NE-CALE We have been wanting to produce this Nixie Clock til project for a long time and now it has finally come to fruition. It has the warm, fascinating glow of Nixie tubes with their hypnotic counting action, mixed with a cool blue glow from a high-brightness LED from underneath each tube. It makes an eye-catching display, both during the day and at night. (Pt.1: Design by DAVID WHITBY _) Ere ee siliconchip.com.auii ‘Two different cases will be available - either a see-through Perspex case as shown at left or a white powder-coated diecast aluminium case as shown above. By the ws the photos really don't do the brightly glowing Nixie & LED displays justice. F YOU DO A GOOGLE search for Nixio Clock” you will immediately find over 200,000 results. Many of these refer to actual Nixie clock de- signs or clocks that enthusiasts have built. Some are quite eye-catching, some are downright ugly and some aro truly weird. We feel quite safe in stating that none looks as good or is as wall-designed as tho Nixie Clock we are presenting here. Not only doos it function asa classic 6-digit 12-hourclock, with hours, min- utes and seconds display, it also uses blu LEDs to throw light up through the Nixies—a neat juxtaposition of the nostalgic warm neon discharge with the cool blue present. Itkeeps accurate time with crystal control and the retro “Nixie” tubes with their moving and glowing individual numbers give it the atmosphere of an earlier techno age. ‘What is a Nit A Nixie is, or was, one of the first numeric displays. It has 10 ind vidual electrodes, from 0-9, placed siliconchip.com.au one behind another. Bach electrode is lit with a neon discharge to display a particular number. Before Nixies, alphanumerical displays were mainly electromechanical indicators or in- candescont filament devices which the compact, silent and reliable Nixie soon outshone. The Nixie was invented by the Haydu brothers in the USA in 1952 who later sold the design to Burroughs Business Machines. Itappoared in vast numbers in the late fifties and sixties as the display of choice for calcule tors and other business machines, various kinds of test equipment and early computers. They displayed the trading information at the New York Stock Exchange and showed crucial data in those epic control rooms dur- ing the space race. The Nixie name came from an original prototype drawing which was enlitled "NIX 1” meaning Numerical Indicator eXperimental 1. The name stuck and has beon used ever since. Nixies were made in a vast range of different shapes, sizes and colours and tubes with many differont symbols apart from numbers were manufac- tured. From the early 1970s, they wore rapidly displaced by 7-segment LED and vacuum fluorescent displays, and ultimately by liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Funnily enough, today's plasma displays can be regarded as an evolu- tion from Nixies ~ they are both gas discharge displays. Nixie tubes have not been manufac- tured formany yoars and are becoming rarer and more expensive, so if you want a lasting and useful piece of retro technology, now is definitely the right time to build a Nixie clock. 's take @ look at the circuit = seo Fig.1. Big, isn't it? But this is relatively low-tech stuif with not a microprocessor in sight, As shown, there aro six Nixies, with their cathodes each driven by a high- voltage transistor, 44 transistors in all. Juwy 200725sk Ww 12169, Dr aNaoo7 oe iM + st i pare ory Acjoc rower ene $C NIXIE CLOCK NX-14 ——_ — Fig.t: the circuit uses six Nixie tubes, each driven by a 4017 decade counter via high-voltage transistors, Switchmode controller IC9 and its associated parts provide the high-voltage (200-220V) DC supply for the Nixie anodes. 26 SiicoN Chur siliconchip.com.au6k we stconps sey i 1Naoo7 Daz:UFACOL DS INAI4B/INGIA 1-45: 2NOSI7/NPSAAA/MFSAAE NOTE: THE SWITCHMODE INVERTER CIRCUIT (C9, 46-048, L1 & D2} PRODUCES A VOUAGE OF 200:220V DC siliconchip.com.au Juny 2007 272 double-sided PC boards, code NX14L & NX14U, 6 1N14 Nixie tubes 2.NE-2 neon indicators 1 92.768kHz watch crystal 1 2O0uH 3A inductor (L1) 4 miniature toggle switch ($1) 3 momentary pushbutton switches (S2-S4) 121mm DC connector (CON1) Semiconductors 6 4017 decade counter/dividers (IC1-IC8) 4 4060 oscillator/divider (107) 1.4013 dual D fliptiop (IC8) 1.34063 switchmode controller e) 45 2N6517 high-voltage NPN transistors (Q1-045) 4 BC337 NPN transistor (046) 4 BC327 PNP transistor (47) 1 IRF740 N-channel Mosfet (48) 1.1N4007 rectifier diode (D1) 1 UF4004 fast recovery diode (D2) 11N914, 1N4148 diode (D3) 16.2V 1W zener diode (201) 1 W02/4 bridge rectifier (BA1) 6 blue LEDs (LED1-LEDS) Capacitors 44F Supercap 2 1000uF 25V PC electrolytic 1 47yF 28V PC electrolytic 1 4.7uF 450V PC electrolytic: 1100nF MKT polyester 1 47nF MKT polyester 1 {nF MKT polyester 1 100pF ceramic 4 10-40pF trimmer Resistors (0.25W, 1%) 110Ma. 12k 1.390K22 3 10k 2BB0KQ IW 222K 1 220kQ 4.8200 182k 14700 6 68k 1W 2 1802 44 27K, 11000 122kQ. In turn, each high-voltage transistors driven from the respective output ofa 4017 CMOS counter chip. ‘The coun tor chips are clocked by a 32.768kHz watch crystal driving a 4060 oscilla. tor/divider chip. Apart from the high voltage DC-DC inverter, that is pretty well all there is to it. t's start in the bottom lefthand CON Cite Nibdie Tubbess How Thay Werk Deed the simple neonindicator. Aneon indicator eek inert neon gas and containing two metal electrodes, When a sufficiently high Ne ee ns the gas around the negative electrode Co Oe ccc) Cee Ears Mie ogee as the gas is dependent on the electrode spacing and the temperature. Typically Pee eu Pre Cac) Nixie tubes. In practice, higher voltages are used, witha series resistor to limit the Cre ees tented Ceo ee nu Pen ae er co roe ec mo! Fe cere eC shaped cathodes (0-9) behind the anode, Pe emcee usd Pe Ce as Se cy placedin direct order behind the anode but areplaced to give minimum obstruction of Ce rcs The anode is connected to +HT via a comer of the circuit, with the power supply section. The wholo circuit runs from a standard 12VAC plugpack or it can run from a 12V car battery. Nixie car clock, anyone? The incoming 12VAG is connected toa full-wave rectifier bridge (BR1) and 8 1000, 25V electrolytic. capacitor. The resultant 12-16V DC rail powers 4 high-voltage SMPS (switchmode power supply) which employs an MC34068 chip (C8). A.6.2V zoner diode (201) provides a regulated 5.4V supply forall the CMOS chips via diode D1. Also across this supply is the 1 Farad Suporeap which can keop the clock “ticking over” for six hours or more during power feil- ures, This is without runningthe Nixie tubes of course and when power is restored, the Nixies light up with the correct time displayed. When external power fails or is disconnected, diode D1 isolates the Supercap supply from the other powor Deep eg aa eeu cts) be lit. By the way, "HT" is old-timer talk eg ans Ietom)Russialwith}iove} BU UCU Oe CUR) Se CMU cu Ce intr Pe resend DO Peet supply components toavoid theirload High-voltage supply The high-voltage supply consists of the MC34063 switchmode controll: chip (already mentioned), togothor withinductorL1 anda few other com- ponents. Itmight look quite innocuous hut it produces around 220V, enough to give you quite a boot if you touch the wrong parts of the PC boards. The MC34069 runs at about 40kHz, set by the 1nF capacitor at pin 3. It drives a peir of complementary transis tors, Q46 & Q47, which in turn drive switching Mosfet Qae The circuit is aboost or up-convertor which works by switching acurrentat high frequency through inductor Li and using tho stored energy to charge a capacitor via fast recovery diode D2, during the Mosfot off timos. A resistive feedback network consisting of the 390k0 and 2.2k0 resistors connected siliconchip.com.auto pin 5 maintains the output DC volt ago at between 200V and 220V. For those who might have stud: ied the MC34063 datasheet and are puzzled by the unconventional driver connections, note that the output tran- sistors within the MC34063 are not connected in the standard way. Instead, they connect the drive waveform to Q46 & Q47 via their “eb-be” junctions. This odd configuration was found to givo the highest efficiency in this high-voltage step-up circuit Higher frequency DG-DC converter chips such as those from Maxim were tried but proved to be ultra-sensitive to PC board layout and had higher EMI than the MC34063, Crystal oscillator This is tho time standard for the clock and it uses a 82.768kHz watch crystal and a 4060 CMOS oscillator divider (C7). The crystal is connected Via a 2.2K0 current-limiting resistor while tho 10MQ resistor is thore to provide bias for the intornal inverter tages, The 100pF capacitor and the OM0pF trimmor capacitor provide the correct capacitive londing for the crystal and onable very fine adjust- mont of the frequency, for accurate time keoping. ‘The output frequency at the final stago of the 4060 (pin 8) is 2H. This is fed to the second section of a 4013 dual D flipflop (IC8b) which divides by two to produce iFiz pulses to operate the clock counter chain Time-setting Time setting is done by threo mo- mentary-contact pushbutton switches: S2 (FAST), 83 (SLOW) & $4 (STOP). When prossed, the STOP button holds tho reset pin of IC8b high, via ‘an 6200 resistor, to stop the count for precise seconds sotting, ‘The SLOW button connects 1Hz pulses from IC8b into the minutes counter (IC4) overriding the tens of seconds counter (IC5) due to the voltage divider action of the 82k and 12kQ resistors. The FAST button works the same way but connects 8Hz, pulses from the 4060 into the same point; ie, pin 14 of IC4. Main clock counter chain The clock counter uses six 4017 siliconchip.com.au Once again, this night-time photo doosn’t do the clock ju colours from the Nixie displays and the blue LEDs are brighter and more dynami CMOS decade countor/dividers (IC1- IC6), one for each Nixie tubs. The 4017s each have 10 high-going out- puts, giving 60 available outputs of which 44 are required to implement the 12-hour elock. Each of these 44 outputs has # 27k0 resistor to the base of a high-voltage T092 transistor (Q1 44), with each collector connected to the relevant Nixie tube cathode. Note that these transistors noed to have a broakdown voltage rating of at least 300V and those supplied for the clock kit are MPSA42, MPSA44 or 2N6517, all of which were origi- nally designed for TV video amplifier sages. Clock counting sequence Now we need to discuss the inter connections of the 4017 docade coun- ter/divider chain to make it count and indicate as a 12-hour clock SECONDS STAGE: the 1Hz output from IC8b is connected to the clock input {pin 14) of the seconds counter (IC6), which causes its outputs to go high in tum at L-second intervals from 0-9. ‘The carsy-out output of C6 {pin 12) is connected to the clock input (pin 14) of the tens of seconds counter (IC5) which has its “6" output connected to the reset (pin 1). It therefore resets itsolf at the “6” count, thus giving a total seconds count of 59 which is then reset to 00 to start the next minute ice, The glowing wally quite a lot than this photograph shows. MINUTES STAGE: the tens of seconds carry-out output at pin 12 of IC5 is connected via sories 82k and 12kQ resistors to the clock input (pin 14) of the minutes counter (ICA). Its outputs go high in turn at 1-minute intervals from 0-9 and its carry-out output (pin 12) drives the clock input of the tens counter (IC3). The tens counter resets al “6” in ‘way as the tens of seconds counter, The seconds and minutes counters together count to 59 minutes and 59 nds then reset to 0000, passing the last carry-ont to the hours counter aca) HOURS STAGE: the hours counter counts from 0-9 but because the clock must start at 1 o'clock (not 0 o'clock!) the Nixie is wired so that the numerals read 1 fer 00, 2 for 02, otc, up to 9 for 08 and then 0 for O89 when the carry-ou! is passed to the tens of hours unter IC1 to read “1” (the highest roadout for a 12-hour clock) ‘Tho hours counter (IC2} counts from 0-9 1-940 on the Nixie tube) only when the “1” output of tho tens of hours counter (IC1) slow. At the same time, the 2" output will be low, causing D3 to conduct and provent tho resets to pin 15 of IC1 & IC2 from being acti- vated. When the tens ofhours counter reaches “2”, both hours counters are reset to 00, This rosults in areading of Juty 200729‘The unit is built on two double-sided PC boards, with the Nixie tubes and the high-voltage transistors all soldered directly to the top board. The full constructional details are in Pt.2 next month. 12” on the hours Nixio, correspond- ing to 12.00.00 or 12 o'clock. Tf you would prefer not to have the ‘0” reading on the tens of hours Nixie, youcan simply omit transistor Qu from the PC board. ‘Two circuit features remain to be described and the first is transistor Q45 which has its collector connected to the emitters of all 44 Nixie cathode driver transistors. Normally, QU is biased on from the 12-16V DC rail via @ voltage divider consisting of two 10k® resistors. While that 12V supply is prosont, the Nixies are all driven by the 44 high-voltage transistors. However, during a power failure the 12V DC supply rail collapses and Q (1) Complete NX-14 kit with fisted metal baseplate (does not ince housing or ive LED uplgitng components): $179.00 (2) Diecast aluminium housing: $33.00 inplain fish ready for posting or panting: $45.00 supplied powder coated {shoj whit), (3) Transparent polished Perspex housing: $54.00, (4) Blue LED uplighting kit $19.00 (5) 10V AC plugpack supply: $14.50, 30 SiLicoN Gir tums off, so negligible drive current can flow from the 4017 counter outputs 10 the bases of the 44 high-voltage transistors. This reduces the current drawn by the counters to an absolute minimum and extends the back-up time provided by the 1F Supercap. The blue LEDs which provide the up-lighting for the Nixie sockets are run in two series groups of three together with 1800 current limiting resistors. If you want to turn them off (unlikely, we think), St does the job. Mechanical design This completes the circuit descrip. tion so now let's have a brief look at the mechanical design of the clock, (6) Gar $4.50 Spare 1N14 Nixie tubes: $15.00 ea The NK14 Nie Clocks also aval fully built and tested. Enquries to: Gless Audio, 7 Lyonsule Ave, Preston, Vic 3072. Ptone {03} 9442 3991; 0403 055 glesstron@msn.com Note: the PC board patterns for this project are copyright to Gless Audio. hter cable for 12V DC operation: In essence, there are two double- sided plated-through hole PC boards which are stacked together and sepa- rated by four 25mm hexagonal metal spacers, The lower PC board ears the power Supplies, crystal oscillator and all the dividing/counting circuits. The 1 Farad super capacitor is mounted ndemeath this board, along with four 10mm hexagonal spacers for mounting the whole assembly to the base of tho clock housing The upper PC board holds the six Nixios and thoir associated current limiting resistors, the two neon bulbs and their resistors and the 44 high- voltage driver transistors. Provision is also made on this board for the optional up-lighting kit, consisting the six high-intensity 8mm blue LEDs, two current limiting resistors and the light offfon switch $1 The two boards are connected to gether by 44 vortical 27kO resistors (che base resistors for the high-voltage transistors). The clock ean be supplied with either a see-through Perspex case orawhite powder-coated diecast alu minium case ~ see photos. Next month, we will give the con: struction details and show how to sastall the blue LED uplighting. $6 siliconchip.com.au