I love experimenting with Nixie tubes, I find that there is a haunting, liquid beauty in the warm amber neon glow of a Nixie tube. While modern displays rely on cold, flat pixels, the Nixie tube is a miniature physics experiment captured in glass.

Each digit is a physical artifact, stacked in layers that create a mesmerizing sense of depth, turning the simple act of showing digits into a glowing tribute to mid-century aesthetics.

To be able to ignite a soft plasma around the hand-shaped wire numerals, asemi-high voltage of around 160-180 V is required between the common anode and the desired digit’s cathode. To facilitate protoyping with Nixie tubes I wanted to create a power supply module to

Requirements

  • CH32V003 microcontroller
  • All digits individually fadable
  • Standard spacing so it plugs into a breadboard
  • I2C plus single-wire SWD pins

Parts selection

Name Value/type Price QTY Link
CH32V003 microcontroller CH32V003F4P6 1.20 EUR 1 AliExpress link