pi-nixie-clock

Raspberry Pi powered Nixie clock project

Hardware

Uses a Raspberry Pi Zero W
Pi Breadboard GPIO breakout board. I soldered this into my stripboard to make getting at the pins more convenient.
6x K155ID1 driver IC, along with some IN-12B Nixie tubes. I used a 22k resistor on each anode. Subesquent research suggests 16k is ideal.
INS-1 lamps for time seperators. Could do it with fewer ICs if multiplexing.
High-current transistors for the INS-1 dot lamps. I used 2x MPSA42 with each driving 2 dots; worked fine with 222k resistance. If I did it again, I'd have gone up to 250k as they're noticably brighter than the Nixies.
Advice: Well worth getting the proper IN-12B tube holders.
170V step-up transformer needed (draws very little current, so a cheap one will do
12V DC transformer for the wall
Buck transformer to give 5V to the Pi.
Can be soldered onto a single stripboard sheet, if you're patient. It's what I did.
Laser-cut a nice box to keep it all in.

Use the dTest.py to ensure that everything is working. It'll pulse the dots on and off, and show all digits.
Set up as a cron job (@reboot /home/pi/pi-nixie-clock/nixie.py) on startup so you can plug and unplug it.
Relies on the Pi for timekeeping (uses network time), so needs WiFi connection and locale set up correctly.

9/6/19 - Added some scrolling animations for when the date is shown, and disguised the cathode protection as an animation. Also added SolidWorks model, DXFs and a TechSoft 2D cutting sheet for the housing (assuming you build onto a single sheet of stripboard like I did).