Something that has come up which I realised I had not explained very well was. ‘What happens if the routiner is running and the count button gets hit” well the count will still go up. As it’s 2 separate systems. The routiner uniselector disconnects the Nixie tubes from the counting uniselectors and routes them through itself. The actual counter is completely separate. Meaning it will work, no matter what is happening.
@@a.ijuhasz135 It sounded to me like the actual chime that was played was 12343456 where 1 is the counter for the least significant digit and 6 is the most significant digit.
This is one of my favourite videos so far, just started listening to you on Spotify and really enjoying that too. Is the song from your outro on there anywhere? I can't seem to find it (I know it's a remix of some classical piece I've forgotten the name of but it's so epic! 🤩).
@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER For your big tubes, approx. 22-47k 2W in case you're using around 180V should be ok. Note that nixies are current driven, so they need this resistor.
@@mattsan70 that’s a very good point. The power supply I ended up using was the one not at the start of the video. And it was one for Nixie tubes. I’ll have to check the schematic as other projects I saw with that supply had no resistors. So possibly it’s already present. But I’ll have to check
Now I have uniselector envy. Beautiful job on the period correct wire harnessing also! If we find a certain 1960’s rocket to rewire we know whom to call…
It's always good to have several projects started and running simultaneously without finishing them. You will eventually finish some of them, especially the passion projects, but most of them will remain unfinished. This creates a library of potential should you have need or a reinvigorated intrigue for a project. Instead of starting from the planning stage, you've already got the project started; which makes it a lot easier to finish when necessary. Relevant case here is that Sam already had, arguably, the most difficult part of the project accomplished; that is obtaining enough of these 60-year old parts to make a counter, tubesaver, and sequencer.
When I have to devise something in base 10 to transfer to music, I usually use a pentatonic in 2 octaves. It gives nice result, because if you use chromatic, the semi-tones sometimes don't give a clear note difference, specially in noisy situations. Nice work! Really clever. 😊 Edit: btw, using the 2 octave pentatonic is also a nice way to personalise phone extension numbers (normally 4 digits), so you're able to know instantly in an office which number is ringing. Not needed now that we work from home, lol!
At 8 minutes, I'm sitting here, amazed at how Sam is working with the 120V supply on and he's not getting zapped. Then, at 9:50, I'm like "Yup, been there, done that."
There is no way it would ever work if he didn't get zapped at least once. Sacrifices must be made (gazes at bleeding knuckle from some metalworking earlier in the day...).
I worked in Italy on a 1969 tarmac batching plant..it was all automated electro mechanical,nixie tubes everywhere.the wiring was all tied up with cotton to keep it tidy. It was truly a work of art.boggles the mind how they made these machines,and it was super reliable too.All the switchgear on the back wall and the relays clicking in and out,you kinda get at one with the electro mechanical gear .
I love everything about these old fashioned steppers and relays. I even like the way the antique phenolic smells. I actually taught myself how to make several decimal counters. NIXIES and "Decatron" tubes were great fun to play with. Decatrons were really cool- they could count ten digits with only 3 connections. Then I made seven-segment displays before they were in everything. Growing up playing with this stuff gave me a lifetime career as an electro-mechanical inventor/tech/trainer.
Not gonna lie this makes me so happy on so many levels. There is something so satisfying about the scalability of analogue circuitry and the way it lets you think about the world. Thank you for being you and doing this
Because of the discreet stepping of the counters, I like the visual effect of the numbers "flipping" over similar to a flip clock or board that you see in older transport terminals.
That machine has an incredibly powerful, aesthetic and artistic aspect !! It cover everything it's designed for to the maximum in a repeatable, reliable, satisfying way. But at the same time i made very simple concepts that just intricated in the way that's very much your gimmick. It ressembles you and is jus a wonder to contemplate, hear and understand
This is amazing! The whole idea and then the jingles on top. And just as I started to feel sorry for the higher numbers just sitting there forever, you added the 60s rotation. It is so cool and made me happy!
I bet he eats 3 Weetabix every morning...WOW! I wish I had this guys brain . Such a delight to see new old stock obsolete equipment being used and given a chance . VERY VERY WELL DONE !
Holy Shit. That is super cool, and now I want to make a full apocalypse-proof stable data storage array... someday.. somehow. You are obviously very intelligent, but the thing I love the most is that you just do. You just go, and you do, and the things you accomplish by just applying yourself are incredible. It is quite inspiring. Thank you for being such a prolific maker and for sharing it with us all.
Love the videos, Sam. I've been doing the 'plug it together and program it' thing for the past few years but you've inspired me to stoke up the soldering iron and start actually Building Stuff again. First off is a re-build of the 2nd circuit I ever made, wayyyyy back in the early '70's.
Love this, and well done for using the traditional cable lacing technique on the wiring for added authenticity. The way each selector switch indicates an order of magnitude more counts than the last reminds me of the bank of power dials in the 1956 sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet that measured increasing orders of magnitude of power use.
Sam, I will definitely be visiting at some point. I REALLY want my own personal jingle. I've said it before, you are amazing! Seeing you perform at emfcamp was a highlight of the weekend. Keep doing what you do.
I remember making light boxes for my mobile disco in the 90's, And forgetting that the Bulgin cable was plugged in whilst sorting out the wiring. The reaction was pretty similar, but with expletives ;-)
^this, and male to male Bulgin connecting cables. Even brought a curious par lamp set with xlr connectors, had to be careful not to confuse those with the speaker cabs. 90’s diy mobile disco kit was awesome!
Thank you, been watching, liking for years, this project is so inspirational both electronically and musically. Maths, music and electronics naturally start producing useable melodies... Are you able to trigger a well known chord sequence in different orders? Or with tape machines, and tape speed with drums or samples... Yes Mum No Computer, so much talent. Perfect use of TH-cam!
My nixie collection started with ~20 ZM1040 the beatiful orange coating makes the numbers pop, and the fact that the air pipe is on the bottom makes for a beariful device they're the pride in my collection I've them in their original boxes
You've essentially created an interactive electro-mechanical AI to re-write and perform iterations on a theme in perpetuity. Imagine the day a customer comes through the door and it plays "shave and a hair cut" or The Kinks
A resistor ladder budget quantizer. Nice! 👍 You could dump the whole stepper switch array and control it from a raspberry. And drive an lcd(s) behind the nixies. There's tons you could do as I'm sure you already know. Very cool though.
I posted about each person having a unique melody before watching the whole video, and lo and behold, there it is at 14:30! nice one. great minds and all that
I enjoy seeing projects like this. Rookies to electronics can actually VISUALIZE what's going on in the modern chips by seeing the mechanical systems that predated. it.
Something that has come up which I realised I had not explained very well was. ‘What happens if the routiner is running and the count button gets hit” well the count will still go up. As it’s 2 separate systems. The routiner uniselector disconnects the Nixie tubes from the counting uniselectors and routes them through itself. The actual counter is completely separate. Meaning it will work, no matter what is happening.
Something isn't add up for me,
There are 9 sounds but only 8 rotator
Are there some kind of combinatory trickery?
@@a.ijuhasz135 I think some of the digits are connected to more than one note in the sequence.
@@a.ijuhasz135 It sounded to me like the actual chime that was played was 12343456 where 1 is the counter for the least significant digit and 6 is the most significant digit.
Where do you get your uniselectors and nixie tubes and stuff like that?
This is one of my favourite videos so far, just started listening to you on Spotify and really enjoying that too. Is the song from your outro on there anywhere? I can't seem to find it (I know it's a remix of some classical piece I've forgotten the name of but it's so epic! 🤩).
You should put resistors in series with each of the nixie anodes to limit the current for maximum tube life
what resistance would you recommmend.
@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER For your big tubes, approx. 22-47k 2W in case you're using around 180V should be ok. Note that nixies are current driven, so they need this resistor.
If you have current limiting on the boost converter you can do it that way. You won't need any current limiting resistance in that case
@@mattsan70 Not if you connect multiple tubes parallel. Always use a current source or resistor.
@@mattsan70 that’s a very good point. The power supply I ended up using was the one not at the start of the video. And it was one for Nixie tubes. I’ll have to check the schematic as other projects I saw with that supply had no resistors. So possibly it’s already present. But I’ll have to check
Now I have uniselector envy. Beautiful job on the period correct wire harnessing also! If we find a certain 1960’s rocket to rewire we know whom to call…
Or an airplane
"today we have here on a loan some interesting bits houston and orlando and we'll see if we can make them boot up"
haha cheers marc! im sloowly gettng a knack foor that wiring. :D. good luck on fiinding some uniselectors!!
Saturn V?
low key sam makes me feel bad about my wasted potential with how many projects he is able to tackle. living vicariously will suffice!
Yeah he makes me feel small too.. but inspiring.. man what a genius..
So true
Right.
It's always good to have several projects started and running simultaneously without finishing them. You will eventually finish some of them, especially the passion projects, but most of them will remain unfinished. This creates a library of potential should you have need or a reinvigorated intrigue for a project. Instead of starting from the planning stage, you've already got the project started; which makes it a lot easier to finish when necessary.
Relevant case here is that Sam already had, arguably, the most difficult part of the project accomplished; that is obtaining enough of these 60-year old parts to make a counter, tubesaver, and sequencer.
Same he's incredibly productive
Nixies *and* uniselectors? Be still my heart. Electromechanical gear is so cool. Thanks for sharing!
When I have to devise something in base 10 to transfer to music, I usually use a pentatonic in 2 octaves. It gives nice result, because if you use chromatic, the semi-tones sometimes don't give a clear note difference, specially in noisy situations. Nice work! Really clever. 😊
Edit: btw, using the 2 octave pentatonic is also a nice way to personalise phone extension numbers (normally 4 digits), so you're able to know instantly in an office which number is ringing. Not needed now that we work from home, lol!
At 8 minutes, I'm sitting here, amazed at how Sam is working with the 120V supply on and he's not getting zapped. Then, at 9:50, I'm like "Yup, been there, done that."
Everyone working with electricity pulls a Mehdi at some point in life...
@@werrrnerrr The question is whether you let it happen a second time. Not of purpose.
As Quinn Dunki said: "Who's got two thumbs and is the shortest path to ground? 👉😥👈"
There is no way it would ever work if he didn't get zapped at least once. Sacrifices must be made (gazes at bleeding knuckle from some metalworking earlier in the day...).
The supply is low voltage I think.
There’s something very calming and hypnotic about 17:43-19:44. I wish we could get a one hour loop of just that…man, that would be sick.
I worked in Italy on a 1969 tarmac batching plant..it was all automated electro mechanical,nixie tubes everywhere.the wiring was all tied up with cotton to keep it tidy. It was truly a work of art.boggles the mind how they made these machines,and it was super reliable too.All the switchgear on the back wall and the relays clicking in and out,you kinda get at one with the electro mechanical gear .
Excellent! Shades of Clockwork Orange at the end. 😊
I wish I could like a video twice. absolutely legendary, Sam. this museum rocks!!
Very nice Job! I know the amount of time it takes to wire something like that, so yes, you have Patience :^)
I agree, especially when you say patience Sir! The pla he used to print the stands will break down years before the counter. Ha
I'm in awe of your brain, seriously the coolest video I've seen on TH-cam. you keep inspiring me with every video you post!!
It’s messy in there
Never understand a single electronic thing in your videos but I always watch till the end. Bloody brilliant, you are. Love your stuff.
Great Job, I can remember as a lad in the 90's removing old step by step telephone equipment.
Never taking the easy path .. A lot more interesting than just Arduino and some LED digit displays.
I love everything about these old fashioned steppers and relays. I even like the way the antique phenolic smells. I actually taught myself how to make several decimal counters. NIXIES and "Decatron" tubes were great fun to play with. Decatrons were really cool- they could count ten digits with only 3 connections. Then I made seven-segment displays before they were in everything. Growing up playing with this stuff gave me a lifetime career as an electro-mechanical inventor/tech/trainer.
Relay logic works the same as IC logic gates, just a lot more bulky and power-hungry.
Not gonna lie this makes me so happy on so many levels. There is something so satisfying about the scalability of analogue circuitry and the way it lets you think about the world. Thank you for being you and doing this
Because of the discreet stepping of the counters, I like the visual effect of the numbers "flipping" over similar to a flip clock or board that you see in older transport terminals.
I am sure that some of the flip-flop displays used something similar as driving logic.
That machine has an incredibly powerful, aesthetic and artistic aspect !! It cover everything it's designed for to the maximum in a repeatable, reliable, satisfying way. But at the same time i made very simple concepts that just intricated in the way that's very much your gimmick.
It ressembles you and is jus a wonder to contemplate, hear and understand
I live for electromechanical stuff like this...
A unique jingle for each visitor is absolutely genius!
Fun fact, the This Old Tony video is how I found this channel and you have since blown my mind more times than I can count.
Thumbs up for the oldschool twine cable management!
You absolutely broke my brain towards the end there....and I'm a musician. Awesome video.
That put a lasting big wide grin on my face. Thanks Sam!
What a marvelous talent you are. Thanks for sharing.
Dude! That's just freaking beautiful. So nice to see such lovely old-school, hard-wired, electro-mechanical awesomeness.
This is amazing! The whole idea and then the jingles on top. And just as I started to feel sorry for the higher numbers just sitting there forever, you added the 60s rotation. It is so cool and made me happy!
I'm sure you get loads of these comments but just found you. This is... I don't know how to... You are some kind of crazy genius. Thanks
coolest nixie tube project on the internet hands down.
I'm a sucker for nixie tubes... Sweet project! And cute cat!
Great...now I'm going to have the solder town melody floating around my head all day. It's solder tow-ow-own.
I am in awe of your imagination and then making something like this not only work but do a whole bunch of other cool things. Simply brilliant. Cheers
Loved the organ music from last time in the background
You must have some fascinated youngsters at the museum , I've seen it all before and I'm fascinated .
Blown away Sam. Brilliant!
I love your solder song!
Brilliant. You’re a gem
That Electroboom moment at 9:45 XD at least your capacitors didn't explode.
I haven't enjoyed a video so much for ages. That was bonkers. I have no idea how you did it. A work of art.
I bet he eats 3 Weetabix every morning...WOW! I wish I had this guys brain . Such a delight to see new old stock obsolete equipment being used and given a chance . VERY VERY WELL DONE !
Holy Shit. That is super cool, and now I want to make a full apocalypse-proof stable data storage array... someday.. somehow.
You are obviously very intelligent, but the thing I love the most is that you just do. You just go, and you do, and the things you accomplish by just applying yourself are incredible. It is quite inspiring. Thank you for being such a prolific maker and for sharing it with us all.
Love it! Brilliant channel - so pleased I discovered you. Thank you👍👍👍
Those nixie tubes are beautiful
Never cease to amaze us . Just wonderful
You're really brilliant :)
I'm impressed by your ingeniosity !
I love breadboarded circuits being built on a literal bread board.
Astonishing! Your Creativity knows no bounds. :)
It is insane what kind of new old stock parts people hold onto. Wow. So cool.
Love the videos, Sam. I've been doing the 'plug it together and program it' thing for the past few years but you've inspired me to stoke up the soldering iron and start actually Building Stuff again. First off is a re-build of the 2nd circuit I ever made, wayyyyy back in the early '70's.
I built this same thing in minecraft years ago, but without the music. very fun project. what you made is beautiful
Love it man! Can’t wait to have beer I a few.
I love the song in the end credits, oh and the video.
Singing the notes, always love your vids. You're a musical-mechanical genius. Absolute inspiration and mad man.
We have all zapped ourselves at least once Sam, but love the projects you've been tackling, also impressive vintage knowledge
Great wiring job!
Complete legend. Thanks Sam. Loving this project. 👍
I love the idea of your own visitor sound.
Love this, and well done for using the traditional cable lacing technique on the wiring for added authenticity.
The way each selector switch indicates an order of magnitude more counts than the last reminds me of the bank of power dials in the 1956 sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet that measured increasing orders of magnitude of power use.
I love your Analog Brilliance Sam!
love that you got the Nixie tubes combined with an an analogue relay-based sequencer that plays a couple notes - verrry coo sam!. 🤩🎶
Just an amazing channel. Now, I dream of an Electro-mechanic-punk movie where you're the Art and Props Director !
Sam, I will definitely be visiting at some point. I REALLY want my own personal jingle. I've said it before, you are amazing! Seeing you perform at emfcamp was a highlight of the weekend. Keep doing what you do.
More pure magic :) Love the jingles!
That sounds awesome with the synth hooked up to it.
Really love the Wendy Carlos sounds at the end as well x
9:46 That face of confusion and betrayal when we shock ourselves.
Gripping awesome!
9:46 surprised it took that long for that to happen :P was already holding my breath
that ending tune is rocking
What a cool STEM project! Really really neat! Love it!
That is ridiculously impressive.
I'm a sucker for anything with tube on it, and this is a great use of all the old parts. Love it!
Amazing! this is the best thing i ever saw on youtube!
Wow. This is amazing. Unbelievable work of art.
awesome! RIP vangelis!!
Another genius at work!
5:37, you just got gnomed.
Those counters are very rad, nice vid!
I remember making light boxes for my mobile disco in the 90's, And forgetting that the Bulgin cable was plugged in whilst sorting out the wiring. The reaction was pretty similar, but with expletives ;-)
^this, and male to male Bulgin connecting cables. Even brought a curious par lamp set with xlr connectors, had to be careful not to confuse those with the speaker cabs. 90’s diy mobile disco kit was awesome!
I'm mostly just envious of your cable lacing.
Absolute Legend, I love this!
Thank you, been watching, liking for years, this project is so inspirational both electronically and musically. Maths, music and electronics naturally start producing useable melodies... Are you able to trigger a well known chord sequence in different orders? Or with tape machines, and tape speed with drums or samples... Yes Mum No Computer, so much talent. Perfect use of TH-cam!
My nixie collection started with ~20 ZM1040 the beatiful orange coating makes the numbers pop, and the fact that the air pipe is on the bottom makes for a beariful device they're the pride in my collection I've them in their original boxes
You've essentially created an interactive electro-mechanical AI to re-write and perform iterations on a theme in perpetuity. Imagine the day a customer comes through the door and it plays "shave and a hair cut" or The Kinks
A resistor ladder budget quantizer. Nice! 👍 You could dump the whole stepper switch array and control it from a raspberry. And drive an lcd(s) behind the nixies. There's tons you could do as I'm sure you already know. Very cool though.
Absolutely brilliant
Old tech, New touch. Nice!
Loved this, and loved 'A Question of Blood' remake at the end - just cracking!
I posted about each person having a unique melody before watching the whole video, and lo and behold, there it is at 14:30! nice one. great minds and all that
It does?
9:45 ElectroBOOM thought of you 🙈
I love Sansui! I have the same amplifier in use! It sounds so warm.😍 congraz for the good taste!
>jaw drops at exit music< O.O
That thing is so cool!
This just kept getting cooler, and cooler.
Oh, that carry over at 11:44 so satisfying.
That is a very cool project.
The sound of them clicking is about the most satisfying thing I’ve ever heard…
I enjoy seeing projects like this. Rookies to electronics can actually VISUALIZE what's going on in the modern chips by seeing the mechanical systems that predated. it.
This is excellent in every single way, and I absolutely love it! Definitely going to be an awesome attraction for your museum!