PV Electronics Frank 3, Assembly Instructions And User Manual

Page 1: ...Nixie Tube Clock Frank 3 Issue 5 1 Jan 2012 www pvelectronics co uk 1 Assembly Instructions And User Guide Nixie Clock Type Frank 3 2011 Edition ...

Page 2: ...onics co uk 2 REVISION HISTORY Issue Number Date Reason for Issue 5 1 Jan 2012 New fuse type added 4 30 Sept 2011 Typing errors corrected 3 14 Sept 2011 Corrected resistor values 2 21 July 2011 Corrections to LED bending procedure 1 11 July 2011 New document ...

Page 3: ...iving spaces The quality of the final finish will reflect the time and care that is taken to finish the wood with successively finer grades of sandpaper Alternatively you may wish to design your own enclosure for the clock 1 2 Clock Features Nixie clock type Frank 3 has the following features Hours Minutes and Seconds display 12 or 24 hour modes Date display in either DD MM YY or MM DD YY format A...

Page 4: ...efore proceeding The voltages generated by this circuit can give a potentially LETHAL ELECTRIC SHOCK DISCLAIMER This product is supplied as a kit of parts intended only for suitably qualified electronic engineers who are suitably qualified and experienced in electronics assembly and are familiar with safe procedures for working with high voltages The supplier his agents or associates accept no lia...

Page 5: ... Desoldering wick braid can be useful if you accidentally create solder bridges between adjacent solder joints 2 3 Other items you will need The clock kit does not include a power adapter This is because the kit is sold to many countries around the world each with very different household mains outlet socket types It is more efficient for the user to buy a suitable adapter locally This saves shipp...

Page 6: ...ic C2 100uF 16 25V Electrolytic C3 1uF 250V Electrolytic C4 33pF Ceramic C5 33pF Ceramic C6 0 1F C7 100nF Ceramic Transistors Q1 IRF730 or IRF630 MOSFET Q2 Q3 MPSA42 NPN Q4 Q9 MPSA92 PNP Q10 Q18 MPSA42 NPN Diodes D1 D3 1N5817 or 1N5819 D4 UF4004 D5 Not installed D6 D8 1N4148 D9 5mm Green LED D10 5mm Orange LED D11 D16 3mm Blue LED Integrated Circuits IC1 7805 5V voltage regulator IC2 PIC16F1936 8 ...

Page 7: ...sue 5 1 Jan 2012 www pvelectronics co uk 7 J1 2 1mm Chassis power socket GPS RFT 6 way mini DIN PCB socket LS1 Piezo sounder FUSE 500mA fuse SKT1 44 1mm PCB Sockets Insulation Clear insulation for neons X1 32 768KHz watch crystal ...

Page 8: ...Green LED 1 5mm Orange LED 1 3mm Blue LED 6 Integrated Circuits 7805 5V voltage regulator 1 PIC16Fxxxx 8 bit microcontroller 1 74141 K155N Nixie driver 1 Miscellaneous 100uH 470uH inductor 1 4mm wire ended neon lamp 2 Miniature vertical push button 3 1K potentiometer 1 28 way IC Socket for IC2 1 2 1mm Chassis power socket 1 6 way mini DIN PCB socket 1 Piezo sounder 1 500mA fuse 1 6 cm clear insula...

Page 9: ...oloured bands to identify the value However it is sometimes unclear in which direction the bands should be read Therefore we recommend that the resistors be identified with a multimeter The fuse component may be one of two types so may not look like the fuse in the pictures later in this guide From August 2011 the fuse will look like the picture below ...

Page 10: ...ce a flat and hard object over the top of the sockets and turn the PCB over so you can solder from the underside Be sure to insert the sockets FROM the component side of the PCB the side with the white component markings The photo below shows the component side of the PCB after all the sockets have been inserted and soldered in 4 2 Capacitor C7 Mount C7 on the same side of the PCB as the white cro...

Page 11: ...the components with the band marked on the PCB Continue to mount C1 C2 J1 and FUSE Note that C1 and C2 are polarised The longer lead goes in the hole marked J1 the DC power input connector and IC1 are mounted on the opposite side of the PCB to the other components in this step See the picture below IC1 is mounted vertically at this stage do not bend it over the marked area yet ...

Page 12: ...V test point The voltage should measure between 5 1 and 5 3 Volts If not disconnect power and check your work Do not proceed with the assembly until the error is corrected Once the test is completed disconnect the power 4 4 High Voltage Generator components R1 R2 R3 R4 R9 R10 Q1 D4 C3 VR1 L1 Socket for IC2 Pay attention to mount D4 with the white band aligned with the PCB marking Insert the 28 way...

Page 13: ...ve space The leads need to be formed as shown below Bend the leads of each resistor as shown and solder in to the correct postion making sure the component body is as close to the board as possible After installation of step 4 4 components this is how the PCB should look on the component side And this is the view on the solder side note that Q1 is mounted on this side ...

Page 14: ...wly adjust the screw until the voltage is between 170 and 175V Disconnect the power supply Finally remove IC2 from its socket and replace on its static protective foam It is best kept safe until needed for the tube tests later in the assembly 4 6 C4 C5 X1 These are the timekeeping components 32 768KHz crystal and two load capacitors See below 4 7 D6 D8 C6 C6 is a high capacity Super Capacitor inte...

Page 15: ...ronics co uk 15 4 8 IC3 74141 K155N Nixie Driver IC Align the notch on the IC body with the corresponding PCB mark See below 4 9 Q2 Q3 Q10 Q18 All MPSA42 After placement of these 11 transistors the board should look like this 4 10 Q4 Q9 All MPSA92 See below ...

Page 16: ...Clock Frank 3 Issue 5 1 Jan 2012 www pvelectronics co uk 16 4 11 R14 R17 2K7 R18 R19 5K6 R20 R25 390K R26 R31 10K See picture below 4 12 R12 R13 R32 R33 10K R34 R35 390K R8 10K R5 R6 R7 R11 560R See picture below ...

Page 17: ...w pvelectronics co uk 17 4 13 R36 R41 560R These are the current limiting resistors for the LED tube underlights If you don t want to have LED tube underlighting you can omit this step Note that you can also now bend back Q1 and IC1 as shown below ...

Page 18: ... enormously to trim the flying leads at an angle with a pair of scissors as shown below Feed all the wires in progressively It is not as hard as it seems at first Ensure the tubes are the correct way up The part marking IN 17 should be to the RIGHT but also check to see if you can tell that the 5 and 3 which are visible are the correct way up After soldering in trim flying leads ...

Page 19: ...9 Green ALARM LED D10 Orange These should be mounted on the solder side of the PCB if you are using one of our cases Otherwise they can be mounted as you prefer The longer leads go into the holes maked 4 18 RFT GPS Connector If you will not be using a time synchronisation source you may omit this connector Also if you are connecting a time receiver module close to the clock PCB without using the c...

Page 20: ...www pvelectronics co uk 20 4 19 LS1 Piezo Sounder There are two sets of holes for this component as two different types may be supplied depending on component availability If you are using one of our cases mount this on the solder side of the PCB ...

Page 21: ...o the spacing between the pads for the LED and the hole for the LED Cut the leads to the same length The six LEDs may now be installed as shown below Insert and solder on the solder side Take care that the LED leads are well clear of the tube leads and sockets If you wish you may use some short pieces of insulation as shown to prevent the possibility of any LED leads touching the tube sockets or l...

Page 22: ...rst Power up with tubes Ensuring that the push button switches are clear of any obstruction that could press them power up the clock The tubes should start counting 0 9 repeatedly If any tubes do not light disconnect power and trace the fault before proceeding To exit tube test routine press SET briefly The clock will go into time display mode starting from 12 34 pm ...

Page 23: ...ton a further 2 seconds until the clock displays in this format 00 XX 99 The 99 in the seconds digits tells you that you are in the configuration menu In configuration mode the hours digits diplay the current parameter being adjusted and the seconds digits display the current value stored against the parameter For each parameter and referring to the table below scroll through the range of possible...

Page 24: ...inutes 10 Colon neons mode 0 AM PM Indication flashing 1 AM PM Indication illuminated 2 Both flash default 3 Both illuminated 4 Both off 11 Colon neons during night dimmed mode 2 0 AM PM Indication flashing 1 AM PM Indication illuminated 2 Both flash 3 Both illuminated default 4 Both off 12 Radio time signal source 0 No Radio Time source default 3 1 DCF 2 WWVB 3 MSF 4 GPS 13 GPS Baud rate 0 4 8 Kb...

Page 25: ...e for prescribed period 2 Night time neons mode is active when night mode is set to dim During night time blanking the tubes AND neons are disabled 3 Clock is fully functional without WWVB DCF MSF GPS synchronisation Set time manually 4 Enter your time zone offset from the synchronisation source Note that WWVB transmits UTC 5 Set this to 1 to disable Auto DST adjust on WWVB Sync eg Arizona does no...

Page 26: ... Auto Date Display Setting parameter 18 to 1 will enable auto display of date between 50 and 55 seconds past each minute Night Blanking Override During programmed night blanking the blanking may be overridden to see the time by briefly pressing the SET button Tubes will remain lit for the period defined in parameter 8 Manual RFT Call In DCF WWVB MSF modes pressing ADJ briefly during time display w...

Page 27: ... time transmitted by the DCF transmitter o France has no offset from the time transmitted by the DCF transmitter Set parameter 16 to identify whether the offset is minus 0 or positive 1 of the time source If using WWVB source and you do NOT require automatic DST adjustment eg Arizona does not observe DST then set parameter 17 to 1 If using GPS parameter 17 acts as a DST bit Set to 1 during DST per...

Page 28: ... of the modules is the PON pin which is used to place the module is an ultra low power standby mode when not being used for time seek If you are using our module and 3 metre extension cable proceed to step 8 4 If you are wiring in the module close to the main clock PCB or by direct soldering to the clock PCB pads refer to step 8 5 Some Notes on WWVB DCF MSF Reception Many other electrical applican...

Page 29: ...ip approx 15mm 0 6 of the other grey sheath of the cable Identify the Black Orange Yellow and Brown cables and clip off all the rest as they are not required Attach a 100uF capacitor to the module as shown below to pads 1 and 4 noting the correct orientation of the negative lead of the capacitor Then clip the excess capacitor leads so there is only 1 2mm remaining ...

Page 30: ...Nixie Tube Clock Frank 3 Issue 5 1 Jan 2012 www pvelectronics co uk 30 ...

Page 31: ...s to the module as shown below It is not necessary to feed the cables into the holes it is sufficient to lay the cables over the PCB pads and solder on Now attach the antenna by soldering the two antenna wires to the pads marked ANT The RFT Module is now ready to connect and use with the clock ...

Page 32: ... mini DIN extension cable The following connections are required for connecting a DCF WWVB MSF receiver module Bare PCB connections Module connections Note that one pad is not connected NC We recommend connecting a 100uF electrolytic capacitor across the 4 8V and GND pads as close as possible to the module There are no special requirements for the cable used light duty 4 way signal cable is suitab...

Page 33: ...ible to connect other GPS receivers with the following specification Power consumption max 50mA Supply voltage 5V Output signal levels RS232 or TTL Serial baud rate 4 800 bps 9 600 bps 19 400 bps or 38 400 bps Output protocol NMEA 0183 including GPRMC sentence The Globalsat BR 355 receiver plugs directly into the mini DIN connector on the rear of the clock PCB To connect a different GPS receiver t...

Page 34: ... flashing if the last synchronisation was between 2 hours and 24 hours ago and off if the last synchronisation is older than 24 hours Additionally if DCF WWVB or MSF mode is selected the indicator will flash rapidly whilst the clock is actually receiving and processing a valid time frame The function of the RFT indicator LED may be summarised in the table below Radio Time Source Sync 2 Hrs Sync 2 ...

Page 35: ...Nixie Tube Clock Frank 3 Issue 5 1 Jan 2012 www pvelectronics co uk 35 8 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM ...

Page 36: ...Nixie Tube Clock Frank 3 Issue 5 1 Jan 2012 www pvelectronics co uk 36 ...