Scope/CRT Clocks

crt clock

Jean-Jacques Gorssens sent me a link to his amazing crt based clock.  The clock is based on a PIC 16F648 microprocessor, a DS1337 realtime clock and a DS75 temperature sensor.  What makes this clock different from any other that I've seen is that it also has room for an optional EEPROM to store frames for animation.  The tube used in the videos and photos below is a DG7/32 but it supports other displays with minimal modification.

crt clock

Fonts and Animation:

The font creation is done...using Open Office.  Open Office Calc is used to define the points for each character and then output them in a format friendly format.  Open Office is also used to convert 3D points in to a 2D projection and those points are added to the source code of the software and can then be used for display.  He even wrote a program with LAZARUS allows for him to vectorize images and store them in the software for display.  Be sure to watch the walking animation for a sample of the final product.

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Additionally, Jean-Jacques provides the software for the PIC and the software needed for the animated 3D logo.  The part list and schematics are available on his website.  Even the fonts that he designed for his clock are available for others to use.  (Thanks for sharing with the community!)  Please be sure to visit his website for more detail - it is well worth the read!

 

More Videos:

 

{vimeo width="600" height="340"}21858930{/vimeo}

{vimeo width="600" height="340"}21858896{/vimeo}

Links:

http://goessens.dyndns.org/wiki/doku.php?id=crt_clock:clock

All images and video are owned by Jean-Jacques and used with permission.  Videos re-hosted on Vimeo with premission for speed.

Dieter Wächter just published photos of his latest creation - the E1T beam deflection decade counting tube.  Dieter has a lot of information on his website about how these devices work, data sheets, etc.  Essentially, they are decade counting tubes that indicate a humber with a cyan line by the appropriate value printed on the tube.  This thing is simply amazing - I have looked through my notes and research and I do not believe that there are any other six digit E1T clocks in existence.

Photos

e1t tube clock

e1t tube clock

e1t tube clock

e1t tube clock

e1t tube clock

Links

 

By Eric C / France

Based on the Thiem-Work Scope Clock Kit

 

CRT Scope Clock 5ADP1

 

Until now, David Forbe's Scope Clock Kit version 2 was the nicest scope clock I've ever encountered.  This one, however, is my new favorite.  IT is based off of the Thiem-Work scope clock kit (99,00 €).  In terms of aesthetics, the exposed tube is a striking change from all other scope clocks that I've seen to date.  The inner workings are presumably hidden under the aluminum housing underneath the tube.  It is hard to get a scale since there aren't any other images avalable, but the CRT face is 13cm across.

There are some significant differences between this and the Forbe's Scope Clock.  This unit appears to have a raster image display rendered using a vector CRT.  If you look at the photos below, the images look a little pixelated which implies that the underlying hardware is generating a bitmapped version of the image and then rendering it on this display.  In contrast, the Frobe's Scope Clock renders everything as vecor images giving the numbers on the face a much smoother appearance.  The trade off is that the Forbes version is much more difficult to engineer but the image looks much crisper.

 

Scope Clock Face

 

 

The other major difference is that the Forbe's Scope Clock uses a GPS for setting the time.  The kit that this was based off of uses an internal oscillator.  While it greatly reduces the cost and the complexity, it seems a shame not to include it on a clock of this caliber.

If Eric C ever decides to sell these commercially, I will be first in line to buy one!

If you know more about the creator, please contact me so I can give him credit.

UPDATE 02/16/2010

This appears to be the same clock:

 

Links

By Chris Radek

 

 

 

I don't have a lot of information about this clock

This has got to be the smallest CRT clock that I’ve ever seen. The inventor is a little shy on details but the presentation of this clock is simply astounding. Apparently the inventor digitized his own handwriting to use as the source for the typeface. Sadly, there aren't any schematics available or much else in terms of details. While the David Forbe's Scope Clock wins in features, this guy in size and style.

Chris - if you ever want to part with this clock, please contact me!

 

CRT Vector Clock

 

http://www.timeguy.com/cradek/clocks

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