You need to understand the operation of a shift register and possibly dtype flip flops first. Diy digital vfd clock voltmeter vehicle usb temperature detect switch music spectrum vacuum fluorescent display. Vacuum fluorescent display tubes only require 25 v dc. The max6850 compact vacuumfluorescent display vfd controller provides microprocessors with the multiplex timing for 7segment, 14segment, or 16segment alphanumeric vfd displays up to 96 characters and controls industrystandard, shiftregister, highvoltage gridanode vfd tube drivers. Jul 04, 2016 vacuum fluorescent display repair 1986 soundesign 3867 clock radio cassette tape recorder duration. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. The software can be found at my single numitron clock page. How vacuum fluorescent displays vfds work explain that. Vacuum fluorescent, pinlite and wamco filament, and panaplex displays. Vacuum fluorescent display repair 1986 soundesign 3867 clock radio cassette tape recorder duration. Dec 10, 2017 vacuum fluorescent display vfd drivers. Ive had this vacuum fluorescent display vfd recovered from a broken dvd player in the bits box for quite a while.
Reverseengineering the pinout of vacuumfluorescent displays. Poepowered vfd tube clock photons, electrons, and dirt. The vfd tube clock described here uses an ntp server on the internet to keep the time synchronized. Minivfd clock floats the display above it all hackaday. To use a vfd, you have to have a basic understanding of how vacuum tubes work. Iv11 usb powered 6 vfd tubes vacuum fluorescent display. The max6921max6931 are 20output, 76v, vacuum fluorescent display vfd tube drivers that interface a multiplexed vfd tube to a vfd controller, such as the max6850max6853, or to a microcontroller. Msp430 iv18 vacuum fluorescent tube clock daniel johnson. A grid is placed between the dim filament and the anodes to form a basic triode. Vfds need a voltage of around 4050 volts to light the multiplexed display. A glorified vacuum tube, vfds provide superior contrast and visibility compared to other. Project owner contributor nixie and numitron clock.
The max6921max6931 are also ideal for driving static vfd tubes or telecom relays. I wanted to produce a nixie display using easily obtainable parts well except for the nixies, and at the same time keep the parts count low. Vfd display channel letter remote control digital clock music. The original 7400 series drivers integrated circuits such as the 74141 bcd decoder driver have long since been out of production and are rarer than nos tubes. Svb fluorescent tube clock vfd clock gps time calibration retro electronic clock diy vacuum fluorescent tube.
Max6921 20output, 76v, serialinterfaced vfd tube drivers. A vacuum fluorescent display vfd is a display device once commonly used on consumer electronics equipment such as video cassette recorders, car radios, and microwave ovens. Most nixie tube drivers require the obsolete and hard to find 7441 or 74141 ttl decoder driver ics, or else high voltage driver transistors. Vacuum fluorescent display vfd clock complete kit tindie. How about a clock made out of glowing russian fluorescent vacuum tubes they look groovy. Diy digital vfd clock voltmeter vehicle usb temperature detect switch music spectrum vacuum fluorescent display 5.
Both tubes have a grid, a heater, and an anode per display segment. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. This is a straight up explanation of how to add a vfd display to your project arduino, microcontroller, cmos whatever your game may be. This project is a complete replacement of the logic and driver that came in the dvd player, i have also used general electronic components as these are what i have available. A dcdc buck converter to drop the voltage to drive the tube filaments. And as promised in my earlier comment, i am going to show you the remainder of the vfd driving circuit here. In my previous post, i showed a simple vacuum fluorescent display filament driver built using a 555 timer and a custom handwound, centertapped toroidal pulse transformer. Vacuum fluorescent display having a grid plate coplanar with the anode by ernest gerald bylander, texas instruments inc. Reverseengineering the pinout of vacuumfluorescent. The tube is filled with a gas at low pressure, usually mostly neon and often a little mercury or argon, in a penning mixture although it resembles a vacuum tube in appearance, its operation does not depend on. The max6921max6931 are 20output, 76v, vacuumfluorescent display vfd tube drivers that interface a multiplexed vfd tube to a vfd controller, such as the max6850max6853, or to a microcontroller. Also includes two driver chips n8t04b signetics and 74185 chip. The max6921max6931 are also ideal for driving stati.
Once the clock has the address of an ntp server, it uses ntp to set the date and time. Lcds, oled displays and led segment displays have now largely replaced vfds a vfd operates on the principle of cathodoluminescence, roughly similar to a cathode ray tube, but operating at much lower voltages. Vfds, developed based on vacuum tube technology, provide a couple of advantages, including excellent visibility by selfluminous, and are being adopted in an increasing number of devices, from audio equipment to home appliances. The mcu sends out a 24 bit wide bitstream to the data line of the first register here. This is a complete kit for building a vfd 4 digit clock using cool russian iv22 vacuum fluorescent display tubes. Vfd displays have been replaced by the new display technologies today.
Jan 23, 2017 popular in dvdvcr players, as in salvaging a samsung dvdm101 player. It consists of a 34bit shift register, a 34bit transparent data latch, a metal mask rom, six 20 ma anode output drivers, twentyfive 2 ma anode. In addition to the tube itself, another important consideration is the relatively highvoltage circuitry necessary to drive the tube. If you have ever wanted to know how these things work then read on.
A vfd operates on the principle of cathodoluminescence, roughly similar to a cathode ray tube, but operating at much lower voltages. The vacuumfluorescent display that sjm4306 chose to base this clock on is the iv21, an eightdigit sevensegment display on the smallish side. Vfd tube clock with esp32 devkitc with an accurate internetderived timefull kit, acryl case includedclocks built using vintage components are currently very popular. The electrical requirements for each are displayed in the table below. You may find one in your car, dvds, radios, casette players,etcalso, there are may kinds of vfd display modules availabl. If you know what an iv11 or an iv3 is then this is for you.
Most designs are based on a realtime clock, synchronized via radio time servers or gps. Sep 26, 2019 the vacuumfluorescent display that sjm4306 chose to base this clock on is the iv21, an eightdigit sevensegment display on the smallish side. How vacuum fluorescent displays vfds work explain that stuff. A vfd operates on the principle of cathodoluminescence, roughly similar to a cathode ray tube, but.
Vfd driver in plcc28 package, max6921 1 iv18 vacuum fluorescent display vfd tube 1 atmega168v10pu microcontroller 1 60v breakdown schottky diode, mbr160 4. I shall turn it into a clock and have it display the date at the press of a button, it will also set its time using the internet and the network time protocol over a wifi connection, ill be using a teensy 3. As i mentioned before, there are many driver chips e. Vacuum fluorescent display for minimizing nonuse area by chulhyun jang, samsung sdi co. Et16312n, ht16512, pt6312, stm68312, upd16312, vfd. How vacuum fluorescent displays work, and how you can drive them with an arduino. Popular in dvdvcr players, as in salvaging a samsung dvdm101 player.
A nixie tube requires 170 v dc to drive the tubes anode. In fact, since some have an control grid to let the display be multiplexed, they can actually be used as a triode, and amplify a signal. Display driver integrated circuits lapis semiconductor. Vacuum fluorescent alphanumeric display test circuit duration.
Ive always been intrigued by vacuum fluorescent displays vfds so i picked up the ice tube clock kit from adafruit industries that uses a russian vfd tube. With the date and time set, the clock displays the time using the 6 vfd tubes and three microchip hv5812 highvoltage display drivers. Vacuum fluorescent display tube clock with esp32 devkitc. Troubleshooting vacuum fluorescent display problems youtube. Vfd drivers are available for a segment type display, character type display and dot matrix type display. Vacuum fluorescent display vfd clock complete kit from. It has 8 x 7segment digits, with decimal points and a minus sign. Nov 09, 2019 most nixie tube drivers require the obsolete and hard to find 7441 or 74141 ttl decoder driver ics, or else high voltage driver transistors. From alphanumeric to seven segment, from hobbist to aircraft replacement parts. This booklet shows how a low power oscillator can be constructed that will power a fluorescent tube up to 40 watts in size or provide high frequency alternating current over a wide range of voltages up to perhaps 2 kv or higher, from a 9 24 volt source. Begin by separating the individual components of the kit. Vacuum fluorescent displays vfds are display devices similar to nixie tubes but designed for low voltage use, and they are 7segment displays with fluorescent coated anodes. Ui21m ui21 21 nixie era 7segm 10digit flat vfd clock calculator tube new.
Diy digital vfd clock voltmeter vehicle usb temperature. Only one number is lit any time, thus each is only on for an eighth of the time. Jan 22, 2016 msp430 iv18 vacuum fluorescent tube clock daniel johnson. Yes, you too can own such a clock but youll probably have to build it yourself, because such unique clocks can almost certainly not be found in normal stores. The clock is exactly the same as the single numitron clock, and the pnp transistors allow the 5v output of the pic to control the 12v needed to fully illuminate the segments. Tesla oscillator and fluorescent tube driver gary peterson 17 pages, illustrated.
See more ideas about display, vacuums and nixie tube. Applying power to one cathode surrounds it with an orange glow discharge. The glass tube contains a wiremesh anode and multiple cathodes, shaped like numerals or other symbols. Electronic, nixie, tube archives for nixie display driver nixie. Once an hour, the clock corrects any drift using ntp. I used four microsized red leds under the vfd tube to indicate which digit is being displayed hhmm. These vintage tubes are still available in reasonable quantities and at not too outrageous prices on ebay. But the quality of display, a vfd gives is unbeatable.
Combining the retro awesomeness of nixie tubes and numitrons to make one cool clock. Includes two rca dr2000 numitron and one rca dr2030 numitron. A vacuum fluorescent display vfd is a display device used commonly on consumerelectronics equipment such as video cassette recorders, car radios, and microwave ovens. Dec 18, 2012 vfd driver in plcc28 package, max6921 1 iv18 vacuum fluorescent display vfd tube 1. Vfd display channel letter remote control digital clock music level indicator fft vacuum fluorescent displayer led spectrym 0. Description the max6850 compact vacuumfluorescent display vfd controller provides microprocessors with the multiplex timing for 7segment, 14segment, or 16segment alphanumeric vfd displays up to 96 characters and controls industrystandard, shiftregister, highvoltage gridanode vfd tube drivers.