One of my new Russian IN-8-2 Nixie tubes.
Christmas 2007 is almost over and it has been a rather enjoyable if suitably low-key time. Gill and I spent much of the interim period in Prestbury largely ‘chilling’ in front of an open fire and visiting the local boozing hotspots. Some rather nice and slightly quirky presents changed hands and I am pleased to announce that Gill had the presence of mind to get me some components that will eventually facilitate the construction of a nixie tube clock, more on that later, but be warned; it is only for the technically initiated.
The New Year is drawing near and I don’t as yet have any idea what we are going to do to celebrate. Last year we spent much of the night ‘camping’ in a Volkswagen Polo somewhere in a Formby forest following a rather disappointing night time photo shoot of the Anthony Gormley statues on Crosby beach, but looking back, it now feels like an intense and memorable experience never the less. It would be interesting to do something similar now that I am equipped with suitably effective camera equipment though I think a more local setting and the advantages of Martin AKA Wooscary’s new estate car would have been a definite bonus back on the first of January 07.
Now gently easing back to the Nixie clock project. Gill managed to get hold of six old Russian Nixie tubes, they are IN-8-2 tubes manufactured by the Reflector company for the soviet military, these were ordered from a seller in the USA via ebay. Along with the tubes, I also have six rare Russian K155 tube drivers similar to the now defunct 74141 but unfortunately the bespoke controller chip (actually a pre programmed EPROM) is designed to drive the tubes through HV transitors and I think I prefer the use of the K155 (or similar) binary converter for simplicity. The EPROM provides for a rolling seconds display which is a must have feature in my opinion. A separate (but very simple) power supply in the form of a DC to DC converter will be required to provide the 170V DC supply for the nixie HT derived from the main 5V DC supply for the rest of the clock and this is likely to come from Sphere’s in Canada. Sphere also provide a non multiplexing clock controller system which is intended to work with BCD driver chips such as the K155’s and I think this is well worth considering. So all I have to do now is to find a way of building either or both of these circuits on matrix boards—not as easy as it sounds—but keep watching this space for the eventual arrival of a working but messy nixie clock.
Some of my ever dwindling number of xmas cards.
Looking back at previous entries from this time of year makes me feel a little nostalgic for the decidedly more ‘difficult’ and uncertain times of at least two past Christmases. This year the transition from one year to another promises pretty much more of the same and there is not so much of that sense of ambition, dreaming, or just the promise of an open ended adventure. It’s funny how I often tend to feel uncomfortable with some forms of stability. It is as if I constantly need to be at the foot of a mountain contemplating an expedition to the summit, a need for conquest or a sense of freedom abounds. Now of course, the financial demands and the need and desire to fund a fuller life with a partner ( the sort of life that we have become used too) is of course an overriding concern so I had better get used to the strange sense of — sensible ongoing employment and the still curious routine of commuting. I’m certainly looking forward to an active and varied Yule Tide itinerary with dear Gill, the boys and girls and of course brother and SIL.
The last two days have been exceptionally cold with temperatures in negative figures, the cottage sometimes feels as though it provides little or no real barrier to the outside environment and breath condenses in my living room when the outside temp goes really low. This is all part of the fun of 200 plus year old non insulated solid outside walls, but I now have a nice fire in the grate and things have warmed up significantly. Many repairs and TLC work will be required for Oliver Wood towers next year including new ‘made to order’ oak box guttering and something also needs to be done about a nasty case of penetrating damp from the chimney stack, I also declare that 2008 will be the year when we return to the traditional black paint work on window frames — if next door will follow suit.
I proclaimed that 2007 was to be an excellent year as it had a seven in it — naturally, and of course in many ways it has been a rather good year with advancements a plenty. Gill and I have had a number of very enjoyable trips and I have become a lot more well aquatinted with the rest of her family and I still love my Nikon D80 even though it is being a little under used at the moment. Hopefully 2008 will be even better despite the ugliness of ‘eight’ my least favourite number! 2008 will be the year that I move up to the Nikon D200 and then on to a top level Niki if I can ever afford one. There is a lot of good humoured ‘banter’ amongst some photographic groups regarding the Nikon versus Canon argument most notably amongst the talented ‘amateurs’ in the flickr community. But of course, both are excellent makes, it’s just that I have a certain loyalty to Nikon which may have something to do with age related nostalgia for this make which absolutely dominated the pro 35mm market for more than 30 years. Good old Nikon is still a key innovator in digital thankfully and their cameras still have that unmistakable ‘edgy’ look to them with plenty of unique quality features.
Recent music purchases, three gooduns from Sonar Kollektiv
Dimlite; This is Embarrassing Clara Hill; Folkwaves Deyampert; Shapes & Colors
There has been much tooing and froing on the musical front of late with interests bouncing from classical right back to cutting edge European electronica and jazz tinged mix-ups. The German sister label to Compost JCR known as Sonar Kollektiv is really getting a lot of my attention at the moment not least because it appears to host many stylistic innovators amongst more ‘approachable’ and traditional artists. One of their key innovators is Mr Dimitri Grimm otherwise known as ‘Dimlite’. This Swiss producer has created one of the most interesting albums in the so called Nu Jazz or ‘nouveau soul’ genre heard all year. It is texturally complex enough to be classified as adult orientated music for the post ‘House’ generation who still remain attuned to the post-modern experiment in popular contemporary music and it is of course, the ‘This is Embarrassing’ CD. Like many innovative artists in the genre Dimitri makes music that is impossible to dance too. Deconstructive experiments in style and texture push the mixtures to new levels of tripped out ‘active listening’ fun that appears to address the whole notion of musical structure head on whilst creating something of a clever microcosm of 40 years of jazz and soul. Other interesting finds on Sonar have included a range of more acoustic orientated jazz balladeers my favourite of them all is Clara Hill everything she touches seems to turn to pure gold for ears.
Well that’s the news for this month…….. Seasons greetings ya-all.
Note to self: Total mileage: 8,453.7