Warm Tube Clock
Assembly Instructions for the „IN-16 Nixie shield“
Document Version: 2011-01-05
www.elektronika.ba
-16-
Step 11
Okay, now it is time to solder some Nixies, the Nixie dots actually – lower dot and the upper dot.
1. This is a Nixie dot. It is actually a neon lamp that lights
up when you supply it with more than 100V DC. We will be
lighting it up with around 185V so that’s why we used
those 910k resistors. You can actually increase the value of
those resistors to lower the current through these neon
lamps even more.
These lamps will glow in redder (more red) colour when
you supply it with more current. So for more orange glow
increase value of those 910k resistors! You can
experiment here...
2. For the IN-16 Nixie tube, you should solder the “lower
dot” at a distance of
12.65mm
from the PCB. When you
solder the IN-16 Nixie tubes, you will see if you need to re-
adjust the height of the Nixie dots.
We are soldering these first because it will be harder to
solder them later because the IN-16 Nixie tubes will get in
our way, and we don’t want to damage them!
3. After soldering one dot, you probably can’t wait to try it
out! So, plug in the DC power supply and check it out! It
should blink in ½ Hz interval.
WARNING!
When you now connect the DC power supply, the
booster circuit will generate around 200V DC. Don’t
touch any part of the device, including the upper shield
PCB and the Nixie dots!