Monthly Archives: March 2016

New run of DG5 PCB’s on order as of 3/18/16

Update – boards have shipped as of today, 4/8/16. I should have them early next week and will probably build one to make sure they are good – I am using a different vendor for this run. I’ll let everyone who has posted inquiring about availability when I am ready to ship.

Due to the continued interest, I have ordered up another set of boards. I think as I finish up the LED and Nixie versions there might be more interest as well. The LED code is here, I haven’t released the Nixie code just yet but I will when I have the project complete. All three versions use the same PCB board – just different connections on the board.

More to come, but another run of boards is in the works!

Steve
KV6O

Kenwood DG5 Emulator with Nixies is working!

I seem to be going backwards with my display technology for this emulator. First it was an LCD display, then LED’s, now Nixies! I completed wiring up a set of TaylorEdge SmartNixies (http://www.tayloredge.com/storefront/SmartNixie/index.html) using the IN-12b Nixie tube. They make using Nixies with a micro-controller easy. Each module has a PIC controller that is I2C addressable, so wiring is much easier than wiring up all the cathodes and anodes of 6 tubes – just +5V, +170V (for the tubes), GND, and SDA/SCL data lines. 5 wires daisy chained together.

I need to find an enclosure to get this mounted in, and given the size I’ll need I am thinking about a wooden enclosure with a speaker as well, unless I find some old test equipment shell I can mount this in – like an old Heathkit Frequency counter or similar.

So, to review, LCD is nice, LED’s are correct (the original DG5 used LED’s), and Nixies are the best!