RE: [neonixie-l] Re: OT: US Customs Service - Delays

[Jeff Walton]

Shipping is indeed sporadic.  

 

I just received a shipment of tubes from Russia that took 2 ½ weeks from 
shipment to arrival at my door.  The package had a lot of stamps on it (about 
20).   I was expecting a much longer wait.  These entered through New York 
customs direct to Minneapolis.  Sometimes I see long delays (many weeks!) when 
things enter in Chicago.  This was not bad for an eBay purchase!  

 

Here is what the tracking looked like:

 

DELIVERED

May-11-16, 14:14 PM, EDEN PRAIRIE, MN 55344

ARRIVAL AT UNIT

May-10-16, 04:26 AM, EDEN PRAIRIE, MN 55344

DEPART USPS FACILITY

May-10-16, 01:57 AM, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55401

DEPART USPS FACILITY

May-10-16, 01:36 AM, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55401

PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

May-09-16, 17:53 PM, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55401

PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

May-07-16, 16:31 PM, WHITE PLAINS, NY 10610

Processed Through Facility

May-04-16, 05:24 AM, ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)

Processed Through Facility

May-01-16, 06:58 AM

Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

Apr-26-16, 06:58 AM

 

Jeff

 

 

From: neonixie-l@googlegroups.com [mailto:neonixie-l@googlegroups.com] On 
Behalf Of A.J. Franzman
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2016 1:32 AM
To: neonixie-l
Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: OT: US Customs Service - Delays

 



On Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 11:11:59 PM UTC-7, jf...@my-deja.com wrote:

They finally arrived after 12 weeks.  Based on the tracking information, it 
took about 11 weeks  to get to New Jersey, and another week for the USPS to get 
it to California.  The package was marked "Air Mail" and covered with stamps, 
but it looks like both countries treated it as surface mail.

 

Your phrase "covered with stamps" raises suspicions... anything out of the 
ordinary regarding postage tends to ring alarm bells and get a package lots of 
extra scrutiny; e.g. too much postage, or postage applied by a large quantity 
of low-face-value stamps. Even disregarding the possibility of extra attention 
from postal inspectors, it's possible the "Air Mail" marking was lost among the 
clutter of excess stamps. Also, if the postage applied was enough for surface 
mail but insufficient for air mail, it may have been sent that way rather than 
being delivered postage due or returned to the sender.

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[neonixie-l] Re: My NixiChron is sick, what do I do?

['Terry S' via neonixie-l]

You are right on the level shifters -- I didn't pick up on the VCC in an 
earlier post. 

However, regarding the schematic -- every designer has his/her own purposes 
in drawing a schematic. If I am drawing a schematic for my own use, I will 
do it differently than when I am drawing one for my company. Jeff was 
likely designing the schematic for his own use as well. He probably never 
intended for it to be used for others to troubleshoot his designs.

That's probably enough said on the topic. I am uncomfortable further 
dissecting Jeff's design practices and intents. I hope we can focus on 
getting Quincy's clock working.

Terry

On Friday, May 13, 2016 at 1:35:01 AM UTC-5, Niek wrote:
>
> "It's not even a schematic error."
>
> I disagree: 
> - you want your schematic to be consistent, in this case it's clearly not 
> as most parts display their ground/power pins connected, except the 
> MAX232A. 
> - you want it to be unambiguous: obviously, it's not.
> - if you work with multiple voltage levels (but even if you don't), as 
> does this design, missing the ground/power pins just means you have an 
> incomplete schematic. You can't "debug" a product if you don't know what 
> the voltages are supposed to be, even more when you know that in parts the 
> schematic doesn't follow datasheet recommended values..
>
> "And as Pete pointed out, the HV5530's work down below 5 volts, so no 
> level shifters are necessary. This is not a design problem."
>
> Ah, so when you design things out of spec, as long as someone says it's 
> fine, you don't have to worry? Of course this is a design problem: here's 
> the datasheet of the HV5530:
> http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/HV5530%20C072313.pdf
>
> In there, you'll see the recommended operating conditions:
> VDD
> Logic voltage supply
> MIN 10.8V
> MAX 13.2V
>
> Just because it works for some samples of the HV5530, it doesn't mean 
> it'll work for all if you don't adhere to the datasheet. Note that this is 
> actually fine in this clock, but not using a level shifter is not:
>
> VIH
> Input high voltage
> MIN VDD -2.0
> MAX VDD
>
> 12 - 2 = 10, which is not 5V (or a bit lower) that the PIC will output as 
> high. You can do this of course, but then you shouldn't be surprised if it 
> fails, randomly. Or it may fail if you replace the part with one from a 
> newer batch, where a different factory process was used.
>
> Now, I'm not saying Jeff didn't make great clocks. I'm just defending good 
> engineering practices in general. He may well have made some decisions 
> after careful testing, etc. 
>
>

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Re: [neonixie-l] Neon Signs

[gregebert]

Transformers specifically designed for neon signs are perfect because they 
are intentionally current-limited, and the exact voltage isn't critical. 
 I've lit all sorts of neon tubes with my 5kV sign transformer.

I've had mine for 40+ years and never got shocked (only slight tingle). I 
don't know if it's because I'm overly cautious, or because it's 
current-limited. Considering all the items I've zapped/tested/abused/etc 
over the years, I'm amazed this transformer still works.

NEVER use a microwave oven transformer; they are deadly because there is no 
current-limiting, and their voltage is probably too low anyways.

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Re: [neonixie-l] Neon Signs

[NeonJohn]

On 05/13/2016 01:57 PM, gregebert wrote:

> NEVER use a microwave oven transformer; they are deadly because there is no 
> current-limiting, and their voltage is probably too low anyways.

A MOT actually IS currently limited using the same stray flux technology
as neon transformers.  If you look at a MOT, you'll see the center leg
has an air gap just like NST.  The dangerous part is that they current
limit at several AMPS at about 2kV.  Very deadly.

But very handy too.  You can saw the secondary off, put a few turns of
welding cable in its place, add accessories and have a mighty fine spot
welder.  The stray flux limits the current so you don't blow a breaker
with the short circuit during spot welding.

Take two and connect the primaries voltage additive, figure out the
correct number of turns and connect the primaries to 240 and you have a
fine welder.  You can vary the current by varying the air gap.  More gap
== more current.  I once made a handy little portable welder by cutting
about a half inch off the center leg and then arranging a lead screw and
nut that drove a wedge of laminated iron into the gap.  Retracted wedge
== more heat.

Because they're so handy, I grab every MOT I can get my hands on.

John



-- 
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Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
http://www.tnduction.com<-- THE source for induction heaters
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Re: [neonixie-l] Neon Signs

[Jonathan Peakall]

Ya beat me to it. Plus, series/parallel 'em under oil for a VERY nasty 
HV power supply. I've run Tesla coils on them and other silly things. 
But they are QUITE lethal.


I grab every big older MOT i see. The new ones, meh.

Jonathan


A MOT actually IS currently limited using the same stray flux technology
as neon transformers.  If you look at a MOT, you'll see the center leg
has an air gap just like NST.  The dangerous part is that they current
limit at several AMPS at about 2kV.  Very deadly.

But very handy too.  You can saw the secondary off, put a few turns of
welding cable in its place, add accessories and have a mighty fine spot
welder.  The stray flux limits the current so you don't blow a breaker
with the short circuit during spot welding.

Take two and connect the primaries voltage additive, figure out the
correct number of turns and connect the primaries to 240 and you have a
fine welder.  You can vary the current by varying the air gap.  More gap
== more current.  I once made a handy little portable welder by cutting
about a half inch off the center leg and then arranging a lead screw and
nut that drove a wedge of laminated iron into the gap.  Retracted wedge
== more heat.






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Re: [neonixie-l] Neon Signs

[gregebert]

>
> > Plus, series/parallel 'em under oil for a VERY nasty  HV power supply.
>
[...]

Curious how many you've cascaded, and what kind of oil you use.
I've been tempted to build a Tesla coil for many years, but we live too 
close to an airport so I'm concerned about the RFI impact on comm & 
navigation .

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Re: [neonixie-l] Neon Signs

[Jonathan Peakall]

I have done a 2X2 series/parallel and a 4 in series. I used mineral oil. 
There are better oils but I could get 5 gallon buckets of mineral oil 
from a local feed store.


You also usually need to add some current limiting.

A small Tesla coil won't hurt anything. :-0

Jonathan


On 5/13/2016 3:28 PM, gregebert wrote:


> Plus, series/parallel 'em under oil for a VERY nasty  HV power
supply.

[...]

Curious how many you've cascaded, and what kind of oil you use.
I've been tempted to build a Tesla coil for many years, but we live 
too close to an airport so I'm concerned about the RFI impact on comm 
& navigation .

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Re: [neonixie-l] Neon Signs

[Nick]

The thing about MOTs is they are built to a price and have some quirks, e.g. 
one end of the secondary is connected to the core/ground. If cascading MOTs, 
generally you would disconnect the wire from the core and daisy-chain the 
secondaries but that then means that there is suddenly 2000V (or a multiple 
thereof) between this wire and the core when the insulation in the transformer 
was designed for zero volts. Further, you are also uplifting the voltage 
between the primary and secondary way above what it was designed for.

If using MOTs in parallel, they should be identical models (obviously).

I.e there are some serious safety issues here. Even a small MOT-driven device 
could cause serious injury or worse.

These sorts of voltages and currents can easily kill. 

Basically, if you're not experienced in HV, I'd avoid MOTs.

If you really want to build a TC and are not especially drawn to retro, I.e. 
rotary spark gap designs, I'd recommend a small DRSSTC (doubly resonant 
solid-state Tesla coil).

These are pretty straight-forward, extremely satisfyingly and can be 
audio-modulated. Lots of standard designs out there and lots of help on forums 
such as 4HV. Pre-wound secondaries and all the bits (primary tubing, toploads, 
insulators etc.) can be found on eBay.

HTH

Nick

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