Nixie Clocks

[cooperalp]

I wanna purchase a new year's gift for myself and I decided to get a Nixie clock!!

I searched thru on EBAY as usual, there are many different versions, mostly home made and they seem to range from $100 - $500.

My budget is limited, I cannot exceed $150 and I don't need anything with a fancy look. If you have any experience with these clocks or if you had purchased one off ebay in the past, can you please let me know what to look for when purchasing one of these clocks?

Thanks!

Alp

[Vlasta]

Why not get a kit and build it? cheaper and more fun too.

[Vlasta]

http://www.store.tubeclock.com/index.php/nixie-tube-clocks/nixie-clock-kits

[JAC]

Nixie Clocks are 1) awesome 2) awesome and 3) awesome.

Doesnt matter if you build it yourself or buy one, but everyone should have one.

I dont follow the herd, so I can only point you to two further resources:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/neonixie-l
(can be a little cliquey, but they know their stuff)


http://www.tubeclockdb.com/
This guy set up his site before I had the same idea, so I didnt do it. I think he did a waaaay better job than I would have done anyway. What you will see here is a nice collection of nixie clock awesomness, and maybe some good tips on what to look for or maybe even buy.


Just a quick note on tubes. The Russian cheap tubes have an inverted 5 for a 2, and it looks ghetto. You generally pay for what you get, try get a socketed tube design, it makes it easier to replace tubes or cycle them (the hours display will get bored displaying 0,1 or 2). You could also look into numitron ( incandescent filament ), they are cool, but not as retro as nixies.


oh.. when I did my clock I went MAX.
This is mine:

http://www.tubeclockdb.com/nixie-clocks/63-16-tube-nixie-clock-by-enci.html

I havent packaged the LCD display yet, but I did change the front perspex to red. It looks much better.

Click to embiggen!

[cooperalp]

Thank you for the feedback. I looked at the kits as well however I am not electronically inclined and cannot afford to mess it up. I think a plug & play version suits best. I have my eyes on this one:

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Emilija-RGB-II-Nixie-Clock-IN-16-russian-Six-Digit-Tubes-Tube-Clock-with-remote-/00/s/MTA2NlgxNjAw/z/5kYAAOxyONBSWtAh/$T2eC16J,!)YFIcC!S3NMBSWt!gqzS!~~60_57.JPG

I don't know if the tubes can be easily replaced though, I will ask the question to the seller.

..and yes I think they are awesome!!

[JAC]

If I were to buy a clock I would probably buy from this guy Dieter. He is like the CPUShack of the nixie world.

http://www.tube-tester.com/sites/nixie/nixie-clocks/nixie-clocks.htm

Probably mostly available in kit form only, so if you have no soldering experience I suggest buying a complete one.

IN-16 tubes are soldered in and have the correct 2. I wouldn't get too hung up on changing the tubes. They will last a very long time depending on how hard the tube is driven. I have had my clock going non-stop for about 4 years and they look fine.

Looking at other tubes, the IN-18 tubes are nice if correctly matched for height and size. Again, Russian quality control was variable. IN-18's price is kept artificially high due to sources dictating prices.

[cooperalp]

Thank you JAC, i will browse his site and try to pick one that fits my budget.

Cheers,
Alp

[svetilki]

Hello. I am not sure as for the $150 per item price, but you can ask this shop to give you a discount. I have a discount for this forum for $13 off the nixie clocks. Just write this code to the seller, while buying - CpuWorld$13.
Attached their clocks' photo.

[debs3759]

That link says "Sorry, the member you are looking for does not exist."

[Marcin]

Looks like advertising to me. And "svetilki" is buyer and seller at same time. Guy with 0 posts got discount somewhere who is not cpu-world.com/forum related ?

[Libkin]

Ukrainian manufacturer: http://svetilki.com.ua/. He produces it.

[aberco]

Made my own from scratch: schematic, PCB and programming

Brighness is set according to ambient light, and there's a anti cathode poisoning routine that runs at night to prevent wear on the tubes.

[fritsp2007]

I build my own from scratch:schematic,PCB and it`s works without programming which was a precondition for me.
This clock you can therefore build without any software.

[svetilki]

[svetilki]