Nixie-based tube clocks

By David Forbes / Cathode Corner

$395 (for sale as of 5/1/2009)

 

 

 

This watch was inspired the Jeff Thomas Nixie Watch. It uses an entirely different design - tubes and power supply.  It looks a little more like a watch than the other design but I prefer the clear plastic case on the other one.  Regardless, this is an amazing feat of engineering.  I'd love to own one of these.

FTA:

The Cathode Corner Nixie Watch displays the time on nixie tubes, which are quaint neon display tubes once used in calculators in the dawn of recorded history (1969). It is a two-digit wristwatch designed for everyday use, being water-resistant and rugged.

The watch requires no button pushing to operate - it shows the hours, minutes and seconds in sequence at the flick of the wrist.

Links:

Description: http://www.cathodecorner.com/nixiewatch/index.html

Purchase One: http://www.cathodecorner.com/nixiewatch/order.html

By Jeff Thomas / Resonant Instruments, LLC.

$495 / sold out

 

This is the really little brother of the NixiChron clock.  The fact that he managed to fit all of the components in to such a small packaging - and fit four vacuum tubes in it is amazing.  They require about 180vdc to power…your average AA battery puts out just 1.5 for comparison.  And even more amazing, he managed to fit this in 2.75"L x 1.5"W x 1.2"H

 

 

Links

http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/watch.html

By Jeff Thomas / Resonant Instruments LLC

Kit w/o Tubes $299

Assembled w/o Tubes $349

http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/nixichron.html

This is my clock.  I am the proud owner of the last one made according to the creator himself.  The display in this clock is a Russian Nixie tube called an IN-18 / ИН-18.  This is a really odd display.  There are 10 filaments inside of the tube.  Each one is shaped in the form of a number.  The tube is then filled with neon gas and a little bit of mercury to prevent cathode poisoning.    When ~180vdc is applied to one of the numbers, it glows.

Six of the IN-18 / ИН-18 tubes are used to display the time.  Like the Scope Clock, the time is set via GPS but a built in clock keeps the clock going when a signal cannot be located.  The tubes are some of the largest that were produced in quantity which adds a collector value to the clock.  Since they do wear out, I have a second set stored in a hard Pelican case.

Jeff Thomas IN-18 NIXIECHRON clock



Update:

As of 7/22/2009, the clock is once again for sale. It is now being offered fully assembled for $349 or as a kit for $299.  If you're looking for an IN-18 clock, this is the one to get! http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/nixikit.html

 

NixiChron Kit

Thanks to Michael for the update!

 

 

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