I am trying to check to see if I have this wiring diagram correct. I am using a Pro Mini to control (2) I2C Controllable Nixie tubes. There is an adjustable High Voltage power supply. I am not using it as a clock but as a small, battery powered, number counter. The Nixies are setup more for being a clock but could be used for other things.
The main thing I am unsure about is the wiring from the ENABLE on the power supply to the arduino. I want the arduino to control the power to the HV Power. It shows several different ways to trigger the power supply, I just don't know which one i need to use. I think I have the power supply adjusted correctly on the R adj. I will be supplying 5v to everything with a removable LiPo battery pack.
Here is the wiring diagram. Updated the drawing
Here is the directory to the images for the power supply
I am using the smaller 12 pin one on the left 1363
EDIT
Pics are posted above but some IT departments are blocking them....(mine) so here are the links to the pdf's from the manufacture.
If the output of the battery is 5 volts connecting it to raw will be a problem.
I believe you can connect it to VCC directly.
Perhaps others can confirm this.
LarryD:
If the output of the battery is 5 volts connecting it to raw will be a problem.
I believe you can connect it to VCC directly.
Perhaps others can confirm this.
Edit :
Nice neat draw drawing.
Thanks I am a cad guy by trade.
Does the drawing look correct?? I haven't done much with arduino just dabbled.
LarryD:
If the output of the battery is 5 volts connecting it to raw will be a problem.
I believe you can connect it to VCC directly.
Well now, a Li-Po battery is not 5V. One cell is generally 3.5V - give or take a bit - and two cells correspondingly, 7V.
If you are using two cells, you need to feed it to "raw" to be regulated as it is too high for the ATmega, while if you are using one cell, you need to be feeding it in to Vcc as you do not want to lose voltage in the regulator.
So - is it a LiPo cell, or battery, or what?
It took me a while to get the pictures from "Photobucket" as it is so cluttered with garbage at which my NoScript baulks. Your HV converter will apparently run from anything (moderately) over 5V, so if in fact you are using a two cell LiPo, that will be fine. The "enable" input regards anything over 1.25V as "on", so you can indeed drive it directly from the Arduino no matter whatever voltage is powering the Arduino. And you have included the pull-down to ensure it is off until the sketch initialises. That part looks just fine.
Sorry I ment Li-ion battery pack. Probably a small one for a digital camera. Size is an issue so the smaller the better. I could use a 9v but their mah is so low, I hate using them. No matter I think you are right about voltage of the cells. I will end up at 7v or 9v. Doesn't change too much and will make the power supply more efficient. The R adj value on the power supply will change and I will have to add resistors to the i2c nixie 5v line.
distorteddesigns:
Sorry I meant Li-ion battery pack. Probably a small one for a digital camera.
Well, small digital cameras use a single cell at 3.6V, like mobile phones. For powering the Nixies, a couple of 18650 cells might be more useful.
distorteddesigns:
I will end up at 7v or 9v. Doesn't change too much and will make the power supply more efficient.
7V should be adequate, certainly with the 18650s. Yes, the power converters will be slightly more efficient at the higher voltages.
distorteddesigns:
The Radj value on the power supply will change and I will have to add resistors to the i2c nixie 5v line.
The Radj should have nothing to do with the supply voltage. Not having a link to the datasheet for the actual Nixie driver boards, I do not know how much current they will draw but it may be sufficient to power them from the Arduino Vcc. You cannot use resistors alone to drop the voltage, it needs to be regulated.
shouldn't I be able to power the nixie boards vcc power from the arduino? They only need regulated 5v - 2.5ma each. Can I set the VCC to output instead of input? or would it go somewhere else?
