There are plenty of SPI interface screens on the market, but few of them have the charm of the good old Nixie tube. [Tony] decided to whip up a simple three-Nixie module that could be addressed via SPI.
The module relies on a PIC16F15344 microcontroller to run the show, using its built-in SPI interface. It’s built with four stacked-up PCBs for ease of assembly and testing. It uses an internal buck converter to create the 170 volts required for the Nixie tubes from a 6 to 12 volt input. The high-voltage lines are routed towards the inside of the stack to minimize any nasty shocks when handling, though caution would still be advisable.
Driving the display is as simple as sending 16-bit words over the SPI interface, with the device operating in SPI client mode 1. If you’re looking for a simple way to have projects write output to a nice Nixie display, this module could be just what you’re looking for. Alternatively, if you can’t lay your hands on the tubes, there are other pretty solutions out there, too. Video after the break.
“It’s built with four stacked-up PCBs for ease of assembly”
I wouldn’t consider cordwood construction easy to assemble.
Perfboard isn’t really a PCB either, imo…
Powered by a buck converter? You maybe mean a boost converter?
some HAD-articles are just a copy&paste operation, and since the original article mentions a buck converter, i guess the fault is of the builder and the original article
I remember when this stuff was main stream. There is a reason it is not used anymore. This is junk tech to me. I like 2022 and beyond technology not this 1980’s useless junk.