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Obsolete Time Lite (a minty Nixie clock)

Minimalistic Nixie clock designed to fit in an ALTOIDS tin!

operaptoropeRaptor
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Obsolete Time Lite or O;TL for short, is the natural evolution of a previous project aiming to design the perfect desktop Nixie clock.

> Minimal design
> Small form factor
> WiFi capable
> USB power
> Various atmospheric sensors.

Reach out on Twitter:
@SuprNova

The original O;T project taught us a lot about what would make the perfect Nixie clock. A few years has passed since we started this initiative. While we were busy staring at the orange glow of the Neon-Argon mixture, new parts became available, our design skills evolved and the need to start fresh slowly grew.

O;TL will be a stepping stone in order to test our new design and implement new features such as:

  • Compact minimalistic, all in the beloved ALTOIDS tin form factor
  • Powered via USB, no more need for the 12V source.
  • App/Web interface for an over the air button-less interface
  • WiFi connection using the ESP8266 μController
  • High accuracy DS3231 RTC with battery backup
  • The BME280 environmental sensor
    • Pressure,
    • Humidity
    • Temperature

  • Source is open!

    opeRaptor • 06/10/2017 at 21:09 • 0 comments

    Get all the design files here: https://github.com/opeRaptor/OTlite

  • OT;L ver 0.2245: Test successful!

    Guru-san • 04/25/2017 at 21:07 • 1 comment

    After writing a basic firmware to keep the time from the DS3132 and to display it on the tube, we got the lovely orange glow.

    Although it is due to the very small form factor of the transformer it has the tendency to heat up.

    We decided to laugh about it:

    The firmware is very simple right now but we are working hard to make the most of the IoT aspect with the ESP8266. For now, the RTC time is adjusted on bootup using NTP. Stay tuned!

  • Assembly completed

    Guru-san • 04/25/2017 at 20:42 • 0 comments

    After a busy weekend of assembly, the board were completed and tested. Next step: writing a firmware to display the time

    And it fit in the ALTOIDS box!

  • PCB received

    Guru-san • 04/24/2017 at 21:19 • 0 comments

    We sent the PCBs to fabrication and a week later, we received them and they look pretty good! Unfortunately the QR code was not printed in a resolution high enough to be readable, but we will get it right on the next batch.

  • Inside a Russian IN-14

    opeRaptor • 04/04/2017 at 09:38 • 0 comments

  • It's pretty!

    opeRaptor • 04/04/2017 at 09:36 • 0 comments

  • 3D models!

    opeRaptor • 03/25/2017 at 00:23 • 0 comments

    Matt has been working on the models. We will use the tube model on our PCB render next (assigning the model to the part in Kicad)

    Eventually we will be able to export the PCB back into Blender and have a render of the whole assembly!

  • PCB render

    opeRaptor • 03/20/2017 at 20:19 • 0 comments

    We have been working hard on the layout... Here is the first render of the complete board. A little more looking around for mistakes and we should be ready to send to the fab house!

  • Control!

    opeRaptor • 03/20/2017 at 20:16 • 0 comments

    Powered using a single cell USB battery and controlled via an ESP8266!

  • PSU success!

    opeRaptor • 03/20/2017 at 20:14 • 0 comments

    If you followed our previous project O;T you know we have been working a long time toward a PSU capable of stepping up ~5V to 170V for the Nixies to light. We have succeeded!

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Discussions

Paul Andrews wrote 06/21/2017 at 20:39 • point

At last a USB nixie power supply (with a flyback transformer?). Do you have figures for efficiency/current draw? I plan a slightly larger USB nixie clock. I also plan a LiPo powered clock. I could use a commercial power supply (Taylor Edge springs to to mind), but I would very much like to build it right on to the PCB.

I plan a lot of things, but I have a lot of skill sets to learn. Slowly I am getting there.

  Are you sure? yes | no

rick christmas wrote 04/02/2017 at 10:45 • point

I need one of these.... or several as Christmas presents.... it's just cool.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Ember Leona wrote 03/31/2017 at 22:55 • point

Looks steampunk I like that

  Are you sure? yes | no

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