Tube Time

It’s been quite some time since I last posted about this. The project has been on the back burner for some time now since I’ve just been so busy with other things. It’s actually pretty far along the process but the cost of the parts is just too high, and the kit has quite a few parts.

I’ve been revisiting the design again to see if I can make it easier to build and less costly.

A question: Would you consider a version without a DAC? Instead of having an 8-bit digital interface (Arduino compatible), it would have analog X and Y inputs and a video/blanking input.

If the site’s been very slow for you lately, it’s because someone used a PHP injection attack to add some potentially malicious Javascript to the top of the page. It should be fixed now. Thanks to Olli for the tip.

Several months ago at the electronics flea market I picked up a neat bit of brass. I did some internet research and it’s actually part of a 19th century scientific demonstration instrument, most likely a prism. I found a very similar example at Fleaglass. Theirs sold for quite a bit of money, but I got mine for $5, which is probably about the value of the brass in it.

So I turned it into a table lamp.

In the photo I’ve installed one of the many vintage-style reproduction light bulbs that are starting to appear. They don’t really look like a nice carbon filament bulb but I can use this every day and not worry about it burning out.

Now all I need to complete it is to put a shade on it. Ideas?

Remember my Panaplex clock project? Here’s a present: the design details!

Panaplex Clock Schematic
PIC18F242 listing – main.asm

Wow, it’s been a few months since my last post. Sorry for the blog silence. I got very busy with a new job and just haven’t had the time to work on projects at all, let alone blog!

So here’s a quick one–it’s a Heathkit GC-1005 digital clock that uses Panaplex displays (Neon filled). I picked it up at the electronics flea market and it looked like someone had been trying to get it working before me, and they left a bit of a mess. I had to clean up the wiring job and check the electrolytics to make sure they were still good (they were).

The reason it wasn’t working right is that some of the component leads on the bottom of the PC board had poked through a paper insulator and shorted out against the switch contacts on the bottom of the case. All I had to do was trim the component leads and fix the insulator.