• 01000011 01001111 01000100 01000101

    Sascha Grant • 01/27/2015 at 00:49 • 0 comments

    The code is done! Woot!!

    Well, enough of the code is done :)

    I've published the code here - https://github.com/ibuildrockets/NixieTemperatureDisplay on my Github page.

    As it stands, the code works but I want to add a 'slots' mode to reduce cathode poisoning.

    With nixie tubes, one thing that can degrade their performance over a period of time is splatter - where material is ejected from the active cathode and splatters onto those surrounding it that are inactive. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen :( There's a good article on cathode poisoning here - http://www.tube-tester.com/sites/nixie/different/cathode%20poisoning/cathode-poisoning.htm

    What 'slots' does is to cycle through each cathode every so often - and this can reduce the build-up of material and lengthen the life of the tubes. And that's something you're going to want to do!

    The nixie clock I built in 2006 is still going today and looks like the day I turned it on - it cycles the digits every 60 seconds - as the minute rolls over, the numbers all cycle for a few seconds. Looks cool and keeps my tubes in top condition.

    I'll work on this next :)

    Ok! Back to the code!

    The code is a bit messy - but what code isn't?

    How this all works -

    The OneWire DS18B20 is first declared and set to reside on Pin 19 (this is A1 on the Pro Micro)

     OneWire ds(19);

    Next is the declaration of the three digits for the display:

    int digOne = 0, digTwo = 0, digThree = 0; 
//digOne - Tens, digTwo - Ones, digThree - Decimal
    And finally, the 3 BCD outputs are set as follows:
    //Tens
const int tenA=2;
const int tenD=3;
const int tenB=4;
const int tenC=5;
//Ones
const int oneA=15;
const int oneD=14;
const int oneB=16;
const int oneC=10;
//Decimal
const int decA=6;
const int decD=7;
const int decB=8;
const int decC=9;
    This layout is to suit the inputs on the К155ИД1 BDC chip



  • Testing.. Testing.. 1.. 2.. 3..

    Sascha Grant • 01/18/2015 at 09:46 • 0 comments

    For testing I'm using two IN-14 nixie tubes as they're easy to plug into a breadboard. The IN-12A's I'm going to use are socketed and not so easy to breadboard.

    So far I've got the temperature reading working via the sample sketch & outputting BCD to the nixie drivers :)