mclegg wrote: Couple of Questions:
Would running this Rev6 kit, as just Hours: Minutes cause it any problems?
Does the Microwave Sensor need line of sight? Dont know much about these.
What is the best material to use for mounting tube sockets to? Acrylic Sheet or something?
Cheers,
Running 4 tubes with the stock 6 digit firmware more or less works. Time displays fine. Date will be missing 2 digits but if you configure the date format option so the last 2 digits are the year it's probably okay (we assume you know what year it is!). Scroll in / scramble out feature will look a bit weird because the program thinks it's scrolling across 6, not 4, digits. Where it gets a bit ugly is if you try to use the button to step through and change parameters. The parameter "menus" make use of the seconds tubes, so on only 4 tubes some necessary information can't be displayed. If you are using the WiFi interface this might not matter because you can do almost everything through the WiFi that you can do with the button / parameter menus.
Did you read my earlier post about 4 digit firmware being available? Since I posted that I verified the "Firmware V2 4 Digit" will indeed run on your Rev. 6 board. If you reflash the controller with 4 digit firmware many of the issues I just described are mitigated as much as possible.
As a bonus, with the 4 digit firmware you get 2 spare GPIO (the ones that are normally used for the 10-Sec and 1-Sec digits' anodes) that you could use to interface to a Dekatron kit.
I don't have much of an opinion on what to mount the sockets on. Something thin and sturdy obviously, and something you have the means to drill or punch all the necessary holes in. E.g. chrome plated metal would look cool but unless you have chassis punches to make the big holes you probably shouldn't attempt it.
Those microwave sensors are still rather new and people continue to experiment with them. I've played around with mine a bit and found it "sees" through most anything that isn't metal, including walls. It senses motion from all directions but is most sensitive when you face the component side of its board toward the area of interest. For example, it would be reasonable to put it inside a wood or plastic clock case, mounted with the component side facing the front of the case.