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I am making a clock with Nixie tubes IN-12 A and made a circuit. I would like to know if it is correct before making the PCB and 3D case.

enter image description here

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    \$\begingroup\$ This is not a very good diagram for analysis. Can you improve it? (And I don't just mean the background colors.) Do you have much experience in making readable diagrams? (I'd rather avoid listing all the problems and prefer that you put more effort into the schematic, yourself.) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 4, 2023 at 15:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ sorry I have no experience, if you can give me advice, it's the first time I made one. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 4, 2023 at 15:19
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    \$\begingroup\$ You definitely cannot use a voltage divider to supply the Arduino and LEDs. I suggest a voltage regulator or switching regulator module from the 12V. The white LEDs are going to draw quite a bit of current and difficult to predict so using the internal regulators on the nano is inadvisable. The series capacitors on the addressable LEDs are wrong and of weird value (where did those come from?). There may be other things... maybe tackle one thing at a time. You'll be unhappy and maybe put off electronics entirely if you make a PCB at this state of development. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 4, 2023 at 15:19
  • \$\begingroup\$ Should I do it on EasyEDA like I a m doing a pcb? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 4, 2023 at 15:19
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    \$\begingroup\$ You've made significant progress but there are still many issues. LM7805 should have the output capacitor to ground not in series, and problems with U7 (and U8 clear is just connected to U7 but nothing is driving it). There may be other issues. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 7, 2023 at 15:21

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Some suggestions about this design:

  1. You need more decoupling capacitors and a better understanding of the intention behind their use. There is a capacitor C2 at the output of the LM7805, but it must be connected between the output and GND. In your schematic it is in the current path, between the regulator output and the load (the rest of the circuit). A capacitor does not allow a DC current to pass, so after power on there will be a short moment where the capacitor forwards the rising voltage but this voltage will drop to zero while the capacitor charges.
    This can be simulated here:

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

Decoupling capacitors stabilize the supply voltage at places where fast switching circuits have a high current demand for a short period of time. The influence on other circuits will be reduced.
The time domain simulation shows such a problem here:

schematic

simulate this circuit

VCC1 shows a "dirty" supply of an IC without decoupling capacitor, VCC2 shows the effect of a capacitor close to the chip. It is important, that there is not again a long track between the IC and the capacitor.

It is good practice to place a capacitor from 100 nF up to 1 uF close to each chip between VCC and GND. You can try later to remove some of them, if you want to know where stability issues start. One issue may be noise in a radio next to your circuit.

This is also important for the 4 RGB dots.

  1. Shift register connections
  • You don't need the shift register Master Reset (SRCLR#) inputs. Connect them to VCC.
  • Connect Q7S (QH#) of the first register to DS (SER) of the second to transfer the content.
  • Both registers need the signals RCLK (D8) and SRCLK (D7)
  1. You don't need R9. R8 limits the current through the LEDs. 1 kohm for R8 may be too high for two LEDs, I suggest 220 ohm.
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  • \$\begingroup\$ I corrected my circuit a little, but I think I need to understand more how shift register (I never used them) and decoupling capacitors work. I really appreciate your answer, helped me a lot. Also I didn't know you could simulate circuits like that. I like this forum :) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 9, 2023 at 9:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ Should I connect D8 with D9 to the same pin (D8) and same for D7 and D10 to the same pin (D7), or should I let them have each a pin? In this page (docs.arduino.cc/tutorials/communication/guide-to-shift-out) they are connected together. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 10, 2023 at 10:09
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Eileen You need only one MCU output for both RCLK (D8) and one for both SRCLK (D7). \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 10, 2023 at 20:26

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