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Grenadier's big thread of RÃ¶ntgen related shenanigans

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Adam Munich

Fri Jun 10 2011, 04:55AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

Started putting in some circuitry, but really can't do much more of that until the batteries get here.

Time to start working on the tube head then.

Xray

Fri Jun 10 2011, 06:04AM

Registered Member #3429 Joined: Sun Nov 21 2010, 02:04AM
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 288

Wow! Your panel looks great! You can also dress it up with some rub-on letter transfers so that the operator knows what each button, knob, and light is for.

Adam Munich

Wed Jun 15 2011, 02:56AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

What I did:

*Got the nixies working
*Got the microcontroller working
*Got the batteries in the mail
*Put battery in backwards
*Killed everything.
*Fixed everything, save for the atmega168. Now I need to wait a week for more in the mail :-/.

magnet18

Wed Jun 15 2011, 06:09AM

Registered Member #3766 Joined: Sun Mar 20 2011, 05:39AM
Location:

Posts: 624

I put 10 transistors in backwards for my nixie clock.
Seriously spent 4 days working on it and couldn't figure out why all the digits were lighting up, the collector&base waveforms made no sense whatsoever.
Then I checked the datasheet, smashed my head to my desk, and spend 20 minuets ripping it out and a good 5 hours doing it again.

My point being, sh*t happens.

Xray

Wed Jun 15 2011, 03:21PM

Registered Member #3429 Joined: Sun Nov 21 2010, 02:04AM
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 288

magnet18 wrote ...

I put 10 transistors in backwards for my nixie clock.
Seriously spent 4 days working on it and couldn't figure out why all the digits were lighting up, the collector&base waveforms made no sense whatsoever.
Then I checked the datasheet, smashed my head to my desk, and spend 20 minuets ripping it out and a good 5 hours doing it again.

My point being, sh*t happens.

If I had a dollar for every time I've done something like that, I'd be very rich! I recall a time when I soldered a 50-pin circular connector on a cable. I was very careful to make sure that the wire colors matched the correct pin numbers, and I even placed heat-shrink tubing on each and every soldered connection. After I got done admiring my work, I realized that I had forgotten to install the connector shell before soldering the connector pins! It was the type of shell that isn't split, and so you had to slide it onto the cable before attaching the connector. The other end of the cable had another 50-pin connector on it, so I couldn't simply slide the shell over the other end. Needless to say, I was quite upset with myself.

Experienced carpenters adhere to an old motto: "Measure twice, cut once." Those of us in the electronics industry should adopt a similar motto. Something like: "Check the data sheet twice, solder once."

Ash Small

Wed Jun 15 2011, 03:45PM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

I built an electro-polishing setup in '98. Got everything sorted, mixed the chemicals, heated them to working temp., connected the rectifier to the supply, connected the workpiece (a stainless steel component), used another piece of stainless sheet for the cathode, switched on.....waited........turned it off, checked the workpiece and it looked worse than when I started.

Tried again......same thing......and again.....I was really disillusioned by now.....things normally work first time for me.....

I stripped it all down, waited for the electrolyte to cool....and removed the cathode.....surprise, surprise....I could see my face in it......somehow I'd managed to connect the anode and cathode up the wrong way round....

Adam Munich

Thu Jun 16 2011, 03:15AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

Well to pass time I started working on the tube head today. Once again the paint is very inconsistent, but this time it actually dried. I used regular rustoleum hammered rather than "universal" rustoleum hammered. Each face of the box has it's own special thing going on, with the top being lumpy, the sides being bumpy and the back being wrinkled/crackled. I give up on making things consistent though, it's just not happening.

[no pic taken...]

For the tube heater I used an adjustable 3A switch mode power supply IC. All you need to do is use one resistor to set the frequency and a resistive divider to set the voltage. It's pretty nifty, and even has an internal inductor. Efficiency is probably around 90%, and everything was put together on copper sheet. I have 4 more of these ICs, and I am considering selling two for $7 each to make back the shipping money that natsemi charged me. They sure do make nice tube heater supplies though.