GeekKlok by Josiah

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!"