By vfdclock.jimdo.com
Under my desk there is a box of IN-18 tubes which I have been meaning to use for a while, some of the tubes are perched on the top of the box, threatening to fall out, and it really way time to do something with them. Browsing EBay lead me eventually to the fantastic array of gadgets on the vfd.jimdo.com site, and I just had to have one of the cute, beautifully designed Single Digit Nixie clocks that would fit with a tube from my overflowing box.
The ordering process went beautifully, and the assembled clock arrived within 2 weeks, well packed and in a small but sturdy cardboard box. The clock comes without a tube, but the process of fitting a tube is really straightforward, because there are pin sockets which seem to fit snugly, but without the idea that you are forcing the tube into the socket.
One of the beautiful things about this little clock is that it needs only a USB 5V supply to make it run. It is quite power efficient, and doesn't consume much energy, and doesn't get hot. While diplaying the time, it shows the tens or hours, hours, tens of minutes and minutes one after the other. To help you understand the time more easily, the single hours and single minutes also light up the right hand neon bulb as well.
Setting the options is a bit fiddly. Personally I had a bit of trouble understanding the menu structure, and had to keep reading it attentively to be able to set the clock, but that is the cost of having a clock with only a single digit and lots of options. Once the clock is set, you won't have to set it again very often, because the time is preserved by a battery driven Real Time Clock when there is no power. The time keeps counting even when the clock is turned off. You can see the data sheets in in English or in Chinese.