Nixie Display (4): Final Program and One Nixie

[other parts of this series]

By now I had two working Arduino programs (sketches) and a PHP script on my own web server. When you call it (type in it’s address: http://mixedtinkerings.com/tillefon/calcscplays.php?SCUserID=0&SCApiClientID=JlZIsxg2hY5WnBgtn3jfS0UYCl0K8DOg) the PHP script uses the SoundCloud API to retrieve JSON-formatted information about a user and a list of all of a user’s tracks. From this the script calculates the total play count of that user and gives it as a JSON-formatted object.

One of my Arduino sketches was getting this total play count from the PHP script by calling it up and put the number into a variable. The other Arduino sketch can take any given number and send it to the shift registers so that the corresponding glyphs inside the Nixie tubes light up.

Marrying the two Arduino sketches that I got working was actually easier than I thought. To test the result I added a routine that makes the Nixies count from 0 to 9 in unison. This is also helpful to prevent what is called cathode poisoning. It occurs if one of a Nixie’s glyph stays lit for too long. That’s why I make the Nixies cycle through all their glyphs overtime the total play count changes.

So far I have only added one actual Nixie tube to my breadboard test setup. I have yet to solder all the connections to the rest of my Nixies.

Download my Final Sketch

RF-Explorer

My newest favourite tool is the RF-Explorer 6G combo. I originally bought it to check out the frequemcies for the wireless lav mics I work with as a sound guy on set for tv and movies. But it turns out that the thing is also great for checking 5.8GHz channels when flying FPV with friends.

 

Syncing Video and Audio using Tentacles

Testing Tentacles to synchronize via Timecode the video files of my Canon 5D Mark III DSLR to the sound files of my Tascam HD-P2 audio recorder. The camera doesn’t have a TC input, so I record it to the mic input on one of the camera’s audio tracks. The HD-P2 however has a real TC input so I set it to slave to the external TC. In Final Cut Pro the two clips couldn’t be made to match, no matter what I tried. Using the Tentacle Sync software supplied with their hardware however it was really quick to export a perfect clip!

Load the Tentacle Software at Tentacle’s Homepage and have a go with my two original files that you can download here:

[download_link link=”http://mixedtinkerings.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/BWF-05.wav”]Audio File[/download_link]

[download_link link=”http://mixedtinkerings.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/E87A1546.MOV”]Video File[/download_link]

first dynacho vids

Here are some random vids I made while still figuring stuff out:

(very early stage)

(still not much to see)

(Arduino won’t run)

(Arduino powered externally)