MAKE: Blog: IN14 Nixie clock kit

IN14 Nixie clock kit

Nixie tube clock kits ($150) - check out the PDF to get an idea of what you're in for - "This kit uses a microcontroller and discrete logic chips to provide the logic for a 12 hour clock based on IN-14 nixie tubes. It has hours, minutes and seconds, with colon separators. The kit is able to be programmed as a 12 or 24 hour clock, although the alarm function will not work fully for the 24 hour clock. The kit has additional features compared to the old kit, including an alarm, with snooze button, that can play any tune you desire, or make almost any sound (it uses a Picaxe 08M microcontroller to do this), two-level adjustable nixie brightness, separate 10-level colon brightness (and you can have either real neon or LED colons), LED tube uplighting with adjustable brightness (blue LEDs are supplied, not green as in the pic), am/pm indicator, and the option to have the display triggered by a small passive infrared detector module, so that the tubes are only lit when someone is within reading range of the clock... " - Link.

Related:
More Nixie - Link.

Related:

Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: ClintonRoy on May 12, 2006 at 12:15 AM

I've built this particular kit, it's lovely. I'd describe myself as a complete amateur when it comes to electronics, but I didn't make any mistakes that couldn't be fixed. My advice would be to a) mark off pieces on the equipment list as you put them on, and b) make use of the above photos.

There are three pots, but one is of a different rating. I also fluffed the orientation of the large voltage transistor initially.

The ickiest part of the project is drilling the holes in the plastic bases of the nixie tubes for the LEDs; do this in a well ventilated area.

The next part of the project is to make a little cover for it.

cheers,

Posted by: squeaker on November 14, 2007 at 3:53 PM

Does anyone know where i can get this kit?

Posted by: Lee Epstein on January 5, 2008 at 12:08 PM

Does anybody have a source for repairing nixie clock in the San Francisco area?

Posted by: tabacco on June 28, 2008 at 2:46 PM

I built one of these and it was awesome. He's sold out of the clock kits now, though, so it's no longer available.

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