Spare parts pulled together into a Nixie clock

spare-parts-nixie-clock

We'd like to dig around in [Small Scale Research's] parts bin. Apparently there's good stuff in there because he managed to build this Nixie tube clock using mostly leftovers. The chip driving the device is an ATtiny1634. We weren't familiar with it so here's a datasheet (pdf) if you're curios as well. The microcontroller communicates with an old GPS module in order to keep perfect time. There … [Read more...]

Collection of Nixie bar graphs bump to the beat

bar-graph-nixie-bumps-to-the-beat

This VU meter uses Nixie tubes as the display. There are a total of fourteen IN-13 bar graph tubes that map out the audio spectrum. The build uses purely hardware for the display; no microcontroller processing, or dedicated VU-meter chips were used. Input begins with a dual Op-Amp along with a pair of potentiometers which allow the left and right channels to be balanced. Both channels are then … [Read more...]

Nixie clock that doesn’t skimp on the number of tubes

IMG_4090

[Nina Blum] figures that if you're going to the trouble of driving Nixie tubes you might as well use a lot of them. The details about this clock, which were sent directly to our tips line, lists a total of thirteen tubes used. There are six Russian IN-8 tubes (large digits), four Z573M tubes (small digits), but the colon tubes and the sine wave tube part numbers were not specified. An ATmega8 … [Read more...]

Nixie Clock Without a PCB

Lethal Nixie Cube

Looking for an artistic way to build circuits? Don't want to design a PCB? The Lethal Nixie Tube Clock is a free form circuit that gives you the time one digit at a time. It uses a IN-1 Nixie tube to display the digits. This is driven by ten MPSA42 high voltage transistors. A IRF520 N-FET, inductor, and a diode are used as a switching power supply that generates the high voltage needed to … [Read more...]

Nixie suduku and on-die LEDs

suduku

The best booths at Maker Faire draw you in with something unbelievably cool or ridiculously absurd, and bring out a state-of-the-art technology just as your curiosity for the main feature starts to wane. [John Sarik]'s booth for a class he's TAing at Columbia - Modern Display Science and Technology - is one of these booths. The main feature of the booth is a suduku board filled with 81 Nixie … [Read more...]

It was only a matter of time before we saw Nixie modules for the Arduino

nixie

The Nixie tube, a neon-filled tube with a series of 10 cathodes shaped like numerals, is a classic display for any build wanting a unique, vintage, or steampunk aesthetic. We shouldn't be surprised a factory in China is now turning out Arduino-compatable Nixie modules (English translation, but don't get your hopes up), but there it is. The modules are based on the QS30-1 Nixie tube capable of … [Read more...]

How about a nice game of Nixie chess?

chess

[Tony] sent in a Nixie tube chess set he's been working on, and we're just floored with the quality of this build. The chess pieces glow without any visible wires, the board is extremely elegant with touches of gilding and brass, and extremely well designed using (mostly) materials and components contemporary to the old Russian Nixie tubes. Instead of numeric Nixies, [Tony] chose IN-7 and IN-7A … [Read more...]