Nixie test

Here is a short video of the nixie tube clock with the first nixie tube connected.  The controller board uses a PIC24FV32KA302 processor, a 74HC595 shift register, a 74LS374 octal latch and 74141 driver chip to control an IN-14 nixie tube.

Check back for more on the clock.

Nixie boards

So the nixie boards are in.  I used iTeadStudios from China to make a few daughter boards that hold 2 nixies, 2 74141 driver chips and a 74LS374 octal latch.  Using a 374 latch and the 74141 chips allow me to write an 8-bit value to the boards and latch it in.

The boards are 5cm by 5cm and cost <$2 each from iTead since I got 10. Shipping took about a month, so if you plan on using them, plan accordingly.

The daughter boards are attached to a controller board with a PIC24FV32KA302 micro and a 74LS595 shift register.  The controller was made by Advanced Circuits here in colorado and came in today after about ~5 business days. I have to say it is probally my best board ever, guess all this practice is paying off.  I did make a few mistakes, including routing the nixie board connector backwards, which means some hacked connector pins. Good decisions PCBs come from experience, experience come from making bad decisions PCBs.

Controller schematic

Daughter boards (I forgot to add 5V to the connector, so that is a blue wire)

Panoramic Photos

Its been a while since I have posted anything here!  As you can tell I’m not a real regular blogger but every now and then i get a little itch to do something.  Today I present you with a tutorial on how to make panoramic photos on Ubuntu 8.10!

I have a write up with an example here: http://www.mybitbox.com/articles/panoramic-photos-in-ubuntu/

Take a look and make some cool pans!