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In this project I will build a nixie tube display that will consist of 6 IN12A nixie tubes and will be able to display internet content such as twitter followers as it has a ESP8266 module onboard that connect to the internet to receive the content and it will update the display every 10 seconds.
To start this project I needed to decide what nixie tube I wanted to use after looking for what nixie's were available on eBay. I then came across the IN12A nixie tubes at a reasonable price and featured a decent sized display compared to some of the others. If you are going to build a project like this bare in mind that It can take a few week to receive the nixie tubes as most that I found came from either Russia or Ukraine.
I then researched how to drive these nixie tubes and they start up a 180V then it drops down to 145V once it had been lit. You can build your own power supply for this or you can buy a pre-made power supply module for cheap that can be found on eBay.
I found that a popular driver for nixie tubes is a 74141 but these are now hard to find and are about £6 each when you do manage to find some and that was over my budget for this project so I decided to find another way to drive them.
I then came up with the idea of using a CMOS BDC to Decimal converter and then use some high voltage transistors on the outputs. I chose to use a CD4028 BCD to decimal converter and KSP42TA Transistors that are rated at 300V.
After I had decided all of the parts that I wanted to use I designed a schematic and PCB. I have included them below.
I chose to use a Atmega8515 microcontroller that will control the display this is where I will upload the code to run the display. I also added a ESP-01S WIFI module so that It is able to receive data from the internet to display on the nixie tubes.
The Nixie tubes will be able to display any numbers that are on the internet such as Twitter followers or YouTube subscribes.
I have not yet written all the code for this project yet but will upload all the code and pictures of my finished product when it is all complete.
AcknowledgementI thank PCBWay & LCSC Electronics for the partnership.
PCBWay Is a cheap reliable service where you can get your PCBs manufactured. All the PCBs are high quality and the engineers are very helpful and will resolve any problems you may have quickly. Sign up today and get a $5 welcome bonus. Check Out PCBWay Hackster page.
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WebsiteCheck out more of my other projects on my website.
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