PV Electronics Halo Clock Assembly Instructions And User Manual Download Page 1

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Nixie Tube Clock ‘Halo’

Issue 3 (01 Nov 2018)

www.pvelectronics.co.uk

- 1 -

Assembly Instructions

And

User Guide

Nixie Clock Type

‘Halo Clock’

For Z560M, Z5600M,

ZM1020, ZM1022,

GN-4, IN-4 Type Tubes

Parts Bags Serial No. 500 onwards

Summary of Contents for Halo Clock

Page 1: ...be Clock Halo Issue 3 01 Nov 2018 www pvelectronics co uk 1 Assembly Instructions And User Guide Nixie Clock Type Halo Clock For Z560M Z5600M ZM1020 ZM1022 GN 4 IN 4 Type Tubes Parts Bags Serial No 500 onwards ...

Page 2: ...Halo Issue 3 01 Nov 2018 www pvelectronics co uk 2 REVISION HISTORY Issue Number Date Reason for Issue 3 01 Nov 2018 New code with DST changing parameter 17 2 15 March 2013 Added IN 4 board 1 01 March 2013 New document ...

Page 3: ...splay in either DD MM YY or MM DD YY format Alarm with programmable snooze period Programmable date display each minute Attractive LED tube lighting Uses a Quartz Crystal Oscillator as the timebase Optional DCF MSF GPS synchronisation with status indicator LED Supercapacitor backup Keeps time during short power outages Simple time setting using two buttons Programmable leading zero blanking Five p...

Page 4: ...fore proceeding The voltages generated by this circuit can give a potentially LETHAL ELECTRIC SHOCK DISCLAIMER This product is supplied as a kit of parts intended only for suitably qualified electronic engineers who are suitably qualified and experienced in electronics assembly and are familiar with safe procedures for working with high voltages The supplier his agents or associates accept no liab...

Page 5: ...s in Europe has a much higher melting point and can be very hard to work with Desoldering wick braid can be useful if you accidentally create solder bridges between adjacent solder joints 2 3 Other items you will need The clock kit does not include a power adapter This is because the kit is sold to many countries around the world each with very different household mains outlet socket types If you ...

Page 6: ... Watt R27 R28 4 3KΩ Watt R29 R30 390KΩ Watt R31 R36 See below R37 Not Installed R38 R39 560Ω Watt Capacitors C1 C2 100 nF Ceramic C3 330pF Ceramic C4 100nF Ceramic C5 470 µF 16 25V Low ESR C6 33pF Ceramic C7 100nF Ceramic C8 1 µF 250V Electrolytic C9 0 1F C10 100nF Ceramic C11 33pF Ceramic C12 15pF Ceramic C13 100nF Ceramic Transistors Q1 BC639 Q2 BC640 Q3 IRFD220 MOSFET Q4 Not installed Q5 Q7 MPS...

Page 7: ... Piezo sounder FUSE 500mA Resettable fuse Insulation Clear insulation for neons X1 32 768KHz Watch crystal Socket receptacles 66 X 1mm Socket receptacles Lighting Pack The optional pack contains the extra components needed for the tube underlighting Circuit Designation Part Description R31 R36 270Ω Watt D6a D11c 1206 SMD LEDs 18 total 2 spare Blue Yellow Green or Pink Q14 2N7000 MOSFET The resisto...

Page 8: ... 1 MPSA42 6 MPSA92 3 Diodes 1N5819 2 UF4004 Fast recovery diode 1 5mm Green LED 1 5mm Yellow LED 1 Integrated Circuits 7805 5V Voltage regulator 1 MC34063A 1 PIC16F1936 8 bit Microcontroller 1 74141 K155ID1 Nixie driver 2 Miscellaneous 100 µH Axial or radial inductor 1 6mm Wire ended neon lamp 2 Miniature push button 3 1K Potentiometer 1 8 Way DIP IC Socket 1 28 Way DIP IC Socket 1 16 Way DIP IC S...

Page 9: ...hecked against the lists above to ensure all parts are present before commencing assembly Don t be alarmed if there are some extra components as some component bags are shared between different kit types Also check our kit updates document on our website downloads page This details any changes to components or substitutions that have been made due to part availability Note about Inductor L1 If you...

Page 10: ...RED 4 1 1mm Sockets For Nixie Tubes ZM1020 Z560M GN 4 PCB There are 66 individual sockets that need to be placed Note that there are 2 holes per tube with NO SOCKET Place each socket loosely as shown below Be sure to insert the sockets FROM the tube side of the PCB the side with the tube markings Then place a hard flat object on the sockets to keep them in place as you flip the PCB over and solder...

Page 11: ...ckets that need to be placed Note that there are 3 holes per tube with NO SOCKET Place each socket loosely as shown below Be sure to insert the sockets FROM the tube side of the PCB the side with the tube markings Then place a hard flat object on the sockets to keep them in place as you flip the PCB over and solder each socket in place ...

Page 12: ...5819 IC1 7805 C1 C2 100nF Start by installing D1 and D2 Align the white band on the components with the band marked on the PCB Proceed to mount the other components of this step IC1 can be bent over to lower the profile of the board but do not let it actually touch the PCB The PCB should now look like the picture below ...

Page 13: ...st using a DC voltmeter Touch the black probe on the GND test point and the red probe on the 5V test point The voltage should measure between 4 9 and 5 1 Volts If not disconnect power and check your work Do not proceed with the assembly until the error is corrected Once the test is completed disconnect the power 4 3 High Voltage Generator components Socket for IC2 R1 R2 560Ω R3 4 3KΩ R4 620KΩ R5 4...

Page 14: ...nd C8 are polarised The longer lead goes in the hole 4 6 High Voltage Generator Test Refer to the warnings on page 4 Insert IC2 into the socket making sure it is correctly oriented and firmly pressed into place Power up the PCB and using the GND and 170V test points measure the high voltage generated It should be initially between 150 and 190V Using the VR1 brass screw slowly adjust the screw unti...

Page 15: ... Sockets for IC3 IC4 IC5 Align the notch on the body of each socket with the corrsponding mark on the PCB 4 8 R6 R7 R38 R39 all 560Ω R8 R9 R12 R13 R14 R27 R28 all 4 3KΩ R21 R26 all 2 7KΩ R15 R16 R17 R29 R30 all 390 KΩ 4 9 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q11 Q12 Q13 all MPA42 Q8 Q9 Q10 all MPSA92 ...

Page 16: ...e tube drivers and micro controller are functioning correctly Making the test at this point before the remaining components are installed will make troubleshooting and diagnosis simpler if there is a problem Insert IC3 PIC16F1936 and IC4 IC5 both K155ID1 into their sockets Be very careful to align the notch on the IC body with corresponding PCB markings Then insert the Nixie Tubes into the sockets...

Page 17: ...F Supercapacitor C10 C13 100nF D4 Green GPS RFT LED D5 Yellow Alarm LED Note that if you won t be using a Radio Time Receiver Module then you can omit the GPS RFT Connector D4 and C13 C9 is a polarised component The arrows on the component body should match the arrows on the PCB marking The longer lead of each LED goes in the hole marked ...

Page 18: ... PM Colon Neon Lamps The 2 neons leads need to be bent as shown below Use small lengths of the clear insulation supplied on the leads to prevent shorts Note that the neons are mounted nearer to the bottom edge of the PCB which is the edge where the switches and power socket are ...

Page 19: ...then omit this following step For IN 4 boards proceed as follows disconnect the power remove and re insert IC3 into its socket Now press and hold the ADJ button and whilst it is held re connect the power supply IC3 will now be re configured for IN 4 PCB and the setting will be retained in flash memory If for some reason you need to reverse this you can do so by repeating the above procedure which ...

Page 20: ...r if you didn t already install it in step 4 12 C13 100nF D4 Green LED 5 2 Tube Underlighting Pack Q14 2N7000 R31 R36 all 270Ω D6A D11C 18 X 1206 size SMD LEDs Three 1206 LEDs per tube provide attractive tube underlighting Start by installing Q14 and the six 270R resistors The procedure for installing the LEDs is the same for all six tube locations First identify the white cathode marks on the PCB...

Page 21: ...ting in one direction on the underside of the LED With a fine soldering iron tip melt a small amount of solder onto the three cathode pads of the PCB at a single tube location Using tweezers place the LED over its pads and re apply the soldering iron briefly to the pad with the solder on This will re melt the solder and anchor the LED Now solder the other pad of the LED Repeat this for all LEDs at...

Page 22: ... will become highlighted Continue holding the button a further 2 seconds until the clock displays in this format 00 XX 99 The 99 in the seconds digits tells you that you are in the configuration menu In configuration mode the hours digits display the current parameter being adjusted and the minutes digits display the current value stored against the parameter For each parameter and referring to th...

Page 23: ...ication illuminated 2 Both flash default 3 Both illuminated 4 Both off 11 Colon neons during night dimmed mode 2 0 AM PM Indication flashing 1 AM PM Indication illuminated 2 Both flash 3 Both illuminated default 4 Both off 12 Radio time signal source 0 No Radio Time source default 3 1 DCF 2 not used 3 MSF 4 GPS 13 GPS Baud rate 0 4 8 Kbps default 1 9 6 Kbps 2 19 2 Kbps 3 38 4 Kbps 14 Radio time of...

Page 24: ...ble the clock on lock is in office or during office hours eg clock is at home Complete HV shutdown to save power and tube life 2 Night time neons mode is active when night mode is set to dim During night time blanking the tubes AND neons are disabled 3 Clock is fully functional without DCF MSF GPS synchronisation Set time manually 4 Enter your time zone offset from the synchronisation source Note ...

Page 25: ...isplay Setting parameter 18 to 1 will enable auto display of date between 50 and 55 seconds past each minute Night Blanking Override During programmed night blanking the blanking may be overridden to see the time by briefly pressing the SET button Tubes will remain lit for the period defined in parameter 8 Manual RFT Call In DCF MSF modes pressing ADJ briefly during time display will initiate a ma...

Page 26: ... DST mode is active or not If time has been synchronised from DCF or MSF sources this light will be set or cleared automatically It can still be manually overridden however the system will re set the DST status again at the next valid time sync Note that GPS time data does not contain DST information so the DST status will need to be set manually in GPS sync mode as well as manual time set mode ...

Page 27: ... day 7 1 Entering LED menu Press and hold the ALARM button until the display shows 00 _ X 0 0 NX4 will not be lit For each hour 0 23 you can set a custom brightness NX1 and NX2 show the hour of the day for which you are setting the LED brightness NX4 shows the selected brightness Press ADJ to adjust the brightness as displayed on NX4 Once you are happy with the brightness for that hour press ALARM...

Page 28: ...1 hour offset from the time transmitted by the DCF transmitter o France has no offset from the time transmitted by the DCF transmitter Set parameter 16 to identify whether the offset is minus 0 or positive 1 of the time source If using GPS parameter 17 acts as a DST bit Set to 1 during DST period and 0 during standard time period Set parameter 23 to select between hourly seek and daily seek in DCF...

Page 29: ...thorn UK Reception is possible within the UK Eire Northern France and Norway Please note 1 The long wave signals propagate further at night so the clock is configured by default to synchronize at 2am 2 Suitable Power Supplies If using a switching power supply it must have an earth connection Cheap Chinese switching adapters cause too much interference and will not work Alternatively use an old fas...

Page 30: ...regularly showing the one pulse per second data from the transmitter If your Module s red LED does not start to flash regularly go back and check 1 6 of this section If the red LED does not flash regularly you will not get synchronisation 7 At the start of the minute the clock should start collecting data and if so it will start flashing the green LED rapidly Look for any LED activity at the start...

Page 31: ... from our GPS Sync Time Receiver Module Please see the separate data sheet for the GPS receiver to find out the baud rate of your module as different baud rates are used depending upon the version number Connection to the clock is made with a 3 5mm male male cable of 3m 10ft length Connections at the jack socket plug are as follows ...

Page 32: ...etween 2 hours and 24 hours ago and off if the last synchronisation is older than 24 hours Whilst seeking DCF or MSF the LED will flash very briefly once per second Additionally the indicator will flash rapidly whilst the clock is actually receiving and processing a valid time frame The function of the RFT indicator LED may be summarised in the table below Radio Time Source Seeking DCF MSF Frame A...

Page 33: ...Nixie Tube Clock Halo Issue 3 01 Nov 2018 www pvelectronics co uk 33 9 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM ...

Page 34: ...Nixie Tube Clock Halo Issue 3 01 Nov 2018 www pvelectronics co uk 34 ...

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