I've been thinking about using a board of pins like this one as a display:

View attachment 232741
​

The main problem would be finding a feasible technique to individually control each pin.

A solenoid that can hit a single pin, riding on an X-Y platform...like a 3-D printer or plasma cutter. It's gonna be slow, though. Hitting one pin at a time may not be practical. Better would be a solenoid head that can act like the old dot matrix printer heads, hitting a pattern of pins at once.

 

Ok, here's a thought.

What if I were to buy one (or several) of those board of pins toys, and converted several groups of its pins into something like seven segment digit displays that would be actuated through the use of solenoids installed in its back. I forgot to mention that I have a small solenoid winding machine that could do the trick. That way only about 22 or so solenoids would be necessary, instead of trying to control each individual pin.

Something like this (please excuse the crude render, I'm brainstorming here)

​

Also, The rest of the background pins could be turned into a simple group too so that one could choose to either show the digits on top of the background or vice-versa.

With proper lighting, this device could look real cool. Its only drawback would be that it wouldn't be completely silent. But that's ok, I want it for my workshop, not my bedroom.

 

Here, this is what I meant about showing the background on top:

​

 

Works for me. I think the negative display will have a ghostly quality.

ak

 

Hello,

When there are springs that force the pins up, you could make a pull mechanism to pull back the needed pins.
You could attach multiple pins to one pull mechanism in one segment.

Bertus

 

Numeric nixie tubes are getting more expensive - How about a clock that uses the "symbol" nixies that say W, V, A, m, k, Omega, mu, %, Hz etc.
Microchip has just introduced a series of Nixie drivers
https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/HV5122
32 segments is prefect for a 24-hour clock with a decimal point.
3 segments for tens of hours,
10 segments for hours,
1 decimal point
6 segments for tens of minutes
10 segments for minutes
Total = 30

P.S. I'd say that decatrons are even geekier than Nixies.

 

Who needs ICs? Transistors, diodes? Make one of these and keep your house warm at the same time:
http://www.jogis-roehrenbude.de/Leserbriefe/Bruegmann-Digital-Roehren-Clock/pic029.jpg

 

Hello,

Or the well known transistor clock:
https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/transistor_clock

Bertus

 

Numeric nixie tubes are getting more expensive

Did a bit more research on the Nixie clock I posted and found out that it is a $20 chinesium kit w/o Nixie tubes. Which are an additional ~$136 for the 4 of them. And they are not even the large vertical tube ones. Apparently, the Russians/USSR used a lot of them and have about the only surplus supply of them left and the large ones are becoming dear in price.

 

Though I see you're honing in on a creation, here's one late entry. Fast forward to 9:45.

 

At work so can't really do a web crawl, but I've also seen a clock using aged NE-2 neon lamps as the active elements.

 

Numeric nixie tubes are getting more expensive - How about a clock that uses the "symbol" nixies that say W, V, A, m, k, Omega, mu, %, Hz etc.
Microchip has just introduced a series of Nixie drivers
https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/HV5122
32 segments is prefect for a 24-hour clock with a decimal point.
3 segments for tens of hours,
10 segments for hours,
1 decimal point
6 segments for tens of minutes
10 segments for minutes
Total = 30

P.S. I'd say that decatrons are even geekier than Nixies.

You made me google "decatron" ... neat!

 

Hello,

When there are springs that force the pins up, you could make a pull mechanism to pull back the needed pins.
You could attach multiple pins to one pull mechanism in one segment.

Bertus

I don't intend to use springs to return the pins back into the board, but rather use bidirectional solenoids that have magnets as their plungers. This because the clock would be mounted on a wall, and thus the pins would be horizontal and unaffected by gravity.

The idea sounds simple ... but now I'm thinking about how to accomplish that without using 22 or more h-bridges!

 

In all good conscious, I can't not plug my own effort:

 

but now I'm thinking about how to accomplish that without using 22 or more h-bridges!

As you only need a brief pulse you could use a totem pole output and connect the coil via a capacitor.

 

For a while now, I've been toying with the idea of building myself a wall clock that I can show off in my electronics workshop. Thing is, I haven't yet come up with a design that is at the same time ergonomic (not too hard, but also not too easy to read), aesthetically pleasing, and cool-looking.

I have the means and enough knowledge and skills to build such clock from scratch if I choose to. I'll be basing my design on a PIC MCU. No arduino nor raspberry crap, I want this project to be low level, but not so low so as to use only logic gates... that would take too much work and effort.

Anyway, I'm posting this so that others can share ideas for its visual and physical appearance. And maybe in time we can converge into something worthy of being called a work of art.

Here are my requirements:

• Cool and geeky-looking at the same time
• Mid to high level construction difficulty
• Silent
• Not too easy for a normal person to identify as a clock at first glance
• Its components should be completely visible

My tools available are:

• PCB making process
• Filament 3D printer
• Liquid resin 3D printer
• Small and accurate CNC milling machine, capable of working with plastics and soft metals
• Miniature CNC lathe capable of working with ferrous metals
• Carpentry tools
• Dremel tool
• Lots and lots of hand tools, big and small.

Of course, when I'm finished, I intend to to share its plans and code, and all the info necessary so that any one else can build one if they want and this will hopefully go into AAC's completed projects collection.

Any ideas?

@cmartinez Have you selected an RTC to back it up with- this will influence your design.

 

At work so can't really do a web crawl, but I've also seen a clock using aged NE-2 neon lamps as the active elements.

You reminded me of a mechanical clock mom had in the kitchen. ALL NE-2 lamps were switched on and off via mechanical rotary switches. The lamps themselves were installed in a single hole (per segment) of a segment shaped reflector. As the clock moved the switches the lamps lit to display the time. It was quiet. Numbers were illuminated at all times.

 

@cmartinez Have you selected an RTC to back it up with- this will influence your design.

Yes I have... I intend to run it with a PIC16 MCU using a 32.768 KHz crystal. I've already done a project that does that, because I needed to keep track of time in my circuit, and it works beautifully.

 

As you only need a brief pulse you could use a totem pole output and connect the coil via a capacitor.

Would you mind expanding on that?

 

Who needs ICs? Transistors, diodes? Make one of these and keep your house warm at the same time:
http://www.jogis-roehrenbude.de/Leserbriefe/Bruegmann-Digital-Roehren-Clock/pic029.jpg

That is just beyond sick.

ak