Nixie speedo?

[Gryffindor]

Hi. A reply I just PM'd to another forum member gave me a crazy idea - has anyone ever tried making a nixie tube speedo etc for their car?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObgmVNV1Kfg

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/d...-cant-quit

Would need an inverter to get the high voltages required from 12v, plus careful thought about safety, especially in a crash. So it would have to be mounted within the dash in some sort of 'safety cage' (to fit a 1 din or 2 din aperture?) rather than sitting on top of it. Shame!

Or maybe it could be laying down inside the top of the dash, so it becomes a sort of steampunk HUD.

I'll call it the Flux Capacitor Speedo.

[geoff]

Crikey we'll be seeing a resurgence of the valve radio next.

[cancunia]

Crikey we'll be seeing a resurgence of the valve radio next.

Crystal sets.... Imagine people getting stopped for tweaking their cat's whisker.

Nixie tubes look interesting though, might have a play this winter.

[geoff]

I've tweaked many a cats whisker before now, thanks for reminding me.

[Sol]

Simulate a Nixie tube Speedo using an android tablet and Torque Pro with a Nixie tube font...way safer all round.

[Gryffindor]

Ah, I did start wondering about other types of display, even wondering whether those 'flickering candle' LEDs could be adapted, but I hadn't thought of a Nixie font on a tablet! Could also be photos of Nixies displaying numbers, borrowed from the web and animated.

Next thing might be a sat nav with a Magic Eye valve which lights up whenever it hears the message 'You have arrived at your Destination'.

[Sol]

Seriously though, if you plug in a compact elm327 Bluetooth obd adaptor in, put Torque Pro on the tablet or phone, you get remote virtual gauges and lots of useful live data from the ECU. There are custom displays created by users, all free. Could be something like Nixie etc that you'd like.

[Gryffindor]

Mmmm. I had already read up on Torque and a rival version (forget it's name). Didn't realise there was a Pro version - might be worth a look.

But I'd better get on with stuff in hand first!

[Gadgetman]

No,no, NO!

Some anal-retentive paperpusher is bound to get your car declared unfit for the road if you use Nixies.

No, with an Arduino(I prefer the Teensy clones) and a LCD it should be easy to make a modern edition of the old 'rotating drum' speedos used in the GS....
I loved those. You didn't have to search for where the needle pointed. You probably spend half a second less time with your eyes off the road every time you checked our speed on it compared to a regular speedo.

[Tree]

I am actually confused