Learn From The Ice Tube Clock

icetube

Looks like they’re at it again over at Adafruit. This time they’ve produced a clock that looks more like it should be attached to a munition rather than cruising bedside. But, geek-cred aside, there’s a lot to be learned from their design. Like we’ve grown to expect, they’ve put together some good documentation on their choice of components.

Start off by taking a peek at their 5v power regulator. There is an extra diode on the output side that prevents reverse current from the 3v backup battery. The AVR ATmega168 that controls the clock is used to detect loss of power and quickly shift to the battery backup. They’ve also used the  microcontroller as a boost converter for the high voltage VFD, a nice trick we’ve seen before.

[Thanks pt]

22 thoughts on “Learn From The Ice Tube Clock

  1. @vic – disclosure, i started hack-a-day and i work with ladyada, if you read the post here and the site you’ll see that it’s 100% open source hardware, you do not need to buy a kit. you can even make your own and sell them!

    unlike posts about new nokia laptops or android phones you can just make this on your own, you may need to find a source for the tube, etch a board, get some parts (and many people will).

    i think this qualifies as a great “hack” on hack-a-day, in fact, read the icetube site and see all the hacks you can do with this clock kit.

    kits are 100% what hack-a-day is about and why i started hack-a-day back in the day’

    besides, it’s not an arduino :)

  2. “this one in particular is the atmega168v or 168p. the v or p designation means it can run at 1.8v voltages, otherwise the chip requires 4v or more to run and that is more than the battery backup voltage”

    the ‘v’ designation means low voltage whereas the ‘p’ designation merely means it is a dip through-hole ic.

  3. OK maybe I was a bit harsh. What I mean is that for me an hack is modifying something to make it do something unintended. This is a clock designed to be a clock.

    Regarding the advertising part, maybe it’s just a consequence of the fact that many people at sparkfun, hackaday, make, ladyada, etc … know each other, but I still think “hacks” like a $15 LM317 PSU do not deserve an article. Just my opinion :)

  4. i’d like to roll something similar. looking for the iv-18 tubes, i’m only finding green ones. anyone find blue ones? or are they all just sorta blue/green, and look different with different cameras?

  5. @drone, ebay or google, there are actually thousands out there.

    @vic – yah, you were harsh, but whatever – if you want hack-a-day to post other things, make cool stuff of send in cool links, you may think this is a clock, but it’s many other things – trust me, i live with this clock.

    a $15 LM317 PSU is interesting if it’s open source hardware (it’s is from what i recall)… it’s not an “article” – it’s a post, consider it something for people that are not the “expert” you are yet. we all started somewhere.

  6. @optimusprime30322: well at least it’s not $90 compared to adafruit’s $65. plus this one doesn’t have the battery backup and like pt said, it’s easily hackable via documents.

  7. I plan to order one as soon as they come back in stock, I am gonna create a breakout box (Buttons, Buzzer, …) to put next to my bed and have the clock ontop of my entertainment center.

    Maybe even use it as a display for other things (weather, twitter updates, …).

    The only limit is your own creativity!

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