Deadly Nixie Clock

[isparkes]

Well, not really deadly, but can give you a nasty bite because there are 200V or so floating around on exposed wires.

The special things about this clock:
 - Just a 328P running on the internal RC oscillator
 - HV voltage generation driven by the 328
 - Super low component count
 - Battery backed Real Time Clock
 - Software button debounce

The code is on GitHub https://github.com/isparkes/ArdunixNix6 (sub folder "SpiderClock").


And a YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/gGaBfw0rWDA


Here are some stills:

[odometer]

I have some questions about this clock:

1) What does the yellow light (below the digit) do?

2) It seems that you have two buttons for setting the time, with one button being for the hours, and the other for the minutes. How exactly does the setting procedure work? I looked at the code for debouncing the buttons, and it seems very complicated.

[isparkes]

1) The yellow LED flashes on and off, 1 sec on and 1 sec off.

2) Yes the button code is more complex than is needed for this clock: it is lifted from another clock I built,
and can tell the difference between "button pressed now", "button pressed for less than 1 second and released", "button pressed for between 1 than 2 seconds", "button pressed for between 1 than 2 seconds and released", and so on.

The other clock is much more beautiful. A boring video of it at night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js-7MJpCtvI

[Isaac96]

Can you attach your photos? I can't see them.

[Isaac96]

WOW!

[odometer]

Code: [Select]


The other clock is much more beautiful. A boring video of it at night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js-7MJpCtvI


I want to know more about this clock.

How are you driving the digits? I notice that the units digit of the seconds does a little "animation" when it changes from 9 to 0.

Also, there is a bigger animation about halfway through the video. What is that for?

The spinning digits remind me of a setting method I've seen on some watches. Only one button is used. You hold down the button to make the numbers spin, and when they get to the correct hour (or minute or whatever), you let the button go. If you tap the button instead of holding it down, the numbers advance by only 1 unit per tap. If you wait a few seconds without pressing the button, that tells the watch that you are finished. It's kind of funny, but it works. This method is easily adapted to set exact seconds if need be.

[isparkes]

The code is all on GitHub:

https://github.com/isparkes/ArdunixNix6

The digits are multiplexed, and each fading is done by switching between the old and the new digit value, varying the time spent on old and new.

The bigger animation is "Anti Cathode Poisoning", and is there to stop the digits becoming dim. It's a sort of screen saver for Nixies...

The scroll back effect from 9 to 0 is managed by showing each of the digits in turn on the way down for a few impressions.

The button handling is sort of like you say: A short press changes the current value of the setting, an longer press changes the setting, an even longer press returns back to normal mode.

It's all in the code....

[pYro_65]

If you leave it outside, does it function as a bug zapper?

[jeckblack]

funny and cool...

[florinc]

Very nice!
You could "encage" in plexiglass.

[isparkes]

If you leave it outside, does it function as a bug zapper?

Depends where you live. It works as a bug zapper inside for me...

[odometer]

Depends where you live. It works as a bug zapper inside for me... :)

I wonder how hard it would be to modify it so that not only does it zap bugs, it keeps score as well.

[Glass]

Nice !
I really like the open-frame construction, and you executed it really well.