Steps to solder components in order for NixieZM1032 ____________________________________________ Please look the board over carefully and read the instructions and parts list to familiarize yourself with the assembly procedure before you begin. Please also familiarize yourself with transistor orientation: looking at the front (flat side), the three leads are, left to right: emitter, base, collector. A diode has a + and - side, and IC's are marked on one end with a small indented notch. The IC sockets are also notched. Electrolytic (cylindrical shape) capacitors have a + & - side . Solder all components on the bottom of the board (if possible), and insert the wires through holes & solder to bottom of board. For transistors, I find it helpful to let the transistor stand up above the board rather than pushing the leads through; this lets the transistor chip inside the case standoff from the heat of the soldering iron. I also find it helps to solder one lead at a time, pausing in between to allow the transistor to cool for a minute. This also applies to the leds, which are sensitive. Please note that some extra components are silkscreened on the bottom layer board, these are for a different configuration and don't apply to this build, so there will be some "missing" components. >>>>>Part 1 High voltage supply. Part 1 : The Nixie bottom layer board (power supply board) High voltage – standard (line powered) supply. Transformer is mounted on the board. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solder components in this order: Transformer - Primary side is next to fuse, solder leads to the top as well as the bottom. Fuse - 500ma, 250VAC Four pin jumper - solder to the square marked with V1/V2 - only necessary to switch between 120VAC (U.S.) and 240VAC (some other countries) - If this is not necessary, you may solder a small jumper to the appropriate holes (120 or 240, marked as V1 & V2) to make a permanent connection. R1 - 220 ohm, 1/2 watt resistor. R9 - 1 Meg ohm C5 - 2.2 uF, 350V capacitor R7 - 220K resistor neon bulb D4 - 1N4007 diode NOTE ORIENTATION *Next to D5 D5 - 1N4007 diode C4 - 2.2 uF, 350V capacitor white wire to NEUTRAL black wire to HOT Connect these to an AC power cord, and plug in. Neon bulb should light. Test for high voltage at the connection points in back marked GND (negative) and ~300VDC (positive) Part 2 : The Nixie bottom layer board (power supply board) Low voltage ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B1 - rectifier bridge, note orientation R4 - 100K resistor C3 - .01 uF ( 103 ) cap C6 - 1,000 uF 35V electrolytic cap D3 - 1N4001 diode R5 - 10K resistor Q12 - 2N3904 NPN transistor R6 - 1K resistor Attach the heat sink to the regulator 7805 - 5V regulator D2 - 1N4001 diode C2 - 100 uF, 6.3-10V cap R3 - 1K ohm resistor LED - 5VDC indicator (Red) Six-pin connector 4-pin header & jumper at the square marked with "GPS" and "WIFI" For the GPS module option, solder the five pin socket to the GPS port, 5VDC, Ground & TX. For the Wifi option, follow assembly instructions for the wifi module. Solder the six - wire connector to the connection point outlined on the board. Be careful to orient this correctly - the points marked on the bottom layer correspond to the same points on the top layer, and solder to the connection points at the back, labeled "GND, HZ, BB, 5VDC, TX and ~300VDC" These will be the six connections to the six - wire "bus" that will connect to the top layer board. It is very important, of course, that these six connecting wires are connected correctly to the coresponding connections on the top layer pc board. Plug the power cord in, and the neon light & leds should light. Test for the correct voltages at the connecting wires, GND to HZ should read at ~2.5VDC, GND to the others should read as indicated. BATTERY BACKUP STEP (OPTIONAL) -------------------------------------------------------- If you are installing the battery backup option at this time: LED - BB (small blue) R8 - 10K resistor 78L05 regulator 5VDC relay Solder a jumper across the connection for 5VDC on the board near the battery holder. Battery holder - solder to + & - Part 3 : The Nixie top layer board (logic board) components ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On this top board, it is a good idea to let the resistors stand off a tiny bit from the board, 1mm is enough, just to ensure there will be no leakage of the high voltage from the trace under the resistors to that resistor. Solder the six - wire connector to the connection point outlined on the board. This should be inserted from the bottom and soldered on top of the board (opposite side of all other components) Be careful to orient this correctly - the points marked on the bottom layer correspond to the same points on the top layer. After connecting this, plug the cord back in and test for the correct voltages on the top layer at the connecting points. U1 - 40 pin IC socket - ORIENT CORRECTLY R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 - 2.2K resistors R6, R7, R8, R51 - 100 ohm resistors S1, S2, S3, S4 - tactile push buttons D1, D2 - 1N4001 diodes C2 - .1uF (104) capacitor or for BB option, a 1,000uF 6.3 V cap C1 - 10uF capacitor R9, R10, R11, R12, R13, R14, R15, R16, R17, R18, R19, R20, R21, R22, R23, R24, R25, R26 - 33K resistors R27, R28, R29, R30, R31, R32, R33, R34, R35, R36, R37, R38, R65, R66 - 470K resistors, do not solder the double holed side yet. Q1 to Q18 - MPSA44 or KSP44 NPN transistors Q19 to Q31 - (MPS)A92 (PNP) transistors R39, R40, R41, R42, R43, R44, R45, R46, R47, R48, R49, R50 – these are all 47K resistors R52, R53, R54, R55, R56, R57, R58, R59, R60, R61, R62, R63, R64 - these are 100K, now solder the side adjoining the 470K's R67 - 180K Now, test the digit drivers by plugging the cord in (with the boards connected) there should be about ~300VDC to the board's drivers. Disconnect power. Carefully insert the IC's into the sockets, noting proper orientation. You should now be ready to begin soldering in your nixie tubes. Part 4 : The Nixie top layer board (logic board) Nixie tubes, colons, blue leds ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pin connectors holes are marked inside the circle with the cathode number and the anode The easiest way I've found to do this is to insert the pin connectors onto each pin and then fit the tube into the holes with the pin connectors on. The neon bulbs are used for colons, they can be soldered into the holes inside the area marked for them in between the nixies. The leads can be bent so they don't touch, and turned forward to display the round way, or just pointed up. For the RGB leds, bend the leads as in RGBledBendLeads.jpg, and insert the long lead (cathode) in hole "K" and the others (anodes) in the appropriate holes as marked ("R", "G", "B"). The led can stick up to the very bottom of the tube for best affect. The four solder points under each nixie are marked on the top of the board. They are marked with R, G, B for anodes and K for the cathode.