I always enjoy visiting other people's electronic project sites, so I thought why not make my own project site? Besides showing to others the things I have made, these pages also serve as documentation for myself. The projects you find here are all fully functional and are extensively documented including the software. You may copy it distribute it or sell it as far as I am concerned, but never hold me responsible for possible accidents, injuries or any other disasters.







Frequently asked Questions
(and their answers)
related to Nixie (clocks) and other display devices
an index to my pages

(Nixie) Clock Projects:
  • Flyback Converters for dummies
    A simple flyback converter high voltage power supply for NIXIE tubes.
  • NIXIE I
     A NIXIE clock using 6 ZM1030 tubes.
  • "Mixed-Signal" LED clock
     A digital clock with an analog face
  • NIXIE II
    A Talking NIXIE Alarm Clock! This Nixie Alarm clock will wake you up with a personal wake-up message or sound. A "wav" file stored in EPROM is played using only a few counters and a DA converter.
  • Numitron Clock with battery back-up. A nice small Numitron clock with a battery back-up that keeps it running when the clock is disconnected from the mains. It uses a 12F675 PIC controller with a 32.768 kHz crystal connected to Timer1.
  • A E1T Decade Scaler Tube raised from the dead.
    The E1T Decade Scaler Tube is very elegant counting tube used in the fiftees before the digital revolution. In my current project I have brought an old E1T tube back to life and have it counting again.
    If you have one of these tubes and you have no use for them, please send me an e-mail, I would love to make a clock out of them!
  • Decatron Clock Project.
    Instead of first finishing a project and than writing a web page on it, this page reports on the progress on my current project in a web-log style!
  • A Single Digit NIXIE clock for my Son Geert
     A simple NIXIE clock with fading digit and ambi-light! The high voltage for the NIXIE tube is directly derived from the mains so be careful!
  • One Digit E1T Clock
    A simple clock with a remarkable tube. In this clock the E1T is controlled by a moderns PIC microcontroller using a very simple interface. Be careful, the anode voltage of the E1T is derived directly derived from the mains!
  • Tube-in-Tube Clock
    A simple, minimal component count, single digit Nixie clock that fits into a glass test-tube. Now with PCB!
  • Ring Counter Variations
    Everything you always wanted to know about (neon) Ring Counters. A must for every neon enthousiast!
  • ZM1003, Development Sample
    Does anybody have more information about this very rare tube?
  • A Meter Clock for Eugene.
    A simple clock that uses a set of analog meters to display the time, with ambilight!
    A nice and small project to do something useful with your old meters on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

The uTracer, my tube curve-tracer project sequel:
  • The µTracer, a miniature tube curve tracer
    This miniature tube curve tracer uses pulsed measurements to measure the I-V curves of radio tubes.
    Due to this special construction the high voltages can be generated with a tiny boost converters, eliminating the need for "heavy" power supplies.
    The project is presented in the form of a "web-log"
  • The µTracer V2, a miniature tube curve tracer project
    Build a tube curve tracer for less than 50 euro!
    This page is a project description of the uTracer circuit developed in the previous page.
  • The µTracer V3, a sequel to the µTracer V2 weblog
    After building the original µTracer, it is my plan to introduce new features and improvements. In this new weblog page the progress is recorded for my own reference and documentation and for anybody else who is interested.
  • The µTracer V3 project summary and sales page!
    As a result of many requests from readers of my µTracer V3 weblog page, I have made a kit for this project. This page summarizes the project and gives details about the kit.

Other Projects:
  • µSCOPE Dutch version
    Ongetwijfeld s'werelds kleinste en simpelste oscilloscoop! Een 8 pins PIC processor sampled de analoge ingang en genereert een video signaal dat de golfvorm op een normale televisie laat zien.
  • µSCOPE English version
    Undoubtedly s'worlds smallest and simplest oscilloscope! An 8 pins PIC processor samples the analog input signal and generates a (PAL) video signal which shows the waveform on a normal television set.
  • µPONG
    Play the classic Pong game again on your TV using only one 8 pin PIC processor!
  • In System programmer for the P89C51Rx2
     This page describes the in system programmer hardware and software used to program the P89C51Rx2 processor used in the NIXIE I clock.
  • SC/MP revisited
    Nostalgia from the seventies! For everybody who has an old SC/MP (INS8060) processor lying around, why not re-live your first steps in micro-computers and build this retronic SC/MP computer running the NIBL Tiny-BASIC interpreter?
  • Colored LEDs for Jan Verhoeven's farewell present!
     A simple PIC program that produces a series a slowly fading and changing random colors in a three color LED. It can be used as a stand alone gadget, or you can run it in the back-ground to liven up your PIC application.
  • A Tiny 80(C)31 Basic Board
    A tiny but powerful stand-alone Basic Computer based on the 8031/8051/8052 processor. Includes an extensive overview of all MCS BAsic-52 dialects for this processor.
  • Two-Lamp-over-one-Wire Circuit
    An “elegant” circuit that can switch between two lamps without the need to add a new mains wire.
    A page primarily written for myself for sentimental reasons.
  • Restauration of a P87BQ receiver
    During a Holiday to the South Coast of Britain I found a fantastic Pye P87BQ battery receiver. I bought it a a souvenir of the delightful village of (Old) Hastings. an account of the restauration, and a study of the development of battery-tubes at Mullard/Philips.
  • Implementing a Delay in a PIC Program
    A closer look at how arbitrary delays in a PIC assembly program can be implemented. A bit of Maths and Excel but no hardware.
  • A Simple Method to Measure Unknown Inductors
    A simple and quick way to measure the inductance of an unknown power inductor.
    (provided you have a function generator and an oscilloscope.)
  • An Electronic 90V Anode/Plate Battery
    A "power"-inverter which emulates a 90V plate battery for vintage battery tube receivers.
    Special attention has been paid to elliminate any RF interference normally associated with DC/DC converters.
    The project is presented in the form of a "web-log"

History of Electronics Projects:
Various stuff:



If you like these pages (or not), why not let me know:


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