***Official Electronics Thread of Officialness (it starts off with lots of Nixie Tube Clock goodness

[Aod]

well, i use an Iroda Solderpro 50, it's fairly cheap, has adjustable temperature and no cable at all because it runs off regular lighter-butane which you can get at any newsagent.
It's also very very quick to heat up and the fine-tips are nice and thin

 

[Aod]

i've been using the same can of butane for more than three years ^_^

 

[Aod]

Solder paste? The stuff used for Reflow-soldering or the non-soldering conductive glue stuff?

either way, probably not.

 

[Aod]

Errm, not entirely sure but some of the vids i have seen of it have been a paste applied to a pcb, the part placed on and a soldering iron then flows it.

that's reflow-soldering paste... yes, i suppose you could use that, i've no idea how easy it would be though, that's not really what the stuff's designed for. you may find it quite hard to apply neatly.

Okay, next question - how do you use a breadboard? Probably one of the main areas i've been falling down in has been that i've just put things in their places on the PCB and gone for it without testing beforehand... sometimes out of necessity, not just choice

Oh, and on the criticism of the Antex irons with the not very flexible mains cables, there are models without them - couldn't you just put your own on to make it much nicer to use? Say like those used on actual (steam) irons?

you probably could i suppose, but even a thin and flexible cable gets annoying occasionally. Breadboard is used for prototyping circuits that you're designing yourself, with pre-made PCB's it's not used.

 

[Aod]

I have seen it applied through something along the lines of a hypodermic needle but with a larger needle type end. I know it isn't ideal but i really want to try to build one and this may be my only way as i am disabled.

Oh i see, well, there isn't any technical reason why it wouldn't work if you could get the paste in there nicely. you might have a bit of trouble holding the components in place but if you place them on the PCB in the right way you should manage

I use my 50w Weller iron for everything (model PU-3D the same as this, which went for a bargain price). Antex irons are OK for beginners but some of the stuff I solder needs a lot of heat so I really wouldn't get on with one of them nowadays.

I just change the tip depending on what I'm doing and doing fine work is easy enough with the right tip. Here's the solder side of a 3.5MHz transceiver kit I'm in the middle of building.

http://www.feek.co.uk/images/solder-side-20110910-194447.jpg

And the component side.

http://www.feek.co.uk/images/component-side-20110910-194522.jpg

I know this is going a bit OT but I'm just showing that it is possible to solder small delicate stuff with a big meaty iron.

Indeed! Very nicely done by my eye

 

[Aod]

@Feek: 'Possible', perhaps, with skill. But easy?

At one point during my failed guitar amp project i decided to just cut a tiny pieces of solder off, place it on the contact then melt it. Worked surprisingly well... some of the time

that's a method i've used with crappy irons in the past, surprisingly effective although extremely irritating when it goes wrong

 

[Aod]

Not sure 'irritating' is the word when you don't have anything to get rid of solder

how about "Rage Inducing" or "Causative of blood-curdling screams of anguish"?

 

[Aod]

Yup, pretty easy!

Of course, you realise I'm going to mess this kit up badly now I've said that

just as long as you mess up BEFORE irrevocably damaging the Nixies and you'll be fine!

 

[Aod]

First few components on the board!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/Toothy1911/IN-14 Nixie Clock Build Log/SAM_1309.jpg
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/Toothy1911/IN-14 Nixie Clock Build Log/SAM_1310.jpg

Looking good!

Looks good and everything looks so clean and new - You should see the state of my 'helping hand'

It's funny how quickly soldering equipment gets to the "ancient and grotty" stage!

How many layers are in the board or is it a simple two sided affair ?

How do you folks see the antex xs25w?

The board is a simple dual-sided board, nothing other than the traces on the top and bottom. it's very good quality PCB though, thick and stiff, well made, through-plated and the solder resist is very very effective.
Re. the Iron, see below \/ and here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=20039761&postcount=202

I don't know it but being 25w it'll be somewhat more useful than the little 18w Antex irons.

That board doesn't look like it's multilayer.

Yeah, the 25w will be better than the 18w but i seriously think that the Antex Irons are crummy, although many disagree and have been able to use them very successfully, i've never gotten on well with them.

 

[Aod]

Cool
The solder i was using had quite nasty flux in it which would have gummed up the Tip of my soldering iron in no time, were it not for this godsend:

http://www.henkel.com/cps/rde/xchg/...0001F690&categoryspecificredDotUID=00000002KJ

Available from where you got your Iron (the name is starred out because they're an OcUK competitor), it's like the cheat-sheet of soldering.

 

[Aod]

Good stuff! What voltage did you set with the pot? I know the manual states 170v but I set mine to 168v to take it easier on the tubes, seems to work fine

 

[Aod]

Mmhmm, i know what you mean. i've not noticed any issues though.

when it's assembled, watch out for the solder tags of the Inductor and the rectifier diode, they can pack a nasty zap if you podge them with your finger

 

[Aod]

Toothy, are you soldering on the component side?

No, he's doing it the right way. some of the holes are quite generously sized, which along with them being through-plated can cause the solder to wick through the holes and blob-up on the component side

<edit>
After looking at it carefully it certainly does look like most of the components have been soldered from the component side...

 

[Aod]

Maybe he's just being really generous with the solder?

Occasionally when i got a bit too generous with the solder it blobbed up on the component side:


(Phone camera image! that was almost twenty watts of direct illumination! )

 

[Aod]

Hehe. Nah, I'm soldering from the back side. But like Aod said, the holes are quite large, so where the solder runs through component side I've just been touching it with the iron. Makes things look a bit neater

Ah, *phew* all fine then

 

[Aod]

12V 1.5A switchmode powersupply from RS, very over-spec but i already had it

 

[Aod]

does anywhere slel them pre made and ready to go?

btw does the actual board get hot? was thinking of incorperating one into my modem i think theres room inside

yeah, you can get ready-made ones on ebay, and that nice German guy makes them too. very expensive though.
The board doesn't get hot at all, the only component that gets warm is the IRF630, and if it's a problem it could be heatsinked easily. of course, this only applies to the PVElectronics kits, i have no idea about others.

 

[Aod]

Postie's been!

Hurrah! I want to see that thing up and running by tomorrow evening

If I were at home then yes, it would be working by the end of the day but I won’t be home until late this evening and because the main light in my shack is out at the moment, I won’t even be able to start on it for a few days. That’s why I was really hoping it would have arrived last Friday so I could have built it at the weekend.

Get that malfunctioning equipment fixed, soldier!

shame about the mouldy looking stuff inside them

I'd be much more concerned about what appears to be a Tribble sitting on his box obscuring the address

Thanks Feek. Yes, I think a bit of soldering experience is probably a good thing. These Nixie clocks do look damn sexy, I think it might be my wintertime project.

Doooo iiiit! and post pictures in here!

 

[Aod]

the IN-8-2, IN-8 and IN-14 tube are all almost identical with minor differences.

the IN-8-2 has 18mm digits, a correct "5" and flexible wire leads
the IN-8 has 18mm digits, a correct "5" and solid steel pins (need receptacles)
the IN-14 has 18mm digits, an upside-down "2" for the "5" and flexible wire leads

all of them would look good in a clock

 

[Aod]

Aha, thanks for the replies. I don't think an upside down 2 would bother me too much, so I might go for the IN-14.

2 further moronic questions, how does one power these? I've had a nose around google, lots of talk of transformers and such... Where does one get cases? I see that site has some, but they're for a different style, I'm guessing I can easily find them on ebay and such.

Actually, 1 more question, perhaps directed at Feek who just received a kit, did it come with instructions? My knowledge of electrical diagrams is somewhat hazy, I would find it easier to follow one with instructions, rather than googling for general instructions on nixies and trying to assemble it like that.

Sorry to be a pain, but these look awesome and I want one!

Edit: Ignore the question about powering it, I was being a herp a derp, I see that there's a 12V DC input, meaning any powepack with the right adapter set at 12V DC would work fine, right?

As long as the 12v DC adapter has both the right connector (5.5mm, centre-positive) and is capable of more than 300mA of current output, it'll be fine.

the PV electronics kits have a comprehensive built-instructions as well as operational manual available for download from their website: http://www.pvelectronics.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page_2&zenid=2f486060cc1645d14bd9d0c6641c8281

PV Electronics also sell cases that fit their kits, but you can also make your own case if you think that their cases don't look that great.

<edit>
Toothy1911 is wrong by the way, on the IN-14's, it's not the "2" that's upside-down, it's the "5" digit that is actually an up-side-down "2" digit. they look a little unusual at first but otherwise completely legible.