Awesome work Brendan, really nice writeup and really interesting details on the software build process. I particularly like the sleeving that you used - it really finishes things off very nicely can you share your source? I don't suspect that it will be an easy process to retrofit to my Harwel, but it would be nice to have a go. So, what's next? - Richard
On Monday, 4 April 2022 at 07:38:54 UTC+1 Organs Grinder wrote: > Hi All, > > Long time lurker/reader here, but I thought this build log and images > would be worth sharing. > > One of my favorite things was the day I saw the Harwell Dekatron > computer(WITCH) at tnmoc. > So when I heard about a clock using Dekatron's that paid homage to WHICH, > I had to have one! > > I ordered the kit and Dekatron's from Grahame at: > http://www.sgitheach.org.uk/harwell.html > > The case kit (with some changes) from Nick: > https://stocksclocks.com/index.php/harwell-a-dekatron-clock > > It's taken me many months to get this all done as I have very little free > time. > > I am going to say up front that I am a little odd, and all this "bling" of > LEDs and sounds puts me off. > Thankfully, the software that Grahame wrote is feature-rich and open > source, with massive amounts of custom options for everything out of the > box. > There are options to suit everyone's tastes and needs. > > One thing I don't like the most is additional noise... Nick was very nice > to help me create a custom front plate for the Harwell clock at an > additional cost. > This front plate removed the holes/cutouts for the speakers. I have not > installed the speakers into my kit at all. > > Many thanks, Nick, I think it looks amazing. Along with the rest of the > case. > Here is my front plate: > [image: IMG_8598.jpg] > > I also sleeved/braided all internal cabling and used only one colour of > wire in the entire build. > Keen to know what everyone thinks! > [image: IMG_8576.jpg] > [image: IMG_8579.jpg] > [image: IMG_8600.jpg] > I also sleeved the PSU: > [image: IMG_8603.jpg] > [image: IMG_8602.jpg] > > > One goal I did have is to be able to build all the source code from > Grahame's Dropbox zip files. > I've now achieved that goal and all the firmware on my clock is running > from builds I created from Grahame's source code. > > You can find the build system here: > https://github.com/brendanhoran/sgitheach-harwell-earthly-build > > The main branch (default) will build all firmware needed by the clock. > The tooling can be run on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Making use of Docker > <https://www.docker.com> and Earthly <https://earthly.dev>. This gives us > portability and reproducibilityIt. > It will emit build artifacts that then can be used with Grahame's > tooling/instructions as per the build manuals(s) or tooling of your choice > to flash the devices. > > I have a testing branch that also builds BOSSA to flash the Atmel SAM: > > https://github.com/brendanhoran/sgitheach-harwell-earthly-build/tree/bossa-1-9-1-14-flash-sam > > At the moment the testing branch only builds BOSSA for Linux. > I have used this testing branch to flash the Atmel SAM firmware with no > issues, but again it is testing at this stage. > It needs some tweaking on the timing of some steps but it works. > > Example output of the BOSSA flash step (firmware is built in another step > before hand) > [image: flash-sam-bossa.jpg] > > Please reach out to me directly or raise a PR if you have any questions or > fixes for the build system. > Many thanks to Grahame for his countless detailed emails replying to my > questions, would not have been possible without his help. > > > My next goal is to fix console output when connecting to the clock in a > Linux environment (Minicom). > For now, you must disable colour output. (There is an option for that in > the system.ini and a hardware jumper!) > > I also plan to design a more minimal FACE for the clock later on, that I > will send back to Grahame as well. > > > Many thanks, > Brendan > -- 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 view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/b2fd822d-2d52-4c33-96e1-d78e983d8223n%40googlegroups.com.
