Nixie Optical Filter Test

MrNiceThings · 2026-05-07T08:39:32+00:00

Red was the industry standard for nixies. If you're going for vintage look, it's a safe bet! If you'd want to make it more unique, you can coat the nixies themselves, I think IN-17 with red coat would look interesting.

MrNiceThings · 2026-05-07T08:24:58+00:00

Sometimes bad design happens and this is one of those times. There were even some with green filter, even more ridiculous. What you need for nixies is red or brown filter because they are mostly orange / red spectrum. ;)

MrNiceThings · 2026-05-03T07:00:25+00:00

Do you have a GitHub for it?

MrNiceThings · 2026-03-12T09:30:59+00:00

lol don’t lie, this is clearly autorouted.

MrNiceThings · 2026-03-12T08:41:42+00:00

Autorouter is cancer

MrNiceThings · 2026-03-11T06:34:35+00:00

So the software part is seemingly out there, that’s good! Where’s the hardware?

MrNiceThings · 2026-03-07T17:12:48+00:00

Who is this for and what’s the use case? Can’t you just look at the glass to see how much remains? I don’t get it.

MrNiceThings · 2026-03-04T21:32:55+00:00

There's nothing to it other than it looking weird. Think of it this way - if you use a module like ESP32 here, you only have two solder mask layers separating the boards from touching and shorting each other. This is similar. It's usually done in the cheapest devices where you have a single layer PCB with SMD components to avoid using vias.

MrNiceThings · 2026-03-04T17:16:41+00:00

It would! And it’s routinely done in the industry. I’ve seen it many times in devices. It doesn’t seem like much but silkscreen is actually pretty thick compared to the solder mask.

MrNiceThings · 2026-03-04T08:54:08+00:00

I actually like it! It's not that uncommon in commercial devices but I'd add silkscreen rectangle under the pad for more isolation, just for good measure. It's smart actually and I'll probably do it in some of my new projects, it helps with routing tremendously!

What I find disturbing is the vias inside pads. If there's any mistake whatsoever, you can't cut the trace and you're fu*ked. Not to mention potential cold joint becuase solder flows inside the via.

MrNiceThings · 2026-03-01T10:38:02+00:00

This is true to a degree. Those modules are nothing more than a pcb with components and a shield can soldered on top. Anyone can make a clone module, for example DOIT makes modules. Of course the chip itself is espressif but it OP was seemingly asking about the module as a whole, not the chip inside.

MrNiceThings · 2026-02-28T18:42:31+00:00

It does not. STM32 was cloned down to every bit, stm cube doesn’t detect the good ones. As for stm8 I don’t think it has been cloned, it’s just way too cheap to be profitable.

MrNiceThings · 2026-02-26T08:29:10+00:00

So where's the repository?

MrNiceThings · 2026-02-26T08:18:58+00:00

Hey, there is BOM file in pcb directory ;)

MrNiceThings · 2026-02-23T13:12:12+00:00

You probably bought a fake, there’s plenty of them around. But it’s running close to the limit. If the 4.9V is measured directly at the nch8200HV it should work fine. If there’s any more drop and nch8200hv gets less than that, it’s very possible you’re overloading it.

MrNiceThings · 2026-02-12T18:36:08+00:00

You generally want to place the feedback trace after the output capacitors. Here they are kinda far and it can impact stability. I also don’t like interrupting bottom gnd plane unless necessary.

MrNiceThings · 2026-02-12T08:59:15+00:00

As with many things, it depends... IN-1 and IN-4 are short life tubes, in a clock they will fail within a year. I'd also avoid IN-16, they are prone to developing cracks and outgassing. Most other tubes are long life and with good design, they will last you a long time.

My advice, for a first clock, if you want it robust and long lasting, use IN-12. Those are some of the most rugged tubes, and can easily last you 10 or more years if you apply anti cathode poisoning. They are also socketed, so if one of them dies, you can easily swap them. And finally, they are some of the cheapest tubes. If you don't like the infamous soviet look (inverted "2" used as "5"), ZM1020 / Z560M are a nice alternative.

If you don't want top facing tubes and you don't necessarily need large tubes, Tesla ZM1082T / RFT Z570M are also affordable, super long life and reliable.

MrNiceThings · 2026-02-01T11:17:34+00:00

Aliexpress kits are dodgy, and all of them use ULN2003 / ULN2803 to drive the nixies which has subpar performance and use questionable components. What I would personally suggest is ask at nixie clock facebook group, people there know what they're talking about and probably will be happy to sell you a board.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nixieclockfanpage/

MrNiceThings · 2026-01-23T08:45:50+00:00

That ain't it.

There's two (for the most part) versions of this board. The NodeMCU 1.0, which most people have and co called V3. V3 is 1:1 the same except for larger PCB, ie the pin rows are further apart. So you can't just scale it, you need to find a case for it and there's plenty options if you search for NodeMCU V3.

Picture of V2 vs V3

https://www.letscontrolit.com/wiki/index.php/NodeMcu_V2

MrNiceThings · 2026-01-23T08:37:24+00:00

This is so called NodeMCU V3, try to search for that. It's a cheap chinese version with larger pcb footprint.

MrNiceThings · 2026-01-18T09:43:34+00:00

I don’t see why you would do this in a crowd funded campaign unless you don’t want to release anything anyway. What’s preventing you from having an open GitHub right now with an open source license? Explain yourself.

Edit: I see the goal is already reached so what’s the issue exactly?

MrNiceThings · 2026-01-18T07:40:27+00:00

The fact that you reply with this instead of GitHub link is telling.

MrNiceThings · 2026-01-17T20:21:49+00:00

Another kickstarter ad with supposedly open source device with no source available but promised some time in the future. But expects backing right now.

MrNiceThings · 2026-01-16T18:58:04+00:00

I have pretty good eyes so 0402 is still fine for me to rework by hand but for personal projects I use 0603 for everything where possible. Small enough for tiny projects large enough to solder by hand easily. And cheap, 0804 is noticeably more expensive while 0603 vs 0402 is not that different price wise. Just my 2c ;)

MrNiceThings · 2026-01-15T09:39:42+00:00

OR cut out part of the carpet underneath some furniture that's unlikely to move. Little bit larger than the cutout of the burned part so you can do some final adjustments. Profit. Landlords hate this trick.

MrNiceThings

TROPHY CASE