negative voltage. Current HVPS design is using a slightly modified CCFL inverter and rectifier in a switching power supply control loop. It's performing well, but if I open-source it, I'll redesign it using off-the-shelf parts. > I've decided to go with an Arduino style processor, since it's way more > user-friendly and popular than those wacky Motorola processors I used or the > PICs that the OscilloClock uses. So I'm rewriting the code in C, which will > take a few weeks. I too abandoned PIC after one too many issues with DOS-only software, undocumented proprietary interfaces, and frustration with programming in assembler (Atmel is very good with documenting their stuff, an the AVR architecture is more compiler-friendly than the PIC). > I've also redesigned the board and case to be DIY-friendly, and to resemble > an old 3 inch oscilloscope. I have come up with a circuit board layout that > fits behind the front panel. The panel has the look of a fifties 'scope, with > the intensity and focus knobs at top corners and the H and V knobs below, and > a big time-setting encoder in the lower center. Nice! I do enjoy that æsthetic. I've been building things into older scopes to get the advantage of the nice case and control layout, along with CRT mounting and useful power supply components. > (Did you know that it's impossible to find high voltage pots and rotary > encoders that share a common knob?) Yes, I am well aware of this! > I've already designed and made a quickie laser-cut case, since I have access > to a laser cutter now. Quick turn fab is marvelous. Agreed! Still trying to get my personal laser cutter working the way I want to (I'm currently stalled in the process of adding air assist). > I'll post photos when I have something to take photos of. Looking forward to it! - John -- 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/51565817-E6F5-4C94-9714-5EEF718487AB%40mac.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
