Hello, 

if an ESP8266 is not enough powerful, the ESP32 will do the job.
the ESP_WROVER can be a good platfom.
you should have a look to Mose's work on https://neonixie.com/Z57XM6DV2/
the code is a bit "strong" as it can be used both on an 6 IV-9 clock and a 
more traditional  6 digits Z57, superb clocks, all they need is addressable 
LEDs for a more colorful background. and deactivable.
the BH1750 luxmeter does a great job and is more sensible than a standard 
photoresistor.

Le mercredi 1 novembre 2023 à 14:38:44 UTC+1, David Pye a écrit :

> Hi,
>
> I offer you one caution with the ESP8266 boards - almost everything is 
> implemented in the libraries in software rather than onchip hw. 
>
> That means doing things like updating addressable LEDs can cause the 
> multiplexing to glitch slightly because of the need to send LED data at 
> strict timings.   (Or, if you sacrifice led timings to run your multiplex 
> interrupt routine, it can glitch the LEDs.  ).  Chips which have DMA/more 
> complex peripherals might avoid this.
>
> You might get away with it with certain combinations of things but it was 
> a bit of a pain for me.
>
> David
>
> On Wed, 1 Nov 2023, 11:54 Richard Scales, <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Many thanks Nick. 
>> Unless anything else comes to light I think I will forge ahead on that 
>> basis. I want to drive 15 segment panaplex displays (16 including the DP) 
>> so plan to use HV5530 or similar driver for the segments, probably two of 
>> them. Then the same MPSA42/MPSA92 driver arrangement for the HV though 
>> there are going to be 5 of those - I might be running low on pins it using 
>> a Wemos - I might consider a port expander for the extra pins needed - I 
>> need to check pins required - I think 4 for the HV register chain, 6 for 
>> the Anode switching (two drivers driving a 12 digit device - perhaps 5 for 
>> a 10 digit device) plus I want to read a PIR and talk to a BMP-280 sensor. 
>> Certainly a Wemos + port expander would do it - might get away with a Node 
>> MCU or similar.
>> OK, I just realised that I can use a single 32 bit driver  with two sets 
>> of 16 bits, one going to each bank of displays.
>> It still has the same pin requirements of the processor I think. That 
>> will be a juggling excersise!
>>  - Richard
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday, 1 November 2023 at 11:10:02 UTC Nick Sargeant wrote:
>>
>>> Hi, 
>>>
>>> It’s not difficult. My fumbling attempts at a Nixie clock some time ago 
>>> used a 4:1 multiplex ratio, using four digits and only one decoder. I used 
>>> the same MPSA42/MPSA92 driver as your example. My multiplex function was 
>>> called at 100Hz, so each digit was refreshing at 25Hz. It doesn’t flicker, 
>>> and (whoa!) it is working 15 years later. 
>>>
>>> The only mod I had was when switching between digits, I turned the 
>>> cathode drive off for a period of 20 microseconds, before selecting the 
>>> correct anode and turning on the next digit. This helped prevent ghosting. 
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wednesday, 1 November 2023 at 10:14:25 UTC Richard Scales wrote:
>>>
>>>> Actually - I just looked through an example over at: 
>>>> https://www.hackster.io/doug-domke/multiplexed-nixie-tube-clock-759ff5
>>>>
>>>> ... and it all seems fairly understandable, have I overthought this?
>>>>
>>>>  - Richard
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wednesday, 1 November 2023 at 09:22:03 UTC Richard Scales wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The time has come when I need to get a handle the dark and mysterious 
>>>>> art of multiplexing.
>>>>> I have an understanding of what needs to happen though am mostly at a 
>>>>> loss of how to implement it.
>>>>> I am broadly assuming that I should be using some kind of interrupt 
>>>>> routine to make the actual display work whilst the rest of the code gets 
>>>>> on 
>>>>> with the job of working out what to display and when to display it.
>>>>> Is it even going to be feasible to have some kind of interrupt routine 
>>>>> that decides what digits to light - set all the bits and then sets the 
>>>>> right anode(s) on and then off again giving enough time for the 
>>>>> persistence 
>>>>> of vision to produce a non flickering display when using something like a 
>>>>> wemos D1?
>>>>>
>>>>> I am thinking that the interrupt routine needs to increment which 
>>>>> digit(s) is/are being illuminated - set up the right bit pattern for the 
>>>>> cathodes and turn on the relevant anode(s) - wait a little and then turn 
>>>>> them off again. 
>>>>> My worry is that the amount of time that the displays should be left 
>>>>> on might be a little too long for the ISR as my understanding is that 
>>>>> these 
>>>>> should be kept as lean as possible.
>>>>>
>>>>> Do I even need multiple interrupts (my covid addled brain is 
>>>>> struggling to type let alone contemplate multiple ISR's!)?
>>>>> Can the rest of my code run in a non time critical manner as it works 
>>>>> out what it wants to display where whilst the interrupt routine merryly 
>>>>> illuminates digits based on values which I store in a buffer somewhere? 
>>>>> ... or does the rest of my code have to work in come kind of 
>>>>> state-machine fashion?
>>>>> I would expect (hope) to handle display brightness via PWM signals to 
>>>>> HV Drivers. 
>>>>> I have no need for cross fade effects either - just basic multiplexing 
>>>>> of say 10 different multi segment displays. I am more than happy to break 
>>>>> up the displays into say 2 (or more) groups in order to makes things a 
>>>>> little easier.
>>>>>
>>>>> Can anyone point me in the right direction - ideally with some code 
>>>>> snippets that I can use as a foundation?
>>>>>
>>>>> Just to confirm, it is only the general implementation  to drive the 
>>>>> displays that eludes me - the rest of the clock code is well defined and 
>>>>> working well in a direct drive capacity.
>>>>>
>>>>> The desire to move to multiplexed operation is born out the the desire 
>>>>> to drive a greater number of displays with a greater number of segments 
>>>>> which could be done via direct drive but I foresee that multiplexing the 
>>>>> displays will simplify the electronics required.
>>>>>
>>>>> So many questions I know. I would be grateful for any pointers, thank 
>>>>> you.
>>>>>
>>>>>  - Richard
>>>>>
>>>>> -- 
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