Nixie Clocks
Nixie-based tube clocks
- Details
€ 135 - Kit / € 155 Assembled
Are you looking for the ultimate Christmas gift? I think this might be it :)
Let’s say you’re NixieKits.eu. You build one of the nicest end view nixie clocks on the market. Then, you go on and build one of the nicest VFD clocks on the market. What’s next? Well the answer to that is to build a killer little IN-16 nixie clock!
Video Review:
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Text Review:
If you’ve seen the reviews of the IN-12 of IV-12 clocks, this one will look similar. Let’s start out with the similarities between the clocks.
The menu and underlying software between the clocks is very similar. The menu system is the same and the menu numbers even map to the same option. For example, Option 1 is 12/24 more on all of the devices. The same display effects are the same between the different clocks and even the layout of the buttons is almost identical. THIS IS A GOOD THING. NixieKits.eu has one of the most intuitive menu systems that I’ve come across and there is no need to re-engineer it. As an added bonus, if you own multiple NixieKits.ed clocks, you can also use the same manual between devices (with only a few exceptions.)
This nixie clock is a closer related to the IN-12 clock than the VFD clock. Specifically, the LED lighting under the tubes is nearly identical to that of the IN-12 clock. They are 2-wire RGB led’s so each diode cycles independently of the other ones. Like on the IN-12 clock, there is a knob on the back of the device to control the brightness or to turn off the LED’s entirely.
During the night, I tend to keep mine at a medium brightness. During the day - full brightness.
Lastly, it has the anti cathode poisoning features that the IN-12 clock has: the slot machine effect and the wave effect.
Design
Jurgen Grau has perfected the stacked acrylic design. This is by far the smallest clock in the NixiKits.eu collection and it is, in my opinion, one of the most professional looking. Currently, the clock is offered in two varieties: one with a clear top and one with a mirrored finish. Be sure to look at the photos below to see the difference.
I also have to point out the size - this thing is small in a good way. Jürgen has perfected the layered acrylic enclosure and his skills show. The slim PCB design fits perfectly in the enclosure and the base only stands about an inch tall. I can’t confirm this for sure, but it might be the smallest six digit nixie clock on sale right now.
Technical Data
- Tubes: IN-16 Nixie tubes, 13 mm digit height.
- RGB tubes 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. 3.5VA (full tubes and tubes LED brightness).
- Timekeeping: for more than 20 min. with 300,000µF SuperCap in the event of mains failure.
- Time accuracy: internal 4 MHz crystal, adjustable with buttons for minimal deviation of app. 1 s per month.
- Dimension (w x h x d): app. 140 x 62 x 60 mm (incl. tubes)
- Weight: app. 150 g
- Power supply: 100...240V~ Power cord for EU/GB/US
Additional Highlights
- Selectable leading zero suppression between 0:00 and 10:00
- Selectable digit cross fading
- Automatic date display with selectable display frequency
- Scrolling date with adjustable speed
- Automatic digit cycling with various effects and selectable frequency to prevent cathode poisoning
- Adjustable standard display brightness
- Dimmer control with start time and duration to save tube's life
- Alarm with adjustable tone and snooze option
- Easy to set up with 3push buttons
Photographs
- Details
Muris from Elektronika sent me a cool little nixie clock based on IN-16 Russian nixie tubes. Best of all - he published his schematics, documented the inner workings well, and even published the firmware for anyone to build. Right now, you can purchase the PCB's for the kit. He is contemplating offering a kit version of the clock. Visit his site and follow the instructions if you're interested in a future kit version.
Clock Options
1. time display
2. date display
3. temperature display
4. configurable times of showing for all of above (for example, the clock can display time for 20 seconds, and move to next thing to display: date, temperature or both and go back to time. It can even be set to display only the temperature)
5. configurable Nixie tube brightness
6. configurable color of bottom RGB LEDs that blink at 1/2 Hz rate (or even turned off)
7. the "temperature color blender" option that displays blue color at lower temperatures, red at high temperatures and mixes these two colors between these extremes (or even turned off)
8. configurable color of bottom RGB LEDs while displaying date (or even turned off)
9. fading tubes while showing the date for better understanding of what is on display (DD.MM and YYYY)
10. Nixie tube saver option - this option turns off Nixie tubes at defined "sleep" time and turns them back on at defined "wakeup" time (for example, the clock can be configured to shutdown at 23:30 and turn back on at 07:30 in the morning) in order to prolong the life of tubes
11. alarm function with user-configurable melody with snooze function
12. user configurable snooze length with automatic snoozing so that the clock doesn't ring constantly forever if forgotten about
13. Nixie tube cross-fading with configurable fade speed
14. the famous "candle mode" for the romantic "touch"
15. cathode anti-poisoning on every 15 minutes
Video
Links
- Details
I found this great (fully assembled) clock for sale on eBay this morning; it is an all ttl based nixie clock. It is a six digit display based on IN-12a tubes. The time base is provided by a mains reference and supports both 50hz and 60hz systems. Additionally, it supports 12h or 24h mode with (optional) leading zero suppression. And - it looks nice!
Lastly, I just told that these will be available as kits in the very near future.
THEORY OF OPERATION:
Time keeping is derived from the AC mains line frequency (50/60Hz selectable) which is divided down using a divide by 10 and a divide by 5 or 6 counters to obtain a 1Hz signal to count seconds. From there the seconds and minutes each contain divide by 10 and divide by 6 counters and lastly the hours uses a presettable divide by 10 and 3 or 4 resettable counter for 12 or 24 Hr selectable operation.
The counters are comprised of flip-flops (F-F's) configured in a series or "ripple" configuration generating a binary count displayable by turning on the "BINARY DISPLAY" LED's. The binary count is then converted to decimal using a handful of basic NAND and NOT logic gates and displayed by turning on the NIXIE tubes.
Power is supplied by a standard 9VAC/1A wall transformer (wall-wart), full wave rectified, filtered and linear regulated to 5VDC used for powering all the IC's. The high voltage required by the NIXIE tubes is derived from a dual primary 10v transformer hooked up "backwards" with its primary winding in series to produce approx. 200-250 volts, rectified and filtered.
Display dimming is performed using a total of six F-F's (two F-F's per counter) to make three 2-bit counters offering four levels of brightness. The two bits are combined resistively creating a stepped analog signal fed to a common collector voltage source for the two LED displays, the last counter is fed to a pulse width modulator (PWM) to drive the NIXIE tubes. Utilizing PWM topology permits the NIXIE tubes to dim while maintaining even lighting of their segments.
Features
1. NIXIE DECIMAL DISPLAY - Utilizes Russian made IN12A neon NIXIE tubes to display time in conventional decimal format.
2. BINARY DISPLAY - Contains six vertical rows of soft glowing purple LED's used to display the time in binary format or "base 2" which is explained HERE. This section also contains the logic IC's to count seconds, minutes and hours.
3. 1Hz INPUT PRESCALER - This is a selectable divide by 50 or divide by 60 counter used to scale the line input frequency down to 1Hz (one cycle per second) to drive the main clock circuit. The output of this two stage counter is displayed as a moving "dot" on these soft glowing purple LED's.
4. NIXIE - This button sets the brightness level of the NIXIE tubes.
5. BINARY - This button sets the brightness level of the BINARY DISPLAY LED's.
6. 1Hz GEN - This button sets the brightness level of the 1Hz INPUT PRESCALER LED's.
7. "0" Hr DISP - This jumper is used to display or blank the "0" in the 10's Hours digit. Example: Jumper can be set to display "09:23:45" or "9:23:45".
8. 12/24 Hr MODE - This jumper sets the clock to display in 12 Hour or 24 Hour modes.
9. 50/60Hz FREQ - This jumper is used to select the incoming line frequency. Example: For operation in USA set to 60Hz, for Europe set to 50Hz.
10. AC POWER INPUT - Plug AC power plug in here.
11. HOUR - This button is used to set the Hours time.
12. MINUTE - This button is used to set the Minutes time.
13. HOLD - This button "freezes" the Seconds time for precise time setting.
Images and text used with permission from Koolklox.
Links
- Details
Here is a great design from Windell Oskay from Evil Made Scientist. It is based on a modified HP 5321B frequency counter. One of the key challenges is converting the decade counting logic to have it roll over from 59 -> 0 and 12 -> 1. They designed the modifications to fit nicely in the original casing. It is a great modification, a nice writeup and it is worth checking out.
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