Some Newbie pre-purchase questions for the Ice Tube Clock

[chiragpatnaik]

Folks,

I am fascinated by the Ice Tube clock and eagerly want to try it out. But, the catch is that I have not wielded a soldering iron in a long long time (almost 20 years). The last time was in school in the electronics lab.

So the question to you guys is. How difficult it it to put it together. I understand high voltages are risky and am sufficiently careful about it.

Any other kits I should try out before I get on to this one (I intend to order 2-3 kits together) Someone will carry it back from the US to India.

So I am looking for recommendations for other advanced kits to try out.

Thanks

Chirag

[adafruit_support_bill]

I have not wielded a soldering iron in a long long time (almost 20 years).

You might want to practice a few joints on a piece of strip-board with some scrap wire first. MintyBoost and MiniPOV are good starter projects too.

All of the clock kits are great. The Monochron is relatively easy. Both the BulbDial and the Ice Tube are a good challenge. If you take the tutorials step by step and check your work against the photos you should be fine. If you run into problems, there is always help here on the forums.

[chiragpatnaik]

If you run into problems, there is always help here on the forums.

Super. Any idea on longevity of the Tube? If it is finite? Can I buy a couple and store them for a few years?

[adafruit_support_bill]

Tube life depends partly on how bright you run them. These should be good for 100,000 hours or so.

We do sell replacement tubes in the store.

[wbp]

Chirag,

If you need them built for you I can help.

William

[chiragpatnaik]

I didn't get you?!?

I am going to start on this, next weekend. I haven't even done an inventory on the parts yet.

I finished the monochron. Not too happy with the lines in it. Will have to fix that first.

Chirag

[SweetOra]

Thanks for the recommendations, now it's clear!

[Agent_24]

There are no 0402 SMDs and no huge ground planes to soak up heat etc, so none of these projects present a huge challenge if you know how to solder properly and have fairly good equipment. If you forget, practice first as already suggested.

You may like to check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4 (so far the best I've found on Youtube. You have to watch out because some of the videos there are just plain wrong!)