194 Transistor Digital Clock (no IC's)

[Ferroto]

Anyone ever take on a project this absurd just to say you can  
http://hackaday.com/2010/01/11/194-transistor-clock-will-blow-your-mind/

[EEVblog]

Beautiful, just beautiful...

Dave.

[Zad]

Wow, that's a lot of work! I have wanted to build a Nixie clock for some time and I think using transistors rather than ICs would suit the ethos pretty well. I can understand why they packaged it all on one board (if ya got it, flaunt it!) but I think for practical purposes it would be better with a horizontal motherboard and slot-in daughterboards and display board. Superb though.

[mikeselectricstuff]

.. orf couse if you want to go really hardcore, how about an all-tube nixie clock

[thedigitalprincess]

Haha, my friend showed me that a while back. It's wonderful xD

[Ferroto]

Beautiful, just beautiful...

Dave.

Ya seeing someone do a project like that makes me appreciate how far we've come.

[saturation]

I used to build things like that, all discrete parts, because that's all we had.  When I began, the 555 timer was just designed, and the most often used IC was the 741 op amp.  Now, you can build it, just for looks and nostalgia.

Interestingly, some appliances do come with transparent cases, so you can appreciate the guts, the Pickit 3 comes to mind.

[EEVblog]

I wonder if he simulated that first?
So easy to goof something at the schematic or layout stage.

Dave.

[saturation]

Yep, older chips mostly were semiconductors and resistors, like the 555 timer.  Now, many components exist inside the chip.

I'd think you'd want to simulate this, there's too much that can go wrong or interact.  In the clocks I've designed, all you need is tap half wave rectified step down AC mains to get a 60 Hz pulse [ in the USA] to serve as a clock signal, then the rest of the circuitry is a counter adjusted to read out in time, and the power supply.

From the layout of the board, the repeating nature of the sections looks like the designer fleshed out some chips into discrete components.

ic is just a compact version of transistors right? correct me if i'm wrong.
the picture above shows a magnificent arragement of components IMO.

I wonder if he simulated that first?
So easy to goof something at the schematic or layout stage.

Dave.