Oscilloclock.com

Handcrafted Scope Clocks with circle graphics

3.3V to 5V Level Adjustment
Only just after I’d written last month’s post about an X-Y-Z display for an HUD, the customer asked for a spot of extra help with his new playtoy.

Uh oh – image not centred and way too big…

The Oscilloclock Deflection Board currently assumes X and Y input ranges of 0-5V, centred on 2.5V. However, the customer was programming an Arduino-based controller board with analogue output from 0-3.3V. Applying this directly of course didn’t break anything, but sure did make it hard to centre on screen! Would there be a quick way to adjust voltage levels?

Another issue was that the gain in the current-revision Deflection Board is hard-wired, and the image was not the right scale to just fit the screen. The gain could be changed via a single resistor per channel, but would there be an easier, more flexible way?

YES on both accounts!
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analogue circuits, arduino, op amp, アナログ回路, オペアンプ, 信号オフセット

2015.04
Heads Up!!
Recently I received a most intriguing request: I was asked to build a self-contained, super-bright X-Y display unit with 3-inch CRT, for use in an “HUD“. Hmm…

Holographic Utterance Device?
Horizontally Unstable Doohickie?
…

Fortunately, I didn’t need to guess any further. As I was once an avid flight simulator enthusiast, I quickly hit upon the correct meaning: Head-Up Display. This is a mechanism that overlays instrumentation or map data onto the view looking forward from the cockpit, so that the pilot doesn’t have to look down to see this information.

HUD in an F-18 aircraft. Source: AC Aviation Life

Wikipedia has a great introduction to HUDs and their history, but Mike’s Flight Deck has the definitive tome for flight simulator enthusiasts who want to actually build an HUD. According to Mike, the system employs various optical paraphernalia, but at the heart of the mechanism is what lies closest to my own heart – a CRT Display!

An Oscilloclock 3-inch X-Y-Z display unit, optimized for use in an HUD
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Aviation instrumentation, Blanking, CRT, flight simulator, Head-up Display, HUD, SVGA, Vector graphics, Vector monitor, VGA, X-Y display, フライトシミュレーター, ブラウン管, ヘッドアップディスプレイ, ベクタースキャン

2015.03
A Humpty Dumpty CRT
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall…
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall…

…and so the great nursery rhyme goes! But here at Oscilloclock labs, we’re not talking about an egg (which, one theory goes, represented the defeated King Richard III). We’re talking about a beautiful old CRT, savagely shaken and shattered during international shipping. What a waste. But oh, what a great chance to see the insides close-up!

This broken CRT missed its chance to live again in a nice VectorClock

Looking down the barrel. Imagine you are a phosphor molecule, with projectiles from this gun hitting you at the speed of light!
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cathode-ray-tube, CRT, deflection, electron gun, leaded glass, phosphor, ブラウン管, 電子ガン

2015.01
Toshiba Transformed
I believe in reincarnation. Every vintage device sporting a CRT deserves to live again, to be loved again, to lift someone’s spirits again. And in 2014, this beautiful Toshiba ST-1248D received its chance, born again as a suave Oscilloclock!

See this in HD, and find more exciting videos on my YouTube channel

Manufactured sometime in the mid to late 1950’s, the ST-1248D was extremely well-designed and assembled, compared to other compact models available on the domestic Japanese market at that time. The engineers considered both function and form – latched panels on the side and back, delicately laced wiring, and a relatively spacious interior conducive to heat removal and circuit reliability. But the delightful brass bezel is what really makes this one of the most beautiful Oscilloclock conversions ever.

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Brass, conversion, Oscilloscope, オシロスコープ, 時計, 東京芝浦電気, 東芝, 真鍮

2014.11
Oscilloclock in a Book!
Now here’s a familiar picture!

It seems that the Heathkit OR-1 is a very rare oscilloscope nowadays, and Chuck Penson reached out to me for a photo to put into his latest book, Heathkit Test Equipment Products. This is a very well-written, well-researched treasure trove of data about the most iconic kit manufacturer of its time. Highly recommended!

Chuck Penson’s latest book – superbly authoritative

And of course here is the Oscilloclock Heathkit OR-1 again, in all its glory:
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Book, Heathkit, Oscilloscope, test equipment, ヒースキット, 本

2014.09