Rǒta is a tool for counting things while being all nerdily extra about it. Are there more efficient ways to count things? Yes. But will those things increase your exposure to Nixie tubes and rotary dials? No? Well then if that's what passes for progress nowadays then I'm going to go live on a mountain somewhere and count things the cooler way, with nixie tubes. It was originally conceived as a gift for a duck hunting lodge, but now I'm making a few more and I know not everyone is into hunting so it's been generalized.

If I get enough (like 10) of these on waitlists, I'll have a new run of these made.

If I get more than 30 waitlist signups, I'll do a ground-up redesign of the Rǒta and make this 100x better by incorporating all the new ideas and skills I've gained from the last couple years, while still keeping the general aesthetic.

Like, it'll be the difference between a Jeep JK and the JL (this only clarifies things to a specific group of Jeep people, but I'm in the group that thinks the JL is amazing)

Here's a video

Now in Matte Black and Matte Army Red!

Are you a bouncer at an old-timey speakeasy and need to keep track of occupancy? Does a friend keep using a word too much and you need proof of how many times they've said it in a conversation? Are you driving through Las Vegas and want to count how many personal injury lawyer billboards you see? (The answer is 38 in a 20 mile stretch of the I-15. I've done it, so I guess you won't need one now.) Are you on a bass fishing trip and want to know how many you caught each day? Or do you just want to make it very clear to everyone around you that you're counting stuff and are way too cool for any other method of keeping track of numbers.

If you answered yes (or even wished you could) to any of the above questions, then Rota is definitely for you.

Here's the Hackaday article about it.

And here it is on the Tindie blog

What's for sale here is version 3, it's a bit more polished and reliable than some of the pictures you'll see at those links but otherwise the same.

Here's a rundown of the your assembly options:

I've changed the way you choose which parts you need so now you can select everything individually; because I know a lot of projects start with having some of the parts and then trying to figure out what to do with them.

So if you already have any of these parts you can just select "None." If you need any special options, feel free to send me a message and I'll put a kit together with exactly what you need.

So now the below section doesn't really correspond to options you can choose but it should still be helpful for deciding what parts you'll need to source depending on what you order.

PCB with SMD parts assembled

This includes the PCB with a pre-programmed AVR64DD28 microcontroller and all the other SMD parts soldered in place. I'll also include a printed number plate, extra plastic number plate covers (these tend to get chewed up when swapping the number plate so you'll have a few extras), a dial insulator (so the board doesn't short to the dial), extra contactor spacers, some bits of wire, screw terminal connectors, some 3x1 pin headers, a 9V battery connector, and a super rad box (or envelope.)

What you'll need to source yourself:

• 3 K155ID1 or 74141 nixie drivers
• 3 IN-12B nixie tubes
• 1 IN-3 nixie indicator dot
• 1 NCH8200HV HV nixie power supply
• 1 Automatic Electric type 24 rotary dial

Kit without dial, nixies, or HV module

This includes everything above as well as:

• 3 K155ID1 nixie drivers
• 1 IN-3 nixie indicator bulb

You'll still need:

• 3 IN-12B nixie tubes
• 1 NCH8200HV HV nixie power supply
• 1 Automatic Electric rotary dial

Kit with matched nixies

note: These nixie tubes were made basically by hand in the USSR, so there's quite a bit of variation between them even with the same date code. The advantage of having a few dozen of these in front of me is that I can pick a set of 3 that all have consistent centering, color (darkening on the grids and stuff), and general shape so they look really nice together. I'm a super perfectionist about stuff like this and spend way too much time shuffling them around to get perfect sets of 3.

This includes everything above as well as:

• 3 IN-12B nixie tubes

You'll still need:

• 1 NCH8200HV HV nixie power supply
• 1 Automatic Electric type 24 rotary dial

Kit without dial

This includes everything above as well as:

• 1 NCH8200HV HV nixie power supply

You'll still need:

• 1 Automatic Electric type 24 rotary dial

Full Kit

This includes everything you need to put this together.

Assembled

Choose which parts you'd like and I'll assemble them for you.

If you add all the parts you'll get a fully functional Rota with everything attached, tested and the dial calibrated to count consistently (this is a pretty fiddly process to get the contactors set up correctly but once it's done its very reliable.)

When you place an order for an assembled Rota (or before), I will send you photos of each one I have available so you can choose which dial finish and back case you like the most. They're all slightly unique because there are tons of variations in the dials and nixies that were produced back then so you and choose for yourself which one speaks to you the most.

A note about dials

You can buy the correct dial to use here at OldPhoneShop

Some of the dials I have didn't come with a center set (the little metal ring that holds the number plate in the middle) and so they will come with a 3D printed one (I'll include both matte black and whatever color you choose for the case.) With my new 3D printer (it's an FLSun Super Racer if you're curious), these center sets actually look really good now. If you want to buy a real one, OldPhoneShop sells them here

When I was first making this, I had a few dials laying around and based the design on them. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on what my goals were), they all happened to be the old style 820C Automatic Electric dials, so I was unaware that their newer 24A36 dial existed and is slightly more common to find. The difference is pretty minor, but the contactors are attached to a separate metal plate which sticks out in a few places where the board would normally be covering. I can pretty easily rearrange some things to make it compatible, but the current model isn't. If you want to try it, it could be done with a dremel and then reattaching the wires you cut through.

If you already have the newer style 24A36, send me a message to let me know and I'll be happy to put some time in to edit the board to work with them.

If I gave you a bare board at Supercon or where ever with the warning that there are a few issues with that revision, I've uploaded a guide to fix them here

Here's a link to the assembly instructions

Otherwise all kits I send out have been fixed and you won't need to do that (unless you want some practice bodging traces and soldering SMD stuff, just let me know and I'll throw in one of the errata'd boards for free along with a working revision.)