RobG

1,637 orders since May 18, 2013

Cary, NC, United States of America

Ships from United States of America.

Custom Work Available

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Overall Rating:

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

Product: (4.82)

Documentation: (4.50)

Shipping: (4.78)

Communication: (4.68)

All Reviews

Aaron | May 16, 2021

Great kit, good and clear documentation, this is fantastic

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

The kit was packed well, each tube was nicely wrapped in bubble wrap and the components were neatly packaged in small zipped baggies. Took about 4 hrs to assemble. Very easy to navigate the menu and set time. The end result looks really good! Thank you to Rob a great product!

Aaron | March 17, 2021

This is my second one!

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

So the first one died a mysterious electronic death that I couldn't sort out. As that was a version 3 model, it didn't have some of the new features the current (v5) model has, namely the battery. So that made buying a second a no brainer for me.

Visually it's a really interesting clock by showing the PCB and components along with the Nixie's themselves.

Now I personally loved it with the basic acrylic panels, but I decided this time to go nuts and design a new one that uses 3D printed parts with custom acrylic panels. It turned out well enough that it even gets to live upstairs with the day walkers (https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/53392-msp430-nixie-clock-enclosure).

Andy | March 14, 2021

Fantastic quality, great value

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Has been running continuously for about two years now. A beautiful piece of hardware. Would love a few more to be honest

Wayne | Feb. 2, 2021

Great Project

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

For those interested in Nixie technology, you'll this project to be straight forward and quite educational. With great documentation, the electronics enthusiast will have no problem completing this kit. I bought two.

Jeff | Jan. 3, 2021

Excellent kit, design, and value

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

The instructions are fairly basic but the steps are logically grouped and it is not hard to avoid mistakes. For example, one nice touch is that the PNP transistors are packaged separately so you can't really mess that up - as long you don't dump all of the parts.

Also I highly recommend getting the optional acrylic panels for safety and appearance. 180V DC probably isn't going to be lethal but you can easily get a little buzz if you accidentally touch components on the edge of the board.

A few minor suggestions:

* There are 48 tube pins (12 * 4) necessary for the 4 Nixie tubes. And you get exactly...48 pins. It wouldn't hurt to throw in a couple of extra of the little/cheap components to account for packing errors or accidentally dropped parts.

* The Nixie tubes are a little on the dim side. Having the ability to adjust the tube brightness in software would be nice or at least a hardware option.

* A few more configuration options would be nice, such as a non-blinking separator and additional (less active) cathode poisoning prevention options.

* I realize this is explicitly a MSP430 kit but I can't help but wish there was a way to use an alternate microcontroller that supports WiFi and NTP. Maybe an option to interface via I2C?

* Providing a layout schematic would be useful. I accidentally lifted a pad on the MSP430 but fortunately it was easy enough to trace the route and replace it with a bodge wire.

* I haven't contacted the kit creator yet to ask about source code but including that in the documentation zip file would be appreciated.

* A simple 3D printed case or STL file that works with the acrylic panels to completely enclose the clock would be good addition. I might see if I can whip something up.

* The seconds appear to be based on the hard reset time. So if you're particular about the exact time, you need to remove the battery and power up the device at precisely HH:MM:00. I would have expected that changing the minutes would also reset the seconds to zero, like most clocks.

Response from RobG | Jan. 4, 2021

Hi, thank you for your kind review and suggestions. Source code is available on the 43oh.com site, but I will add it as a download option here on Tindie.
Rob.

Erik | March 7, 2020

Amazing kit at great value

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

I still can't believe I have a well designed, working nixie clock with great features for the relatively little $ I spent. I am most impressed with the engineering and design considerations that went into this kit. It's really easy to set up once assembled and this is with just 2 buttons so that's design brilliance itself. This kit was not hard to put together, and the detailed and illustrated documentation cleared up any potentially confusing details, such as diode identification. But I advise to really pay attention to details as there's a lot that could go wrong if you put something backwards or switch components. I chose to back light the nixies with green LEDs rather than the included blue. The choice of LED color is really consequential as the nixie color is so brilliant. My son thinks it should be red but I'm not sure I coudl handle so much fire and brimstone. It could be nice for the seller to offer a choice of LED color you would select on purchasing but I can see that being a hard decision. It's not a big deal to change them out anyway. I got a shipping notification about a week after ordering so I had to be a little patient. One electrolytic cap was missing and one was a different voltage than spec but I was able to confirm quickly the suitable replacements I could use with the seller who responded quickly to my question about it.

John | March 4, 2020

Great Value!

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

I am building a series of clock kits for my collection and this Nixie Tube kit was a perfect addition. I finished it in about 5 hours yesterday with the help of a tutorial by 12voltvids on YouTube. Fired right up as soon as I plugged it in. This kit is fairly easy to solder together but not for novices. Make sure to go over all the documentation provided - I didn't find the complete assembly instructions until after I finished... Ha! Overall a very nice kit at a fantastic price.

Response from RobG | March 4, 2020

Glad you like it!

Drew | Jan. 21, 2020

Fantastic!

For PixelFlood 20W RGB flood light (WS2811 pixel)

These boards are excellently constructed, and very simple to build into a functional WS2811 RGB Flood light. All the info you need to build them is either on the tindie page, or stenciled onto the board itself so no paper doc's are needed. I was able to build 3 floods in under 2 hours. These will make an awesome addition to the outside of my house year round, not to mention my holiday light shows!

Response from RobG | Jan. 21, 2020

I am glad you like them! I have a mix of 10W/20W/50W floods lighting my house all year round and just change colors for each occasion. Greens for St. Patrick's, red, white, and blue for 4th of July, oranges for fall, etc. Enjoy!

Gary | Jan. 5, 2020

Excellent kit!

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

The kit was shipped promptly and arrived packed safely.

I assembled the kit in about 6 hours over 2 days and was thrilled with the result.

I’ve wanted to build a Nixie tube clock for a while now but was put off by the cost of most kits/tubes. This was an affordable kit with much larger digits than I would have expected.

Patrick | Aug. 18, 2019

Works great!!

For PixelFlood 20W RGB flood light (WS2811 pixel)

A little slow to ship but I am sure this is not his day job. This COB LED board is really bright! Worked well with a Bluetooth smart-pixel controller and an old dell 19V laptop power supply I had lying around. I am ordering another now!

Ross | July 14, 2019

Great Kit. Nixie Rules!

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Made this kit over two days. The instructions were pretty straightforward. There’s a lot of parts so I took my time and double checked everything as I went along. It fired right up for me with no problems at all. The Nixie tubes glow with a nice warm color and the blue backlighting gives it a nice retro edge. My recommendation would be to buy the acrylic covers as this thing runs at pretty high voltages. Probably would really hurt to be zapped. To summarize, I would recommend this kit and look forwards to other projects by RobG.

Robert | June 26, 2019

Best and best kit EVER!

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Update 20201/11/27:

STILL GOING STRONG!

I don't even know how long I've had this one at this point! I got one for my dad and put it together in less than 2hrs the second time around! Mine I dropped on carpet and just now years later I had to use contact cleaner on one of the pens I bent and crip it a little tighter and WALA!

Original post:

My first ever kit and real solder job ever! ... maybe not the best idea but I got massive help along the way THANKS JAY! Jay was able to take a oscilloscope and show me lots of cool stuff. It ended up being one of my bad solder joints on a 560ohm resistor. I also like to thank RobG for the kit !

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/msp430-nixie-tube-clock-robert-mccurdy/

Stewart | May 6, 2019

Awesome Nixie Clock and Awesome Seller

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

First off, this seller, Rob G, deserves an award. Not only does he provide an excellent product (and documentation) in the form of this nixie clock, but he also provides great communication and support. I accidentally ordered my clock kit without the protective plates and only realized my error a few days later. I emailed the seller asking if my order could be modified to include the plates. He obliged and my order arrived with the plates.

The documentation is fantastic, setting clear expectations and instructions for how to build your Nixie Clock. The seller has clearly put in an enormous amount of work to provide this great product. Worth every penny.

Richard | March 26, 2019

Beautiful Kit

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

I've wanted a Nixie clock for years, and had my eye on this one for several months. It exceeded my expectations.

Shipping: The kit shipped a 10 days after I placed the order, but this delay was communicated by the seller in his product description. The components were securely packaged and arrived in perfect condition.

Documentation: The online documentation is thorough. I've built several smaller through-hole component boards and had no trouble completing this. The identification of the diodes was a little tricky - I had to use a magnifying glass to ensure I was picking the correct one. In addition, 12voltvids has a detailed build video on youtube that was helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zny6fhF7g9g

Communication: I contacted the seller several times after ordering. His replys were prompt and curtious.

Overall: Good communication, good documentation, smooth build, and the end product is an attractive working nixie tube clock for well under $100. A+

Eric | March 25, 2019

Great nixie tube clock kit!

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

I really enjoyed building this kit. I completed it in a few hours on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The documentation was well written and easy to follow. The most difficult part was reading the tiny markings on two of the diodes. The circuit board and other parts were very high quality. I didn't have a 9-12V power supply but I had a 14V 1.2A supply that worked just fine to test it. The plexiglass enclosure was nice as well and makes for a nice display to show off the entire circuit. Finally, the price is very reasonable which explains why Rob can't keep these kits in stock.

If I make any change, I might replace the blue LEDs with some "purple" UV LEDs to give the nixie tubes more of a purple "ionized gas tube glow" which is more natural to me than the obnoxious blue light.

Neal | March 24, 2019

How long did this take you to design?

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

I enjoyed this kit so much! The PCB is very clean and well laid out. How long did this take you to design?

Response from RobG | March 25, 2019

It was a process :) First design was done in Sept 2014. You can see the progress on 43oh.com. Cheers!

Stewart | March 22, 2019

Great project

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Enjoyed putting it together; instructions were clear and well illustrated. My only comments would be maybe making the firmware open-source, and maybe using a different coin cell holder; the current one stick out pretty far from the PCB.

Response from RobG | March 23, 2019

Thank you for the review.
Clock's firmware is open-source and is available on 43oh.com's forum.
Vertical holder was used to save space, I figured height is not an issue since Nixie tubes are even higher :)

Michael | Feb. 2, 2019

Fun build, really cool finished product!

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Everything about this kit is well done. The board itself is beautifully laid out, and including the close-up photos of all the components to help in identification is a nice touch. I may put it in a different enclosure of some sort to keep dust out, but straightforward assembly and great finished product! Did not need to contact the seller.

Tim | Jan. 25, 2019

It took me 50 years, but I finally got some nixie tubes

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Great kit, and something I've wanted to have (OK, well anything with a nixie) for about 50 years, ever since I saw them in probably some Popular Electronics or HAM radio magazine. I'm glad I stumbled onto Tindie on Twitter via a few makers who'd mentioned the kit being in stock again.

The kit went together well, and I really appreciated the close up photos of the different components to help differentiate them. Especially with the capacitors and diodes. I was pretty pleased when I gave it power first time that it lit up and worked! Doubts were only in my own mind RE: my soldering, etc. and not the kit.

One little comment in terms of instructions. I had to look a few times to confirm that you really were supposed to solder the body of the crystal down to the board. If not for the photos I'd probably have missed that part.

Jason | Dec. 21, 2018

Great kit that looks good and is fun to put together.

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

The PCB is very clean and well laid out. It looks wonderful assembled.

The clock works wonderfully, makes almost no noise,and does not get warm at all.

Everything arrived very well packaged and the instructions were fantastic. There are a lot of parts and a lot of solder joints so set aside some time to finish this project if you want to do it all in one sitting.

Steve | Dec. 16, 2018

Might be my favorite build ever.

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

I had a blast putting together this kit. Having never soldered nixies nor neon tubes before, I was really looking forward to receiving the shipment and getting started. Everything went in without a hitch. I tend to be one of those people who likes to make sure beyond any doubt that I'm doing everything correctly before I put tip to solder, so I would have loved photographs of every part. If you like working with other people while soldering like I do, I would recommend watching the build video 12voltvids put on YT. I found it helpful. Finally, one capacitor wasn't exactly the same as the one listed in the documentation, but it was a perfect substitute and Rob got back to me quickly with all the info I needed to complete this project correctly and with confidence.

The final product is beautiful and I had a great time putting it together. When it's back in stock, I might buy a few more just to have fun putting it together again with friends. Thanks for a wonderful product and experience, Rob!

- Steve

John | May 7, 2018

Affordable and easy build

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

My first nixie clock kit. Good price fast shipping. Had question about one component and seller clarified quickly. Kit went together in about 4 hours. I like the tth mounting of the components. Finished the kit, put the case on, and plugged it in. Guess what, fired right up not a problem with the clock. All the settings worked. Best of all 16 yoa daughter said it was awesome!! Thanks for a great product. Only down side is case is extra cost. But with the initial cost of the clock not bad. Maybe include case with the clock and it’s HV hazards. Just my .02. Thanks again. Might be getting another or two to build as gifts.

Alan | March 5, 2018

Simple to Install

For PixelFlood 10W RGB flood light kit (WS2811 pixel)

I bought this to replace one that got wet. But they have been working in my garden for almost two years now. No problems.

Mark | Feb. 24, 2018

Awesome Clock

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Great kit. Assembly was straightforward. Read everything before you start. Component identification is at the end of the build instructions. Overall this is a great kit. I will have to build another one.

Joe | Jan. 30, 2018

Fun Project

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Only good soldering ability and technique required. Download instructions which are above excellent. Watch YouTube video Kit#2 build. Take your time and follow instructions and you’ll have fun. I paid a little extra for the plexiglass covers and hardware. Well worth the$20 and very nice!

Rob | Jan. 24, 2018

awesome very rewarding

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

I'm an electrician not a electronics guy and never soldered before but I did it. I'm going to build another for office. I received very good gear advice from Robg

Ernie | Jan. 22, 2018

Amazing little 10w floods.

For PixelFlood 10W RGB flood light kit (WS2811 pixel)

I've built a total of 10 of these boards and they build quick, work well and the support from Rob is great. If there is an issue email him and he will help you. The documentation needs a little updating and I would be willing to help write up a build guide. Building these requires a little soldering skill and some basic electronics knowledge but are not bad to build at all. You WILL need a heatsink or ideally a 10w lamp housing available on ebay to finish these off.

Rayman | Jan. 19, 2018

Love It

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Great kit, easy to follow instructions, and it looks beautiful! This is the least expensive nixie tube clock I could find, yet it is still high quality.

Jeremy | Jan. 6, 2018

Looks and works great!

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

This was a great project and was easy to follow and install. It would be nice to have sockets for the nixie-tubes vs individual pins provided in the kit.

A case option to fully protect the 180v would be a welcome addition to the kit.

All in all this is a great product that was shipped quick and produced epic results - the person I made it for absolutely loved it.

Thank you

David | Dec. 27, 2017

This is the one to get.

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

Very well packaged. I had no problem assembling and I do recommend the plastic case if you are not supplying your own. The setting is of the clock is straightforward.

Patrick | Dec. 23, 2017

Very nice design!

For PixelFlood 10W RGB flood light kit (WS2811 pixel)

I received Rev 8 boards. They don't match the V2 board pictured, and that picture is the documentation. There is a Wiki, but that board is even older. New documentation is needed. Or a photo of what ships with the parts loaded.

One needed resistor was missing for each of the ordered boards, but I had those in my own stock. Still, it's sold as a "kit"...

The design itself works flawlessly, and drives a 10W LED to its limits with the 12V 3A supply I'm using. I did not test 24V supply, but 24V is supposed to work. The board worked both wired to the beginning of a cheap 300 LED strip (leds[0]), or at the end (leds[300]), driven by an ESP8266 using the FASTLED library. There is no false triggering as happens on some of the cheaper WS2812 strips. As someone else said, this was much easier than designing it myself, waiting for the boards to arrive, etc.

Donovan | Nov. 5, 2017

Well Made Clock Kit

For MSP430 Nixie Clock kit

The kit had great documentation and I have had no issues with my clock so far. Rob has a good product here and I look forward to see what he will do next.

Jim | Oct. 12, 2017

Great Lights

For PixelFlood 20W RGB flood light (WS2811 pixel)

Ordered 6 kits and all worked after soldering. Documentation is missing a cap on the board - in the documentation, cap is hanging off power wires. I'm glad I bought these kits.

Tom | Oct. 7, 2017

Works perfectly

For PixelFlood 20W RGB flood light (WS2811 pixel)

I assembled nine 20W floods and they work perfectly. However, they didn't come with any documentation, so I had to dig around and ask on the forums. Here they are:

https://www.diychristmas.org/wiki/index.php?title=20W_RGB_LED_Driver_Board_Assembly_(WS2811_version)

However, the instructions are for the v4 board and do not mention the new capacitor locations & changes since v8. I had to learn how to read capacitor markings. :)

Shipping and communication were good; Rob fixed problems that I had with the delivery.

Thanks, Rob!

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