It is no great secret that I have a sweet spot for counters. All those many-digit numbers are so impressive! (They should have been more prominent in old scifi movies, but scopes with Lissajous figures reigned.)
Ever since a German electronics magazine named 'ELO' had a build-your-own-counter project in the late 70ies, I yearned for such an instrument (but could not afford it).
I finally got my first counter in 2016 (IIRC), almost 40 years later (the Philips at the far right, a little back).
This is something I always wanted to to. I am fully aware that it is nothing compared to nixiefreqq's 'counter cathedral', and it is not meant to be, as it's mainly for me.
![Wink ;)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
I had to choose a rather low frequency since the lame Schurigs count only to 1 MHz:
![](https://i.imgur.com/8CcAp3V.jpg)
Extra lighting was required so the LCD can even be seen. LCDs without a decent backlight are really shite.
I also had to make some free-style power cords to get them all running. Don't try this at home, kids! We're all careless non-professionals here!
It's not quite as bad as it looks, though; they're powered by an isolating variac.
![](https://i.imgur.com/nHMuigR.jpg)
And it is easy to see that I still need more counters: None of the VFD variety, no Dekatrons, no columns.
![Grin ;D](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/grin.gif)