ZX81 Nixie Clock

Any discussions related to the creation of new hardware or software for the ZX80 or ZX81
zx81user
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ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by zx81user »

After cleaning out the garage a few weeks ago and stumbling across my good old ZX81 (well, TS1000 really), I thought it would be quite interesting to turn it into a Nixie Clock!

Here's the result:
ZX81 Nixie Clock
ZX81 Nixie Clock
DSC_0063 (640x384).jpg (176.08 KiB) Viewed 3688 times
I designed it with TTL logic, no SMD components here. It is direct drive using 4 K155ID4 drivers.

If there is enough interest, I will offer this clock as a kit.
Michel
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Paul
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by Paul »

That's looking good!
Are you going to publish the schematic / pcb details ?
Kind regards
Paul
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.
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PokeMon
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by PokeMon »

Wow. Great stuff. I like it. 8-)

Yes I am interested in general.
Does your item have a ZX bus throughput ?
If not I could use the ZX81EXT connector for it, should work with nearly every board I think.

What about power consumption ?
Is it driven via 5V or are you using the so called "9V" for power supply ?

Do you have an idea of price for a complete set ?
Maybe unsoldered with all components, to have a little bit more fun. ;)
gozzo
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by gozzo »

Yeah..but...why waste a ZX81 to drive a clock...it's not that difficult to make a stand-alone nixie clock anyway, just a load of TTL logic, and rectified mains for the HT to drive the nixie tubes ;-)
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Andy Rea
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by Andy Rea »

OMG thats cool, very much like something i was considering and spoke to a few members of the ZX-team this very weekend, what a co-incidence.

keep on making cool stuff, you never know some people might be interested in buying pcb's or even full kits ( if the price is right ;) ) so they can buils some of these things themselves.

Regards Andy
what's that Smell.... smells like fresh flux and solder fumes...
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PokeMon
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by PokeMon »

gozzo wrote:Yeah..but...why waste a ZX81 to drive a clock...it's not that difficult to make a stand-alone nixie clock anyway, just a load of TTL logic, and rectified mains for the HT to drive the nixie tubes ;-)
We are always looking for jobs that the good old Zeddy can do for us, why not showing the clock ?
And it's a really cool retro-like design.
Anyway I like it. 8-)

+1
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zx81jens
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by zx81jens »

That´s a great looking clock! But its to heavy for my wrist!

How much does it cost? if it is not too expensive, I take one...

Greetz
Jens
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zx81user
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by zx81user »

Hi Guys, thanks for the replies.

I will post the schematic later today, the plain PCB will be $50 without parts or $175 including everything except the Zeddy ;-)

I don't think it is a waste to use a Zeddy to drive a nixie clock, the Zeddy's cost next to nothing these days so to put one aside as a nice clock is not a bad idea, you can't use all of them at the same time anyways! The board doesn't have an extender board at the back, you can put one there of course but you wouldn't be able to use the clock and run another program at the same time. You could use the tubes to display a game score or something like that :idea: The software runs based on interrupt events, so in theory it is possible to run the clock and another program but the hires drivers use the same interrupt so that wouldn't work. Sending a number to the 4 tubes is very easy and done by 1 instruction out (c), a

The High voltage circuit is powered from the 9V supply, total current consumption is 500mA when using a DC/DC converter for the 7805 (otherwise it is about 150mA more).

Did you see my Nixie Watch as well Jens? https://www.facebook.com/nixiewatch

Michel
zx81user
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by zx81user »

I posted the clock circuit and high voltage circuit to a dedicated facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Zx81NixieClock

Michel
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PokeMon
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Re: ZX81 Nixie Clock

Post by PokeMon »

zx81user wrote:you can put one there of course but you wouldn't be able to use the clock and run another program at the same time. You could use the tubes to display a game score or something like that :idea: The software runs based on interrupt events, so in theory it is possible to run the clock and another program but the hires drivers use the same interrupt so that wouldn't work. Sending a number to the 4 tubes is very easy and done by 1 instruction out (c), a
I don't understand. What kind of HIRES do you mean ? If a value can be set with OUT instruction I could write a program myself for display the time. But it is a good idea to use it for score display in games. But the price is quite hard for me. :?
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