Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

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gadget_fan
 
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Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by gadget_fan »

OK, so I purchased an Ice Tube Clock kit like 4 years ago and got busy and put it on a shelf, it has sat collecting dust ever since. I know there have been lots of software and hardware mods out there over the last 4 years so I have some questions. First off, my kit I believe is a version 1.1 which I think was the last one? Are there any components that changed or anything that I need to watch out for? Second, I like mod I read something about regarding changing the way the tube is driven to balance out and increase the brightness. If I want to do this is it best to build it as designed, then do the mods as described in the forum? Is there some other board design that I should go order instead of using the old stock board that makes this mod or other mods easier? Finally I would like to add a GPS module are there any suggestions on currently available GPS packages that I could use? Finally, firmware!! Is the matrix on the portal up to date with the latest firmware options? Anyone have a preference?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

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jarchie
 
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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by jarchie »

gadget_fan wrote:First off, my kit I believe is a version 1.1 which I think was the last one?
Yes, I believe version 1.1 is the only version Adafruit offered to the public. On more recent boards Q3 is marked as Q4, but this is a difference in the silkscreen only.
gadget_fan wrote:Are there any components that changed or anything that I need to watch out for?
Yes. There is a long history of issues with Q3.

The original part was a PNP power transistor (PN2907A) which drew unlimited current from the microcontroller, and the overload would eventually cause the microcontroller to fail.

So the PNP transistor was replaced by a P-FET (ZVP3306A). This FET seemed to work on most clocks, but did not turn on all the way. This caused some clocks to exhibit the dim digit issue as well as the flaky segment issue.

Finally, the ZVP3306A was replaced by a better P-FET (ZVP2110A), which seems to be problem free. At this point Q3 was renamed to Q4 on the newer Adafruit boards, but the new P-FET is a drop-in replacement for the old one. So the new P-FET works fine on the older boards. Adafruit posted an offer to replace Q3 a while back.
gadget_fan wrote:Second, I like mod I read something about regarding changing the way the tube is driven to balance out and increase the brightness. If I want to do this is it best to build it as designed, then do the mods as described in the forum?
Correct. If you go with the Adafruit board, it's best to get the board working first and then modify it with the various hacks and mods. That way you know you're starting from a working clock. If a mod fails, you'll know that the problem is with the mod and not the clock, and that will make debugging easier.

As for alternative ways to drive the tube, I think you're referring to my recent post on revitalizing an aging Ice Tube Clock display. If so, my firmware--linked below--is the only one capable of adjusting tube brightness in that way.
gadget_fan wrote:Is there some other board design that I should go order instead of using the old stock board that makes this mod or other mods easier?
My xmas boards (forum, GitHub) are not supported by Adafruit and are only compatible with the xmas firmware (forum, GitHub). Check out the GitHub links for a full list of improvements included on the xmas board and corresponding firmware.

If you already know that you want all the mods that the xmas board provides, you might consider ordering that board instead. If you post to this forum, I am willing to help out if you run into trouble.
gadget_fan wrote:Finally I would like to add a GPS module are there any suggestions on currently available GPS packages that I could use?
I've written a full tutorial on adding a GPS to an Adafruit board which is worth a look. The xmas board above makes adding a GPS slightly easier by providing explicit solder points for the GPS module.
gadget_fan wrote:Finally, firmware!! Is the matrix on the portal up to date with the latest firmware options? Anyone have a preference?
That post is pretty out-of-date, and a lot of the firmwares posted there won't even compile on recent versions of AVR GCC (see my post at the end of that thread). The two most popular projects at the moment are mine (forum, GitHub) and William Phelps' (forum).

I am admittedly biased, but of the two, I recommend my firmware because it is better documented, has more features, and is compatible with more of the hacks and mods described on this forum. To get started, here are tutorials for Windows and MacOS X.


Anyway, I wish you the best of luck however you proceed. Happy hacking!

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Lots of good advice there from jarchie. Adafruit doesn't endorse or support 3rd party boards or firmware. But a search of these forums will confirm the jarchie knows these clocks well and has done some great work with them.

If you choose to stick with the stock board. It is a good idea to build it first before applying any modifications. If your kit still has one of the older Q3s, please contact [email protected] with a link to this thread and we can send you one of the ZVP2110 FETs.

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gadget_fan
 
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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by gadget_fan »

Thank you both for your feedback. I had already sent an email based on the first response from jarchie I had already sent an email about the FET, I didn't reference my post but I did make a reference to the "ask for Phil" comment on the original thread, hopefully that will be good enough. I think based on both of your comments I will proceed with building the stock board with a new FET and see how it goes. From there I will see if I feel like doing it all again with jarchie's new board and firmware. I wasn't sure how much feedback I would get back on a 4 year old purchase that isn't even sold anymore so thanks again to both of you for the suggestions!

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jarchie
 
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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by jarchie »

gadget_fan wrote:I think based on both of your comments I will proceed with building the stock board with a new FET and see how it goes. From there I will see if I feel like doing it all again with jarchie's new board and firmware.
Sounds like a smart approach--especially since you already own the official kit. Adafruit provides excellent build instructions and outstanding support. Even for experienced makers, it's comforting to have that safety net.

It's also fun to try out different firmwares to compare them, and for that, you'll want the Adafruit board. So even though I suspect that you'll wind up using the xmas firmware, I definitely recommend playing with the various projects just to see what's out there.

I've communicated with a bunch of people who have built clocks using my xmas board, and all but two of them built an Adafruit clock first. So that option will always be open--at least as long as the IV-18 display tubes remain available on eBay.

Anyway, the Ice Tube Clock is a wonderful kit, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by gadget_fan »

Thanks to all who responded! My clock is now fully armed and operational! Now I will have to find a good source for a new chip and build my USBTiny that I bought around the same time so I can program it with some fun new firmware!

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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Good to hear. Thanks for the follow-up!

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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by jarchie »

gadget_fan wrote:My clock is now fully armed and operational!
Excellent!
gadget_fan wrote:Now I will have to find a good source for a new chip...
If you're in the United States, I've had good luck with Digi-Key, and their first class shipping is always very reasonable. Check out the ATmega328p for my xmas firmware or William Phelps' firmware and the ATmega168v for all of the earlier firmware projects. (Your clock already has an ATmega168v installed, but some people prefer to program a spare.)
gadget_fan wrote:...and build my USBTiny that I bought around the same time...
When you build the USBtinyISP, I recommend using jumpers for R4 and R7. Ice Tube Clock programming will work with either resistors or jumpers installed as R4 and R7 in the USBtinyISP, but using jumpers makes the USBtinyISP more of a general purpose programmer. (This advice will make sense when you reach the appropriate step in the Adafruit USBtinyISP build instructions.)

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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by gadget_fan »

Just an update for everyone who helped me on this thread. I built my programmer, burned a new chip with the xmas firmware, wired in my GPS and did the dimmer mod. Initial results everything seems to work! Thanks for the help jarchie and others!

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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by jarchie »

Congratulations on the successful mods!

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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

That's good to hear. Thanks for the follow-up - and don't forget to post a photo!: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=14769

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Re: Dusting off the old Ice Tube Clock Kit

Post by gadget_fan »

FYI for anyone reading this in the future, I used the CdS Photoresistor from the adafruit shop along with a 10K resistor as suggested on the purchase page vs. the 5.6K resistor, it seems to work well.

For the GPS mod I used the UltimateGPS Breakout. I did not solder on the headers or the battery clip. I carefully trimmed a notch (OK, I tried but the plastic busted, it worked out OK though) in the plastic base so that I could pass the wires outside of the case and then used some double sided mounting tape to put the module upside down underneath the clock. It seems to receive a signal fine in my house, at least in rooms with some windows.

In order to take advantage of these modifications I used a usbtinsyisp AVR programmer and a AVR development board which came with a new, blank ATMEGA328 chip. (I did not program the chip while in the clock, but I imagine you could)

I downloaded the xmas-icetube firmware from jarchie's github site and followed the windows instructions for making any changes and compiling and writing the code to the chip. The only real change I made from the defaults was to set my birthday! I think for most people if you are going to do the dimmer mod and the GPS mod you would be fine without changing anything, but please read through the make file anyway! I burned the new chip and replaced the one in my clock at the same time that I added my hardware mods.


Photoresistor:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/161

GPS:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/746

UsbtinyISP:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/46

AVR Development Board:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/174

xmas firmware:
https://github.com/johngarchie/xmas-icetube

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