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Puri and OOO clock in Grandhotel Pupp
We finally delievered the Puri and OOO clock to Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic).
The OOO clock turned out to be extremely difficult to finish – the ceramics shrinks and deforms and matching it to exact layout of mounting holes or tubes on board with electronics is a challenge. Of course, it is a problem which has a solution, but the development would take lot of resources which we can invest into nixie tube development.
My attitude is to focus more on nixie tubes (and the driving/electronics) and less on the case itself. So for this reason, we will not not continue on OOO clock development. This project cost money on develoment and I really liked the idea of a clock with less technical and more organic appearance, but sometimes it is necessary to give up 🙂
Nixie Machine III
After more than a year of development, Frank Buchwald introduced an evolution of his original Nixie Machine – named Nixie Machine III. The clock will be issued in limited edition of 18 pieces and available in M.A.D. Gallery.
Our task was to develop new electronics and manufacture nixie tubes for this project.
Frank Buchwald designed the base part of the clock’s body more subtle, resulting in significantly smaller space for the electronics. The shape of the board had to be circular – that made the electronics layout even more challenging. From my experience, the smaller component’s package we use, the higher is probability of failure. For this reason, we use bigger parts with bigger solder joints, thicker board tracks, bigger gaps between traces. We select capacitors with significantly higher temperature and voltage rating than necessary – they are bigger and we need to find space for them.
Ultra Fast Nixie Tube Display
Just a very quick note, I am going to make a video about this project once it is shipped – so I dont want to reveal it too early 🙂
Recently, we received an order for a nixie tube display which will run extremely fast. So fast that we didn’t even know if the nixie tube is capable of such a rapid turning on/off. This project is by far the most challenging project we’ve ever had and once done I will remember it forever. It is pushing our limits in hardware, software and nixie tube knowledge.
So, take this as a teaser, I am planning to make a ful documentary about it until and of 2019.
Burn-in machine – hardware completed
Sebastian finally completed the hardware part of our new burn-in machine. My task is now to develop server-side software which will analyze data collected from the tubes and create algorithms to detect potentially faulty tubes and also possible changes in quality of the gas (material changes manufacture). All this will be explained later more in detail.
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