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What this document is about

This document is the construction manual for the “MNC6” Arduino based Interchangeable 
Medium Tube Nixie Clock shown on the first page.

This is a brand new design, and gives you a great features in an easy to build, high quality 

Nixie Clock. This new design takes care all of the difficult steps of building an expandable Nixie 
clock, and lets you concentrate on final finishing and case design.

The User Manual for everyday use is in a different document, also available from the 

documentation site at

https://www.nixieclock.biz/Manuals.html

Contact Information

If you want to get in contact with us, please email to:

[email protected]

We'll usually get back to you right away. We can help you with kits or construction.

We also offer discounts for direct purchases, we save the Ebay fees, and share this with you. 

https://www.nixieclock.biz/Store.html

Troubleshooting

If everything does not work as you expect, please carefully look at the tests in the construction 
steps, and the troubleshooting tips.

At the end of the manual, there is a troubleshooting section, which goes through some of the 
common problems. If you can't work it out, please get in contact with us. 

We guarantee that 

you will get going.

Safety

The voltages produced on this board can reach peaks of 200V! Take precautions not to 
electrocute yourself! If you are not sure what this means, please do not use this clock and 
return it for a full refund.

A shock from the clock high voltage circuit is at least a nasty bite. At worst it can kill you.

We decline any responsibility in the case of injury or death. Only qualified technicians and 
people with an understanding of the risks involved with this unit should proceed.

Note also that you are responsible for the safety after construction. The unit should not be left 
in the reach of children, animals or other persons who are not suitably aware of the danger 
posed by this unit.

REPEAT: If you are not sure, please do not build or use the clock. We will refund you 
your payment, no questions asked.

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Summary of Contents for MNC6

Page 1: ...MNC6 Arduino Interchangeable Nixie Clock Rev1 Rev1 2 Construction Manual MNC6ConstructionManualRev1...

Page 2: ...al components 6 Construction 7 Preparation 7 Input Power 8 Tube holder sockets 9 Place the 6 sockets in the marked locations and solder them 9 Tube holder preparation Tubes 10 Tube holder preparation...

Page 3: ...k as you expect please carefully look at the tests in the construction steps and the troubleshooting tips At the end of the manual there is a troubleshooting section which goes through some of the com...

Page 4: ...ltages than this will surely damage the clock Board Versions This manual covers versions MNC6 V1 0 MNC6 V1 2 While there might be detail differences in the layout and silk screen of the board you can...

Page 5: ...e see the user manual for full details of what the switch does FRONT PANEL These are the controls that go on the front panel The input button and the Light Dependent Resistor to detect ambient light G...

Page 6: ...them on this output SND This is an open collector output to drive a Piezo sounder V Auxiliary output supplying the input voltage used for driving the Piezo sounder PIR An additional input for the PIR...

Page 7: ...iron some thin 1mm ideally 0 6mm 0 8mm solder and electronic side cutters There are no special or difficult to solder components needing assembly You should leave an hour for construction and testing...

Page 8: ...wer supply Hook up the power and check the 5V line Check that the voltage between the GND test point and the 5V test point It should read a voltage of between 4 9V and 5 1V Test Step 170V power supply...

Page 9: ...please invert the components referred to in this section and the section about the tube holders Place the 6 sockets in the marked locations and solder them At the end of this step your board should lo...

Page 10: ...ll too hard you can easily damage the tube If you have varnish on the tube leads you can soften this with a hair dryer or heat gun on a low setting Often used tubes have the two decimal point leads re...

Page 11: ...again that the tube is upright compared to the board If it is correct then you can start to solder other leads checking at each lead you solder that the tube is still aligned correctly Once you have...

Page 12: ...n pin 1 by 0 5mm Pin 4 is shorter than pin3 by 0 5mm and so on Pin12 is shorter than pin 3 by 5mm at the end This means that you can thread the leads into the holes more easily To make the tube stand...

Page 13: ...n the board but you can also reverse the connectors and put the header pins on the board if you prefer We prefer to put the sockets on the board because this means that no high voltages are exposed wh...

Page 14: ...ger that the other two The longer leads go into the two holes with tiny round o markings next to them pins 3 and 4 Type 2 APA106 LEDs have a package where one lead is longer than the others This is pi...

Page 15: ...aces on the board Each pair is in series and so will not work until both are in place For best results mount one higher than the other Put the tubes in so you can tell how the end result will look At...

Page 16: ...ith the board SV2 6 pin header BTN1 2 Momentary push button LDR LDR PIR PIR detector optional The LDR should be mounted in such a way that the flat face of the LDR is exposed to the ambient light This...

Page 17: ...P 01 module needs to be installed with the long side over the DS3231 chip If you install it the wrong way round it will be destroyed Please refer to the picture Warning Double check the orientation lo...

Page 18: ...nt light your LDR does not appear to be working Check the connections to the LDR If the LDR is correct perform a factory reset to make sure that no strange values have been left in the EEPROM Check th...

Page 19: ...USBASP programmer These are easily and cheaply available from many sources You can solder a 2x3 header into the space provided and then plug the programmer in You will need a 10 pin to 6 pin adapter...

Page 20: ...Revisions V0001 23Jan2021 Initial version V0002 4Aug2021 Add store links for programmer add PIR info 20...

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