Nixie Blanking the display

[PICme]

I recently built this Single Digit Nixie Clock.
**broken link removed**
I’m not new to electronics but must confess that I know very little when it comes to programming only dabbling in Picaxe’s and Arduino’s. I was so taken by this little clock I even got round to having a pcb made for it. The only draw back I could find was that there is no option to blank the display when not being viewed and so prolonging the tube. It could be incorporated within the cold and fixed as I don’t really need it to be changeable with menus. I've looked at the asm file but i'm finding it hard work.
If anyone could help I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Mosaic]

This forum is more about assisting ppl develop competencies than a turnkey forum.

Goal: Increasing Nixie life:
1) In that vein, all u have to do is incorporate a sampling routine on the switch to detect a long press or a short press. Use the long press for the set feature and the short press to permit a 10 second display.
2) Alternatively, you can code in a timed display on a duty cycle, perhaps 5 seconds out of every 20 sec for a 25% duty cycle and a 4x life on the nixie.

Either approach is not difficult but it requires some minor asm competence.

 

[large_ghostman]

how about somehow just wireing a switch to the tube cutting the power to it when not needed??? seems alot easier to me
lg

 

[PICme]

Thank you for your prompt reply. I've also been told that the code could be changed to load the hours register in the main loop and compare against the blanking time period that's desired to determine when to skip the display call routine. I was hoping that with some help a blanking option would then make the clock a very worthwhile project. I have designed and had manufactured a number of professionally made PCBs and using an IN-12 with socket and led back lighting it's also very attractive. The whole idea was to give them as presents to the family. I think it would probably be a good idea to offer one for services rendered as i know very little when it comes to writing code and i was not a where what was involved.