I've been struggling trying to make the PCBs since EAGLE limits the board size on the free version to 100mm x 80mm. I have to make everything modular. That means one board for the power supply, one for the audio stuff, one for all the logic, and 3 each for the nixies and the drivers. 5 PCB designs, 9 boards in all. They'll all have to be clipped together with wires and headers, etc. The whole thing seems less than ideal. I wanted to be able to just make one big board. I know I can’t make the entire clock one giant PCB. It’ll have to be at least 3 "layers" stacked up, but not made out of 9 separate boards. I bit the bullet and paid the $169 upgrade fee to the EAGLE Hobbyist version. It allows 160mm x 100mm PCBs. What a difference! Now I can make PCBs that are 6.29” long! Read More...

My first "official" 3D print of Mei Lin came out pretty good. However, it could be better. Everything can always be better! Not to mention, I discovered a shortcoming in the ROBO 3D firmware that messes with the z-axis. It's no wonder my last Mei Lin print was only 11" tall! I know I eye-balled the height, but I thought I was pretty darn close to 12 inches. Knowing now that my model was probably "squished", I decided to have another go at printing it. Read More...

Continuing with my experiments in printing DAZ 3D models with my 3D printer, I figured I’d up-the-ante with my next print. Seeing as my last attempt was a total success, I wanted to see if I could print a model with clothes…. and twice as large! Read More...

It's not the main reason I wanted to get a 3D printer, but a big one. I wanted to get a 3D printer in order to print large models of my 3D art creations. I've seen a few people do it online with mixed results. The how-to isn't widely documented and it's not a feature built into DAZ Studio by default. You'd think that printing a simple cube from one app shouldn't be any less difficult than printing a human-shaped figure from another. Unfortunately, it's easier said than done. Read More...

I hopped on eBay and found that you can get Atmega328s from China for $2 a pop. Rather than spend over $30 bucks ordering them from SparkFun, I ordered a 5 pack from eBay for only $10.50. You can’t beat that! I crossed my fingers and hoped that they weren’t fakes. I’ll just have to burn the bootloader and find out.
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With the clock code complete, it was time to hop online and order my parts. With the parts in hand, I’ll have an easier time laying them out on the PCB and getting the spacing right. Read More...