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.
Read more
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?
Read more
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
9
May
Apple Keyboard + UV Light
I have a question for all material scientists & plastic experts. I have an Apple wireless keyboard and a near-UV LED flashlight. As one would expect, many things fluoresce: tee shirts, white paper, etc. What is odd, is that only some of the keys on my keyboard do this. I would expect this to be an all-or-none type deal but specifically the F,J, arrows, Cap locks, function, alt, control and return keys glow while the others do not. Under normal light these keys look identical and feel the same. 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
6
Mar
Segmentus clock concept
Segmentus clock (concept)
By Art Lebedev – $n/a
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/segmentus/
From the guy who brought us the Verbarius clock comes the Segmentus. (Is anyone else noticing a naming pattern here?) This concept clock was built to address the challenge of creating a digital clock with hands. While clocks have addressed this challenge before, this one brings the usual Art Lebedev polish to the final product. The only thing I want to know is how noisy would this be to operate? With dozens of little motors and mechanical parts, this might not be a clock that you would keep in your bedroom. Read more
18
Jan
My Tracks + Nexus One + Google Earth
I just found a great new application in the Android Marketplace: My Tracks (QR Code Below) Essentially, it takes your Android phone and converts it to a GPS data logger. You can use it to analyze your running patterns or you can simply export the raw data to Google Docs, Google Maps, Twitter & Email (via Google Maps) or simply export the raw data as a KML or GPX file. For this experiment, I used the GPX export option. I took my usual hour long walk and used My Tracks to record my path.
26
Dec
Yellow laser pointer $239!
I just found this message in my spam filter from Laserglow Technologies. Normally I wouldn’t post a newsletter like this but they have a great deal on the 593.5nM Rigel laser pointer. They already have the lowest price for the 3mW version @$299 but they are offering 20% off of that. Just be sure to use the code boxing20 to bring the price to $239. Read more