I only had 3 10-element bargraph LEDs, which is 30, 2 less than the target 32-bit display, but as this idea is easily scalable, it wasn't necessary to see all 32 bits in action to know it was a sound idea. I stopped at 24, a multiple of the 8 bits I'm using in the second counting portion. Some of my original designs for a counter got elaborate and silly, like the one before this that wanted 5 18-pin ICs, and one 16-pin hex inverter IC. I thought about the problem some more last night, and realized that the chip I've been trying to use for this idea, due to its simplicity, and seemingly perfect fit for the idea, could be used in a different way. I'm speaking of the 4017 decade counter/divider, which has 10 output pins that are mutually exclusive highs - only one can be on at a time. By pulsing the clock pin, the current pin turns off, and the next in the sequence turns on, and so on in a loop through all 10. There's also an active-high reset pin, which means you can plug any of the outputs into the reset to have it reset the instant you get to that number, so it can be a 2, 5, 6, 8, etc. counter, too.

Nixie tubes from a past era have found a new life in a variety of clocks and other devices. My Nixie clock project from 2003 uses CD4017 dividers to take the 60Hz from the line voltage down to 1 Hz, to clock the other dividers to produce seconds, minutes and hour display. MPSA42 transistors provide the interface between the logic and the nixie cathodes. The Nixie anode needs about 180 volts to fire up the individual neon segments. The PCB in the Nixie set was cobbled together with Wincircuit, and I knocked together some scrap red oak to make the case.