On Friday, June 10, 2016 at 4:28:16 PM UTC-4, Mitch wrote: > > Hi All, > > > Today I finished my Nixiechron upgrade project. > > > Just over a year ago, I sent a Nixiechron board to someone who considered > modifying his software to run on the Nixiechron. Unfortunately, business > got in the way, and it never happened. > > > When I received the board back a couple months ago, I looked into the > possibility of learning PIC processor programming. I’m familiar with Atmel, > but the learning curve was too steep. > > > I didn’t see any way to adapt an Atmel processor to the PLCC socket, so I > moved on. Just days later I received some headers that I ordered by mistake > with 1.27mm spacing, and I noticed that PLCC pin spacing is also 1.27mm, so > that’s how the project got started. > > > Since this could only be done with a daughterboard, extra space was > available to add an RTC, level converter, and connections for additional > sensors and switches. > > > The original idea was to make it snap-in, with no additional connections > necessary. But the addition of a level converter required one jumper to be > added, to supply it with 12v. Then unfortunately, I noticed that POL was > grounded on the HV5530s and that won’t work with the software I already > developed for my clocks, so that pin must be pulled and also connected to > 12v. > > > Other than that one reversible modification and 12v for the level > converter, nothing else has to be changed on or connected to the Nixiechron > board, and the changes are fully reversible. > > I have three Nixiechrons that I’ll upgrade, and two upgrades going to > friends. I hope to make some available shortly, but there is no long term > business plan here, so we’ll see. > > > > Features of the upgrade include: > > - RGB LED lighting with a variety of interesting effects. Brightness > and color of each intelligent APA102 RGB light is individually controlled, > and custom colors can be set for each hour. Optional RGB LED scrolling > with > digits. Commonly available light strips are used. > - Three configurable override periods with independent settings for > start and end times, Nixie brightness, RGB LED brightness, RGB colors and > patterns, and colon patterns. Each period can be enabled for weekdays, > weekends, or both. Period override button restores standard settings for > user selectable time period. > - Real time clock with accuracy to approximately one second per week. > - Crossfade or vibrate digit change effects > - Original NIXIECHRON GPS receiver is supported, or substitute an > Adafruit, Ublox, or other, TTL level GPS that sends standard, NMEA > strings. > GPS is no longer required. > - Automatic time zone setting for Daylight Saving Time. Tables are not > used! Month, week, day of week, and time, are used to calculate time > changes, for easy updating as rules change. > - Scrolling date display with three selectable date formats. > - Scrolling temperature using original sensor, or add a BME280 weather > sensor to display temperature, pressure, and humidity. > - Ambient light sensor increases brightness at user configurable > setting. > - PIR sensor optionally enables display only when motion is sensed. > - Configurable cathode anti-poisoning routing helps to keep tubes in > good condition. > - Option to add two additional buttons for easier setting. > > > Alarms are not supported because I hate them on Nixie clocks, and no > chimes. The 1PPS LED and AM/PM neon are supported. > > > I assembled a plastic box that contains the PIR, light sensor, weather > sensor, and two extra buttons, just to test everything. I only plan to add > RGB to my other two clocks. > >
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