29
Aug
NixieKits.eu IN-12 Review
I just finished a review of the NixieKits.eu IN-12 clock for TubeClockDB.com. You can read the full review here or you can just buy the clock here 
Jürgen Grau is the deigned behind this device and he sells this clock as both a kit and fully assembled. The kit costs €149 and the fully assembled costs €179 (Currently: $190/$230) Jürgen is very accessible and is fluent in German and English.
Now, on to the clock! Stylistically, I like it. The photos on NixieKits.eu do not do this device justice. The LED’s are much more vibrant than I expected and the colorful effect that they create manages to look nice without looking gaudy. There is a knob in the back which allows you to turn the brightness of the LED’s up and down (and completely off.) The colors slowly cross fade and and produce a pleasing effect on the front of the case. I didn’t think I use this feature much because I generally prefer simple designs – but the colors are mesmerizing. I actually leave the LED’s on all of the time, something I would not have expected.
Be sure to watch the video after the jump.
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26
Aug
Four Letter Word Generator by Peter Hand
I just got my IV-17 Four Letter Word generator. It has a dictionary of 5,400 words including common acronyms and a few proper nouns too. For those of you keeping this at your office, it even has a word filter to prevent offensive words from being shown. Be sure to check out the video and photos below. Learn more here. Read more
24
Aug
IN-12 NixieKits.eu Preview
I just got my new IN-12 Nixie clock in the mail from NixieKits.eu and this thing is impressive. I will be doing a full video review over the weekend and posting it on tubeclockdb.com. Trust me, you will like this one…
Tubes: IN-12 Nixie tubes, 18 mm digit height, decimal points with flashing LEDs.
Background lighting: brightness adjustable.
Alarm: adjustable time, snooze and tone.
Time format: 12- or 24 hour mode. Read more
23
Aug
Staver Electromechanical 7 Segment Vane Display
I found these electromechanical vane displays on eBay and accidentally won them. So, here they are!
These are seven segment displays. Each segment is painted a bright yellow and fluoresces under UV light. The segments do not actually draw any power except when they are moved. Behind each segment is a solenoid that flips the segment on or off. Several units are then daisy chained together to form larger numbers. Watch the video below to see it in action and be sure to check out the image gallery.
(P.S. Sorry for the heavy Minnesota accent in the video.)
14
Aug
Blowing up simple electronics
Afrotech mods - the website that bills itself as “ghetto hardware fun” has a great video up on YouTube. It is a montage of components being destroyed by over voltage, current, or reversed polarity. There may be some educational value…but it is just fun to watch.
9
Aug
Poor NEO 8000
I just came across a NEO-8000 planar neon display in less-than-perfect condition. In fact, this is easily the worst condition tube in my entire collection. I’ve never seen the cathodes deteriorate quite like this before. It looks like a bad horror-syfy-original-movie digital font.
What makes this tube odd is that the center supports in the middle of the digit are missing and the giver that is normally in the upper left corner is missing too. Additionally, the back of the display is transparent instead of the usual black finish. I cleaned the tube but the cloudiness is actually inside the of the display.
3
Aug
Help identify these plasma neon displays
Okay, the last time I asked for help identifying an unknown device, you guys came through. Even Evil Mad Scientist helped out (you guys rock.) Well, I now have two Panaplex-style neon displays that I can’t seem to find that much information on. Does anyone have any information on these or hints to where I can find more information? I’ve found a few references to the larger display, but have not had any luck locating data sheets
Or, do you just have an interesting factoid about these guys?
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19
May
Mechanical Computer Basics
YouTube user gwz40 uploaded a series of fascinating videos on mechanical computers and how they were used in in the US Navy for controlling projectiles fired from one moving ship to another moving target. The movies were produced as part of a US Navy training program and illustrate the basic components that are used inside a mechanical range fire control computer. Each mathematical operation is translated in to a mechanical component and the components are combined to provide a desired calculation based on (up to) 25 inputs. Basic geometric shapes are used for shockingly complex operations. Read more
30
Apr
Minitron / Pinlite
I found a few cool misprinted minitron style 7 segment incandescent displays. Essentially, they are numitrons that are in a flat pack. As best I can tell, they were primarily used in the aviation industry because of their dependability and durability. I’ll take some more photos of them in use after I figure out their pin out. Stay tuned. Read more
1
Apr
Numitron Tester
I found this great little RCA DR 2000 / DR 2010 tester on eBay. For $4.99, it was worth every cent. I cannot find much information on this device other than the markings on the markings on the device itself. ”RCA Numitron Digital Display Device Demonstrator 1g1308″
The controls are pretty simple – the knob controls the brightness and power. The switch has three positions. In the center position, the numitron counts through the digits. In the upper position it illuminates all of the segments of the display while in the bottom position, it only illuminates the decimal point on the display.
The power supply itself is odd. I cannot tell what type of cells it uses. The internal mechanism supports 5 cells that seem to be narrower and longer than a C sized cell. To make it work, I wired a 9V battery to the internal terminals. (Oddly, this thing draws so much current that a single 9V battery cannot actually power the device. As the display begins counting, it seems to reset at the 8 position. To get around this, I had to wire three batteries in parallel to support the load.)
Click to enlarge