When I first heard from [Masahalu], a local artist and woodwork craftsman, I had a hunch that Oscilloclock history was about to be made.
His request initially seemed simple; he wanted an Oscilloclock Core – a bare-bones board and CRT assembly, which he could install into a case of his own design.
However, he wanted something totally unique. Something old, yes, but also something new. The artist in him demanded a different canvas of creativity.
Presenting Masahalu’s new canvas: A 5″ amber CRT Oscilloclock!
Masahalu insisted on an “autographed” splash screen!More Oscilloclock Core: boards, cabling, WiFi module, power pack
Phantastic Phosphors
The new-old-stock CRT shipped with this unit features a P12 phosphor, and was originally produced for use in radar equipment. The phosphor’s long after-trace (persistence) allows for some fascinating ‘trailing effects’ in the Oscilloclock’s various animations.
Those familiar with CRT phosphors may point out that P12 is often classified as an orange phosphor, not “amber”. To my eye, though, the soft, warm trace of this CRT is better associated with eons-old fossilized tree resin than the sharp, bright color of fruit.
Amber? Or Orange? Depends on your point of view – and perhaps the camera!
Amber CRTs are quite rare, especially in larger sizes. 3-inch P12 CRTs can be found, but the Oscilloclock Lab was fortunate to find several of these rare 5-inch CRTs.
[Masahalu] has certainly ended up with the unique canvas he requested, and we look forward to seeing what kind of case design he ends up with!
Like what you see?
It’s so much fun letting these cathode ray tubes shine their colourful rays again! Whether you’re into yellow, amber, blue, white, or just plain green, there is something here for you. Visit the Availability page for more information, and of course see the Gallery for other unique creations!
Fake news – a common keyword these days. Fortunately, Oscilloclocks do not display fake news. But wouldn’t it be handy to see quake news on an exotic scope clock? This is the challenge [Atif] gave me – and one year and many grey hairs later, here is the result: The AfterShock Clock!
This custom-crafted Oscilloclock Core Duo assembly is a unique first in several ways:
It’s the first scope clock ever that pulls in and displays real earthquake data!
It’s the first scope clock ever that puts a dual-beam CRT to good use – one beam for the clock display, and the other for the earthquake and map overlay!
Earthquake display
The AfterShock Clock’s WiFi module connects at regular intervals to two public APIs (servers) to collect the latest earthquake events. It then feeds earthquakes to the clock’s quake gun controller, rotating quakes every 30 seconds. Cool!
(Note: flickering is due to camera effects and is not visible to the human eye)
Of course, there is the usual wide variety of standard clock screens to cycle through! The quake map’s beam is automatically dimmed for most of the screens, giving a soft ‘watermark’ effect.
Dual-beam CRT
The E10-12GH CRT used in this clock is certainly not mundane!
Beautiful spiral PDA lets you really see inside the cavity!Nothing beats a dual-gun CRT for intricacy… (except a quad- or pentuple-gun CRT!)
Oscilloclock Core Duo
Atif wanted to create his own case, so he initially asked for an Oscilloclock Core. But currently a single Core set does not provide control, deflection, and blanking circuits to drive TWO electron guns… So he had two choices:
Wait an eternity for me to redesign the boards to fully support dual beams.
Get started now! Simply put two Core assemblies together, with some degree of inter-control and removing any redundant circuits.
Atif chose the latter – and the Oscilloclock Core Duo was born!
WiFi setup
Setting up the WiFi connection is easy – just connect a device to the clock’s administration SSID and pull up the admin page. (To foil any would-be hackers out there, the admin SSID is available only for the first 5 minutes after power is applied.)
Then, access the admin URL and configure the connection to your home router:
There are a million other advanced settings to tweak things such as quake polling interval, quake magnitude filters, maximum quake age before purge, and other geeky aspects…. See the Support page.
Oh, I forgot to mention – the clock also synchronizes time against an NTP server, eliminating the need for a GPS module.
Like what you see?
Do you go for electron guns? idolize intricate electrode assemblies? Have a filament fetish? Or just want some quake news? This kind of clock might fit the bill. Let me know!
Some readers may be curious just where these crazy Oscilloclock devices are actually made. While the question of WHO makes them shall remain a mystery, let’s definitely take a close look through the mad scientist’s laboratory!
This panoramic view of the depths of the shop makes the place look huge, but in fact it is a tiny 8.2 square metres (88 square feet)!
The entire workshop “sits” on the floor and is self-supporting – almost nothing is screwed in to the walls.
Perhaps the kind reader might think this is the production of a master woodworker. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth! This was the very first piece of furniture I have ever built – and as you can see, it was quite a project…
Design
First and foremost, I used SketchUp to create an accurate scale model of the workshop. I modelled every piece of equipment I wished to eventually mount, and tested hundreds of layouts until coming to a final design. What an effort!
Here I’ve loaded it into an STL viewer so you can play with it:
Woodwork
Most of the workshop is made from pine. All pieces of wood were cut from slabs using a cheap and nasty hand-held circular saw, as I did not have easy access to a table saw at the time. This was painstaking!
The workbench surfaces are solid maple for hardness and longevity. Linseed oil was used as a finish, to keep things natural. Unfortunately, I have been rather lazy and have neglected to apply further coats since making the workshop!
Maple, Pine, and lots of linseed oil!
Drawers under the benches were crafted carefully to allow resident Oscilloclock artists to sit with plenty of leg room, and drawer slides were chosen with appropriate length such that the drawers open out far enough to access fully.
Cabinets were fitted with adjustable internal shelving, and lovely hinges that allow access to the full width of the shelf even when the door is only open 90 degrees.
Shelves were fitted above windows on one side of the room, mostly to store my extensive collection of 1940’s to 80’s Australian electronics magazines (Radio and Hobbies, Radio Television & Hobbies, and Electronics Australia). These shelves are the only pieces in the workshop that are actually screwed into the walls.
For the reference bookshelf, I cheated and used a standard flexible solution from the local hardware store. It looks reasonable enough…
Electrical
The shop has its own electric meter, a second-hand one rescued from the junk pile. This one is designed for a much higher current than the humble Oscilloclock lab usually consumes, but it spins fast enough if I turn on enough equipment!
The shop is equipped with no fewer than five different power supply lines, all at the resident frequency of 50Hz:
100V – This may give away the lab’s country of residence…
100V isolated– For testing “hot chassis” devices
117V – Supplied by a massive, nasty 1500VA Variac
200V – Straight from the local power company
240V – Supplied by a massive hand-wound toroidal transformer
Earthed 100V, 117V, and 240V outlets are literally peppered around the workshop, mostly tucked away behind the shelves. Datacentre grade outlet boxes were employed for ultimate safety. The best part? All equipment is plugged in and ready to use at any instant in time!
Of course I also have a variable voltage, variable frequency AC power supply, which I use regularly when spinning up voltage into vintage gear, or when I need to evaluate power circuit performance at anywhere between 40 and 400Hz.
No shop should be without its own set of circuit breakers! Here we see two of the several dedicated switches. These employ earth leakage detection, of course.
Equipment
A quick flick through the Oscilloclock blog reveals beyond any doubt that I have an extreme passion for vintage electronics. Nowhere is this more visually expressed than in this homey workshop. Every piece of equipment functions, and every piece is actually used at least once a year!
But I shall leave the equipment show-and-tell for another post!
But WHY?
Well, for the fun of course! But in fact, this workshop was built exclusively for the design and construction of exquisite hand-crafted scope clocks. So don’t delay in checking out the fruits of the lab – visit the Gallery right now!
With so many exciting projects to finish (and new ones on the slate to start), the Oscilloclock blog has suffered dreadfully during 2017. Just to start things moving again, let’s catch up by posting a brand new video – albeit of an older creation!
It’s the 1970’s. The cold war. The U.S. and Russia aim nuclear weapons at each other. How do you prepare for the worst? Why, you build a bunker, of course!
Today, [Ian] has done just that. Not a real nuclear fallout shelter, of course, but a period-themed bar called the Bunker Club. What better way to face disaster, than over drinks with the mates!
Ian decided to pepper his bar with vintage equipment that looked the part. But he wanted to make them truly functional, to entertain his retro-loving customers. So, he commissioned the Bunker Club VectorClock!
Now, regular followers of the blog will easily recognize the base unit here as a Tektronix 520A Vectorscope. So far a total of four of these delightfully-lighted machines have been converted to retro Oscilloclocks – see the Gallery for other examples.
But as always with any model, Ian wanted to make some cool customizations. Let’s look at two of them.
1. External XY Input
First introduced in the Metropolis Clock, this feature allows Ian to input two signals and visualize them in X-Y format on the screen. This is very, very useful for generating custom Lissajous figures externally – using either a cheap signal generator, or even an iPhone!
Cool Lissajous figures – even from a humble iPhone! (note, this picture is of the Metropolis Clock)
The external signals are rendered within a rectangular ‘window’, pre-configured to look nice alongside other standard parts of the Oscilloclock screens. For some screens, the window is drawn large but with a lower intensity, forming a kind of ‘watermark’. This is an awesome effect!
2. Custom Logos
Nearly all Oscilloclocks feature some kind of customized logo. Past examples include the customers’ business’ name, the name of the oscilloscope manufacturer, or even the name of the customer’s favourite film:
In Ian’s case, the obvious candidate was his new bar’s official logo – a very chunky-looking rocket blasting through the atmosphere!
Further enhancements … on the way
It seems Ian enjoyed his first clock so much, that he has commissioned a second, with a completely different physical look. Some further special effects and display animation are planned, to further enhance the nuclear theme and keep his customers happy. Stay tuned!
Like what you see?
Do you own a bar? Well, normally you wouldn’t want a clock in your premises, as it would help customers keep track of their time, which would be bad for business. But Oscilloclocks are so much more than timekeepers! Recent feature additions make them lots of fun to watch and fiddle with. If you have special ideas, let me know!
(Disclaimer: Oscilloclock.com hopes that no-one is offended by the deliberately light-hearted tone of this post, in referring to the decidedly serious topic of nuclear warfare.)
