Thaks for your reply, William. Yeah, well, it costs a lot (before I consider any return for my time!). This is my concern - if the market fo rthe price I need to charge isn't there, I don't have a project, after all...
On Friday, 7 October 2016 20:07:56 UTC+1, William Lee wrote: > > I would love one, and applaud the idea, but that price point will put it > out of range for me. > > On Oct 7, 2016 3:02 PM, "Laurence Wilkins" <in...@bcaf.net <javascript:>> > wrote: > >> Over almost the last ten years, I have been designing, producing and >> selling a variety of logic and PIC Micro-controlled nixie clocks, from >> classic 2x3 mux 74141-based designs to multiplexed and direct drive IN18 >> monsters, to miniature desk clocks and single digit weirdness. I feel I've >> "been there" now, and want to find other appropriate outlets for these >> glorious glowing anachronisms! (that is: nixie tubes). >> >> I've been giving some serious thought recently to designing and building >> a good quality 50,000 count (4 3/4 digit) Bench Digital Multimeter with a >> fair few (sensible) bells and whistles, but of course with a nixie display. >> It would use a standard but very capable DMM "front-end" chip to do all the >> measurement, opto-isolated to a controller and then onto a direct drive >> nixie display (with Volts/Amps/Ohms/Hertz symbols!) Battery or mains, USB >> output (or is that input?). I am aiming for CAT IV performance by design >> (but not by certification - too expensive), good accuracy as afforded by >> the front end chip, and in a good quality case (likely to be the most >> expensive component). I'd like to offer it both as an assemble-able kit (so >> I'd presolder small SMD parts) or a fully assembled instrument. This would >> be a "serious" bit of kit, not something which *looks like* it was >> thrown together in a biscuit tin! I've yet to decide whether the software >> would be open source, but it might be nice to let "the community" develop >> additional functions in software (data logging, averaging, etc.) >> >> I aim to produce a batch of maybe 50 instruments, but I really don't have >> much of a clue as to the demand, out there. "It's going to depend on cost," >> you say. Well, based on BOM costs so far, it is not going to come in much >> (if anything) below about GBP £400 (USD $550). Yes, you could spend that on >> a new meter and get guaranteed similar specs, but *it wouldn't have a >> nixie display* which is of course the unique selling point. >> >> >> It might take me around 12 months from pressing the button to a finished >> product. I've looked, but there appears to be nothing else out there. >> >> >> So what does the group think? Are we nixie nuts a very small group? Are >> clocks enough? Is that price way too high? (the BOM costs means the price >> can’t be much lower, for small volumes!) >> >> >> Regards >> >> >> Laurence >> >> www.MrNixie.com >> >> >> (the one in England they call) Mr Nixie >> >> -- >> 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 neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com >> <javascript:>. >> To view this discussion on the web, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/6f8b3456-3add-41b2-9106-765741d98a48%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/6f8b3456-3add-41b2-9106-765741d98a48%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- 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 neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/432597c6-b77a-4af1-8aed-d81b7a45fd68%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
