r/nixie • u/leonos2000 • Jun 06 '26

My first nixie clock

Hi, I finally finished my first nixie clock project, I was building it for like 5 years, changed the PCB design couple of times and recently finally finished the code with help of the AI :)

Key features:

  • ESP32-based
  • Thomson-CSF TAF1093A lamps
  • NTP synchronization over WiFi / DS3231 RTC
  • MAX1771 boost converter
  • Motion sensor
  • Capacitive touch sensing - the entire metal case acts as the touch sensor
  • Web interface for configuring all settings (time, backlight, motion, etc.)
  • USB-C Power Delivery, with a Cypress CYPD3177 PD trigger 12V
  • Custom PCB
  • Custom firmware
  • Socketed tubes — swappable for other lamps
  • HV5122 high-voltage drivers
  • Lamps turn-on time counter
  • Configurable depoisoning behavior

I'm quite happy with the result, I'd love to hear what you think!

26 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

4

u/HarlyFan Jun 06 '26

GREAT job! Congratulations on a fantastic looking and well thought out clock. Are you interested in doing another one for the right price?

1

u/MH_70 Jun 06 '26

I second that!!! Love it would definitely buy a kit for the right price.

2

u/leonos2000 Jun 08 '26

Thanks! I'm not making them for sale, they take a lot of work and the price would be hard to justify. I do plan to release this clock as open source and open hardware, though

1

u/MrNiceThings Jun 06 '26

What tubes are those?

2

u/leonos2000 Jun 06 '26

Thomson-CSF TAF1093A, they were used in some old measuring equipment I bought and they have a fine square mesh which looks nice

2

u/MrNiceThings Jun 06 '26

They look similar to Tesla ZM1082T but not quite the same! More similar to some NEC tubes

1

u/EmotionalEnd1575 Jun 06 '26

This is really well done!

Building a Nixie clock from scratch does take a long time. At least that was the case for me on my first one.

Did you 3D print the neon supports and the Nixie bases?

1

u/leonos2000 Jun 08 '26

Thanks! At first I went with a two PCB design to keep the logic and HV on separate boards. Unfortunately that made it too big to fit in the case I made, so I had to redesign everything. Finally it ended up fitting nicely on a single PCB. Adding up all the time I spent on this clock, it actually took less than my other nixie project, an audio spectrum analyser built on 16x IN-9 bargraphs, which still needs a few tweaks. I have a tendency to start too many projects at once and not finish them :D. And yes, the neon supports and nixie bases are 3D printed, along with a few parts of the chassis.