6 Digit Numitron Clocks , RTC DS3231

[DashApple]

Hey ,

This was a little project I did from the shift registers and arduinos : D

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOVk0ewZxIg , There is a start up pattern and I will soon say hello on power up .

6 digit clock is based on 6 6B595 shift registers , it uses a i2c DS3231 RTC that is point soldered into place with battery backup .

Controller is a arduino pro mini on the 6 digit

Im not to good with shift registers on the code side of things so the program is just a lot of else if statements and shift out function to check the output from the RTC and to print a byte based on what is true .

IMG_0933[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr

IMG_0934[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr

IMG_0935[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr

 

[DashApple]

This is version two , it uses 3 MAX6971 CC 16Bit Led drivers along with a boost converter for 2 brightness levels and to power the arduino / RTC

IMG_0947[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr

 

[clansley]

Great stuff!

 

[Down with Umbrella]

Wow that's quite impressive. Call my strange but I love all the exposed wiring. Great job.

 

[vortish]

I love those kind of clocks. It kind of reminds me of stuff from Fallout the videogame. Its also kind of steam punkish +rep

 

[starlight]

Start selling these..... I want one!

 

[DashApple]

Great stuff!

Thanks ! : D

Wow that's quite impressive. Call my strange but I love all the exposed wiring. Great job.

Thanks : ) , I do like the open style stuff too , it gives it a more interesting look plus the first one was just a prototype so it did make debugging easier too .

I love those kind of clocks. It kind of reminds me of stuff from Fallout the videogame. Its also kind of steam punkish +rep

Thanks , They do look like something from fallout : P one reason I like numitrons .

Start selling these..... I want one!

HaHa , Maybee oneday : D !

 

[Sigurthr]

Could have sworn I posted... Did we have another rollback?

I hadn't seen the V2 initially, awesome work! Too bad ya can't 3D print a fancy case for it now.


edit: my post was BUTCHERED by iOS's autocorrect, which has been plaguing me since the recent update.

 

[DashApple]

Thanks sig , Yeah , I should do a case for them .

Mark 3 -

IMG_0976[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr

IMG_0973[1] by TwirlyWhirly555, on Flickr

 

[Sigurthr]

You're certainly tidying up the builds as you go! Very nice!

 

[phenol]

Are those numitrons the USSR-made ИВ-xx series?

 

[DashApple]

Are those numitrons the USSR-made ИВ-xx series?

Not to sure , they are NOS with the original packing from the factory they was made in .


They have a diamond on the side with a 12 stamped inside it and NB-9 , 9104e on the back

 

[phenol]

yes, that's most certainly ИВ-9 (iv-9) and 9104 is probably the manufacture year and month.
There are datasheets online (in Russian) with pinout and operating conditions...the nominal voltage is 3.15v per segment, etc etc. if you pulse those, there are certain frequencies you should avoid.

 

[MarioMaster]

ionlaser555 - v3 looks amazingly tidy, especially considering everything is on perfboard.

I picked up a bunch of numitrons at SELEM2014 and originally tried driving them with a multiplexed driver. The low duty cycle was not enough to light the filaments and im sure the pulsing would've been bad for the tubes anyway.

I saw your post and went to grab some of those MAX6971 driver chips but was annoyed by their price. I did some digging around and found the STP16CPC26. As far as I can tell it does exactly the same thing (slightly reduced max voltage of 20vLED, higher max current output of 90mA per channel)

Mouser price per chip for MAX6971: $5.19 qty 25 $3.50
Mouser price per chip for STP16CPC26: $1.18 qty 10 $0.97

Just got some in and fired up:

 

[ped]

Only just got on to the fact these are actually filaments , I want one even more now!