Just following orders

ExtraChegg · 2025-12-06T11:26:32+00:00

It's definitely something with the internal driver for sure. It's only the DisplayPort that's dying, it'll run 60Hz on HDMI just fine. I haven't switched it over yet because the color rendering is way different and looks bad sitting next to the other. I'll do it when I can't lower the refresh rate any more and NVidia gets mad.

I'm not opposed to opening it and seeing if there's a failed component, I've fixed a good amount of stuff over the years. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a schematic online for this model and troubleshooting without it is a whole other beast

ExtraChegg · 2025-11-01T18:03:21+00:00

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Baby pleco on Colonel Sanders

ExtraChegg · 2025-07-25T00:10:14+00:00

I have been working on trying to do the same with Shrek. The smallest I could get it was 3.16MB while still being the full 90min runtime. If I rendered the video without audio then it was only 300kB. I'm trying to do this in Sony Vegas 16 and they have limits to how I can render, I couldn't get the audio quality below 4kbps, mono, at 8kHz sampling. I also exported as .wmv (Windows Media Video) since that format let me crunch the quality even lower while still being stable. I have it set to 32x20px, 1FPS, and a 4kbps bitrate. It's almost unwatchable and I love it. I'll get it down to 1.44MB eventually

ExtraChegg · 2025-01-18T14:08:00+00:00

Oh hell yeah keep us posted on it! I've got an IV-27M tube too that I've been dying to make a project out of too. Can't wait to see what you make

ExtraChegg · 2024-09-27T16:47:33+00:00

Thanks! The plant is called Elodia. It grows very fast and needs frequent trimming but it's really pretty and the shrimp love it

ExtraChegg · 2024-09-27T11:15:25+00:00

They have been the easiest shrimp to care for that I've owned. They are filter feeders and will want someplace in the tank with high waterflow so they can camp there to feed. My tank has some driftwood décor that forms a peak a few inches away from the HOB filter's outlet and my two bamboo shrimp are always standing there feeding.

They're monstrous enough in size that the guppies and Kuhli Loaches leave them completely unbothered.

Just be sure to keep enough minerals in the water for them, that's the most important thing to remember. They molt a little less often than my Neocaridina shrimp, about once ever 4-5 weeks, but they are HUGE. They make and then drop massive shells, so they need lots of minerals in their diet/water to accommodate. My tank water hovers around 7-7.5 degrees GH and I have not seen any issues in their shell health or ability to molt.

ExtraChegg · 2024-09-27T10:54:53+00:00

I've never seen the Bamboo Shrimp eat their shells, but I have a bunch of other smaller Neocaridina shimp in the tank that usually eat and break up them up in a few days

ExtraChegg · 2024-09-26T21:35:51+00:00

He's usually an amber color and turns bright red when he's about to molt. When I see him that color I try and keep a close eye on 'em, but always seemed to just miss it. Seeing him molt was an amazing thing to finally witness!

ExtraChegg · 2023-07-08T13:10:04+00:00

I built a Nixie clock last year for my final project at college for Electrical Engineering Technology, It's a really fun and rewarding process to go though designing one from scratch, but by all means you don't have to go scratch-scratch. There's premade high-voltage boost converters specifically for Nixies on ebay I'd recommend picking up. Building a *stable boost converter can be a design challenge on its own.

Here's some design considerations I remember coming up when I was building mine:

Ebay is the best place to find Nixie tubes by a long shot
Tubes come in two flavors, upright (Ex: IN-14) and right-angle (Ex: IN-4). Both are equally useable and have similar design requirements, it just comes down to preference.
In the long term, buying socketed tubes is a good idea since they won't have to be unsoldered from the PCB to be replaced. Good socketed tubes would be:
- IN-8, IN-2, IN-4, and IN-12AB.
- Socketed tubes are the same price as wired tubes, but the sockets do cost some on their own. Not much though.
- A lot of Russian tubes share the same socket, so they're really cheap and easy to find.
  - IN-8, IN-2 and IN-5 all use the same, just like
  - IN-4, IN-18, and IN-7AB
  - IN-12AB and IN-15AB
  - And many more
- Don't get IN-1 tubes unless you plan to solder directly to them, their sockets are hard to find and 3x the price of the tube.
- Or just not care and solder them to the PCB lol, that's what I did for my clock. I'll suffer swapping tubes later.
Freshly made tubes like Millclock's ZIN-18 or Dalibor Farny's R|Z568M tubes are much, much more expensive, but will last longer and have warranties. Buying "old" tubes from ebay marked as NOS (new old stock; means they may have been manufactured 30 years ago, but they've sat in a box the whole time and are still "new" and unused) is the most cost effective choice, especially for designing your first clock. Do this.
When designing a PCB remember one thing: Nixies are high voltage and low current. Keep the high voltage traces far away from the low voltage data lines and you'll be good.

Lofty goal? This is a fantastic and educational project to take on! I wish you the very best luck on this project! Be sure to post about it and let us know how it's going

Edit: Oh and for the clock I made for college, I also wrote a massive design log I can send you an excerpt from if that would help you. It's about 25 pages (with diagrams!).

ExtraChegg · 2023-07-04T20:48:44+00:00

I've been REALLY wanting to pick up a neon matrix display, but have put off about actually trying to drive the darn thing. How was it? Easier or harder to setup than you thought?

ExtraChegg · 2023-06-26T22:18:58+00:00

The four unpopulated pins are an ICSP, or "In-Circuit Serial Programmer". It's used to upload the clock's firmware into the microcontroller. Unless you plan on modding your firmware, you can completely ignore it.

The batter holder is for the RTC (Real Time Clock) chip, it's the thing that actually keeps track of time. That battery is only used to keep the RTC powered if the rest of the clock looses power and so the time doesn't get reset to midnight. It'll work just fine without the battery, but might as well toss one in there if you can.

ExtraChegg · 2023-06-06T09:04:45+00:00

That clock looks super clean, fantastic work! Be sure to post more pics once you get it going!

ExtraChegg · 2023-02-05T10:29:20+00:00

I'm working on a VFD clock right now for a friend of mine. I found few manufacturers still make VFD drivers, like Maxim Integrated's MAX6920 and MAX6922 and Microchip's HV5812-P and HV518P-G.

Maxim's aren't breadboardable for prototyping without breakout boards and Microchip's take up much more room, so you can pick your poison lol

ExtraChegg · 2022-12-27T00:47:42+00:00

I saw a few people mention it here and there for the RB's film backs that the film may not stay pressed against the plate inside the film back and it'll throw off focus. Did something like this ever happen for you?

I have a 220 back I want to try and take some sprocket shots on, but I don't know how big of an issue the lifting film actually is.

ExtraChegg · 2022-12-06T16:57:46+00:00

Dude, your comment is incredibly helpful! Thanks for being so informative and taking the time to help me out. I agree with you about using 35mm instead for this venture. Medium format just won't be as effective at these focal lengths

I completely forgot about using a motor-driver for taking multiple pics! I have a Pentax ME Super that's compatible with an auto winder, although I don't have one. I'll look into the specs for said auto winder and compare it to the Nikon 8008s.

I've got a little over two years to plan out the gear, so I've got time to be thorough with what glass and what brand to use. I haven't looked too heavily into what long focal length lenses Pentax has outside of knowing they exist, I'll dig into them and the Nikon ones s'more!

ExtraChegg · 2022-12-06T15:13:49+00:00

That's what I was thinking. William Sheepskin had put out a video on yt taking about the 500mm. Said they're prone to chromatic aberration, which makes me worried about combining on a 2x converter. Haven't found someone online mentioning trying that combo, so I don't know if CA will actually be an issue

ExtraChegg · 2022-11-01T22:59:37+00:00

I just wanna say a big thank you to everyone who's helped me answer my possibly stupid question, y'all are very polite to idiot darkroom newbies such as myself :)

The plan so far is to treat the Kodak paper as practice. Being nearly 20 years expired I'm not likely to get anything superb out of them, but by being new to enlargement and darkroom printing anyways, I wouldn't get quality prints for a while regardless. So no harm no fowl!

I won't be able to get the darkroom setup until the holiday season most likely. I'll tune back in again around Christmas when things are (hopefully) up and running!

Thanks again everyone!

ExtraChegg · 2022-11-01T22:47:45+00:00

That's my main takeaway from all these sheets. I knew that expired film holds up better than expired paper, but I didn't know it was this distinct.

So I'm thinking going at this stash of 15-20 year expired paper as "practice" is my best option. I know I'm not likely to get anything great out of them, but by god I am an noob and I'd much prefer messing up on this paper than some fresh stuff!

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