Bob C. shared a link with me yesterday to a manufacturer that I was not familiar with - GlowingTech.   They have about a half dozen finished clocks for sale in addition to complete kits and components.  What really sets their designs apart from other manufacturers that I've seen is the materials that the enclosures are made of.  Recycled circuit boards are featured prominently in their designs.  Be sure to visit their site for more information.

Links

• GlowingTech
• Finished Clocks
• Clock Kits

Josiah, the creator of the Coachella Lamp has also submitted two, very nice, B7971 GeekKloks.  These are based off of the Zetalink** kit and known for both the enormous B7971 tubes as well as the...inventive...time display font used.  Josiah did a great job with both of these clock.  The first is mounted in a traditional desktop display while the second clock has the PCB behind the display for wall mounting.

The clock is powered by a 16v power supply.  There is an on board DC-DC power converter that is used to power the clock & B7971's.  Sadly, this design requires an obsolete MAX771 switch-mode power supply.  Time is measured against the local mains reference but these clocks do include an internal RTC to guard against a power failure.  The display itself is multiplexed (as opposed to directly driven.)  Given that there are 15 segments per tube, this isn't surprising :)

Other features (according to manufacturer)

• 50 different number fonts (character sets) to choose from.
• Fonts include number variations, distorted numbers, contorted numbers, fanciful numbers, etc.
• Time can display using animated characters. Clock optionally shows seconds on underline segments, simulating a left-to-right progress bar (2 variations)
• Special fonts for Roman (digit by digit) , true Arabic, Chinese/Japanese, and Klingon numerals.
• Other "secret" fonts available for "private" reading capability
• 12- or 24-hour clock modes available. In 12-hour mode leading zero can be blanked or allowed to show.
• Alternate time zone display can alternate with main display at different rates, and can use any alternate font.
• Date can use any alternate font to help differentiate it, and can be displayed at different rates or turned off.
• Date displayable in DD-MM or MM-DD (numeric) format.
• Time Setting and User Preference register editing can be locked out by DIP switch setting.
• 35 User Preference Registers control options and settings, use mnemonic names for editing.
• User Preference Registers and Font Use Settings can easily be edited.
• Date or alternate time zone display can also use one of several display variations (wink, spasm, etc.)
• Serial (RS232) input to set time, or control blanking and font selection.
• Serial (RS232 or direct) output can be used to make chime tone modules or alarm modules.
• Accessory jack for seconds display module (intended for smaller numerical nixies, no font changes available).

Links

• Version 1
• Version 2

**Read this before even considering placing an order.  It appears that no one has received merchandise that they paid for Raymond since 2005.  From Jeff: "Do Not believe that you might receive any paid-for products from Raymond Weisling. Although the zetalink cover page notes that he is temporarily unable to deliver, the swreg shopping cart is fully operational and will accept your payments!"

Sculpture by Josiah H.

Okay, this isn't a clock but I think you're going to like this.  Josiah emailed me to submit a few of his creations to the site.  I've broken his submission in to several posts and this is the first.  It is a sculpture based on:

• OG-4 Dekatron (x3)
• OG-3 Dekatron (x1)
• IN-9 indicators (x4)
• GE AR-1 Argon Glow Discharge Lamp (1)

All of this is supported by an acrylic column that has a right blue and green LED illuminating the center.  He achieves a smooth fading effect by using PWM to smoothly transition between the colors.  This thing just looks amazing.  As far as the motivation to build all of this?  He states: "The result of about a week of work after a friend asked me to build an interesting lamp for his art installation at the Coachella Music Festival."  Mission accomplished!

I am not going to steal all of his content and publish it here so be sure to stop by his site for more information, photos, and schematics.

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

Links

• http://sites.google.com/site/josciencelab/electronic-projects/coachella-lamp

Images and text used with permission.

Price: €159 (kit)  €199 (assembled w/LED option)

Here is a nice IN-12 Nixie clock that is sold as a kit or may be purchased fully assembled for 40 € more. One neat feature about this clock is that the tubes are backbit with color changing LED's that can be programmed for a specific color or allowed to fade between colors.  (The back light brightness is adjustable.)  For the time display, several modes are included: scrolling date, display fading, and digit cycling in.

If anyone gets one, please leave a note in the comments!

UPDATE:  See our hands-on review here!

Features:

• Tubes: IN-12 Nixie tubes, 18 mm digit height, decimal points with flashing LEDs.
• Background lighting: brightness adjustable.
• Alarm: adjustable time, snooze and tone.
• Time format: 12- or 24 hour mode.
• Display: time / alarm / date / or alternating time - date.
• Effects: scrolling date, display fading, digit cycling in different styles.
• Power: 12VDC 350mA max.
• DC Power consumption: ca. 3VA (full tubes and background LED brightness).
• Timekeeping: more than 1h with 1F SuperCap in the event of mains failure.
• Time accuracy: internal 4 MHz crystal, adjustable with buttons for minimal deviation.
• Dimension (w x h x d): app. 200 x 50 x 80 mm (incl. tubes)
• Weight: app. 450 g

Links

• http://www.nixiekits.eu/
• The Seller