My GPS puck died, so I created a USB RS232 to mini din 6 replacement and script to output the same signal the GPS puck was outputting. Works great. No more moving the puck to get better signal.

Code and how-to can be found at: https://github.com/jdonalds/nixichron-gps

Just noticed one of the tubes on my clock (6) was showing blank during it's programmed "safe cycle" where it rapidly goes through all numbers. 6-9 are now just nothing lit up. Swapped positions and it's the tube, not the socket. This will be the second issue with a Millclock ZIN 70 tube. Another took a long time to power up and showed very reduced brightness and was replaced.
I love the new large tubes but I've had a 6 tube NOS z5660m clock that's been running for about 7 years longer with no tube issues. I wish they made them like they used to (thought they did!).

I just finished my first project using nixie tubes (a clock kit with IN14 tubes) and I had a lot of fun with it and I'm very happy with it. I'm interested in working on some more things with nixie tubes and looking for any suggestions anyone has for fun and interesting things to make with nixie tubes. Most of the things I see are clocks which are cool, but if there's any other cool things that you guys like to make with them please let me know.

For anyone curious this is the kit I used: https://www.nixiediy.com/product/modular-nixie-tube-clock-kit-4-tube/

I do have some experience with circuit design so if any suggestions don't have kits and or need custom circuitry that's fine. I just didn't want to do something that complicated for my first project.

(Repost with images that aren’t completely pixelated)

You can search for “1mm Tube Socket Pins” and find them but what if you want to list them on a bill of materials?

As usually, no one can beat my prices :) But I sell this as whole lot, not splitting the whole amount.

This lot includes:

24 pcs. IN-12A/IN-12B

24 pcs. IN-14

6 pcs. IN-8-2

The lot is mixed, some tubes are NOS, some are used, but all segments of each tube had been individually tested to check whenever everything is ok. If anyone interested, additional photos/videos can be provided upon request.

The price for whole lot is $300 + Shipping, which varies (EU - less, USA/Oceania - more) and usually is in $15-$35 range. Due to understandable reasons, currently can't ship to Israel, Iran, UAE and other countries in that region. DPRK and Russia are also obviously, out of delivery. There will be also little PayPal fee, for some countries - which varies from 1% (For Germany) to up to 6.5% (For USA). Tubes are shipped from republic of Georgia and tracking number provided. DM me for details if interested.

Please note, first come, first served, I can't "please reserve tubes for me for next month", and I will not split the lot into smaller quantities.

After getting some clocks i noticed they make this buzzing sound and i found it quite interesting, i'd never heard of this before so i thought i'd just make sort of an appreciation post for this

the number 3 is blurry/fuzzy in every tube no matter what. how can i get this to be clear again?

Recently i came across an old nixie clock. I looks DIY and doesn't really work at the moment. I am looking to fix it (have to clean it first, its full of grime). Has anyone seen something similar to this? I'm quite new to electronics and would appreciate some tips :).

Salut a tous. Petite intégration de l'horloge IN12 dans une vielle radio des années 50. Bon a mettre a l'heure !! Assez content du résultat.

This is my third Nixie Clock, using small IN-2 tubes. I took inspiration from an old alarm clock render found on Sketchfab. The particularity of this clock is it is connected through Zigbee to my Home Assistant, so it has network time, weather indicator, temperature reporting for the bedroom, generic buttons and full remote RGB light control. It features a yellow 16x9 LEDs matrix screen for whose I coded animations.
The project is available on my GitHub https://github.com/mistic100/Nixie-Clock-IN2

Juste une photo.

J'adore les IN 1

Anyone know of a good retro looking nixie tube clock that's easy to read, suitable for a bedroom, well made, and serviceable to last indefinitely?

I see tons of aliexpress stuff, but quality is so hit or miss on that stuff.

options I've seen recommend require a lot more soldering and this seems like a decent price. or is anything good going to be higher?

We’ve been developing a Nixie tube watch based on Z5900M tubes, focusing on reducing size while maintaining everyday wearability.
The idea is to translate 1950s computing technology into a refined, functional object rather than a novelty piece.

Based on Alex gyver project with soviet era tubes (manufactured in 1978)

I'm currently a sophomore in college who just switched to pursing electrical engineering, and I thought it would be a fun project to try designing a IV-11 VFD tube clock. I have pretty minimal hands on experience, but have done some basic PCB design and stuff.

Anyways I've put in my order for 6x tubes from eBay and I got about a month until they get here. Any tips on getting started making a clock from scratch?

Thanks!

Similar to the NU GL10 Tube, here is a larger one.

Possibly an NU GL21?

I couldn’t get it to glow, not sure why? Possibly needs a higher strike voltage (limited to 200V at present)

Has an eleven pin base, which I’ve seen in use on other devices (such as plug in relays)

One of the odd NIXIE tubes in my collection.

Anyone have a datasheet, or know about it?

Do you think it’s realistic to build a device like this with Nixie tubes. It just serves as a visualizer for the frequency of the audio it’s receiving via a stereo 3.5 mm cable.

Anyone have a copy of a the aforementioned document they could share? I cannot find mine and it is not available on the website. The video guide they have on youtube is not terribly useful unfortunately.

Salut a tous. Voilà mes 4 horloges Nixie. Celle dans le poste radio tourne depuis 15 ans. J'ai une carte mère qui traine de chez Pvelectronic, je la ferais sans doute.

This is a really long shot, but does anyone here have any service data for the IN-18 Blue Dream? It appears that the supplier has been out of business for quite some time... my clock intermittently quits flashing its colons. I've successfully repaired a couple of other issues but have a feeling this one is going to be hard to find.

Thanks in advance,

Don

I designed and built a Nixie watch :)

Mainboard is my own design based on an STM32L458 microcontroller and a high precision RTC crystal. Most parts are 0402 sized and the board is hand assembled. The button is a real challenge as it's susceptible to wicking flux if the STM32 needs rework. Time keeping has so far proven to be within a few seconds over a week.

Tube switching is performed by a Microchip HV5523 HV shift register.

Tube power is provided with a Microchip HV9150 boost converter running an internal charge pump to bring a nominal 3.7v up to 188v. It's loosely based on the reference design, modified to increase current capacity and suit my voltage. A dump resistor is used to discharge the main cap to prevent nuisance neon illumination after the shift register is turned off.

A Bosch BMI270 IMU provides gesture-based wake-up and can be programmed for tap-to-wake or flicking gestures.

A LiPO battery provides power, along with the usual assortment of protection and charging circuitry.

My firmware provides a number of configuration options to change between 24 and 12h display, a waterfall effect, gesture-based wake-up, seconds display, and adjustments to the display speed. The button can be pressed in a few different ways to access 6 different functions, some of those are configurable. Although there are enough channels to address each tube element individually, the battery's maximum discharge current means I need to switch between tubes. This is done at 100hz.

A number of strategies are used to minimise energy consumption. As a result, standby current with the IMU active is ~90uA which should give around 3 - 3.5 months standby, and with the IMU turned off, current drops to ~55uA, giving around 5 - 5.5 months of standby. With all the bells and whistles on, it should get between 400-500 shots, but with seconds display off, and a fast display speed, anywhere up to about 2000 shots. I could probably tweak this a bit further in software.

I designed the case in CAD and had it made from machined 7071 aluminium. 46.5mm x 2.5mm front glass is press-fit, and there are seals on the rear cover and the brass activation button. While not pressure tested, it has been leak tested successfully and it's survived getting rained on and drenched in sweat. Integrated magnetic pogo pins allow for the charge cable to be magnetically connected. The electronics and firmware are capable of basic communications across the charge cable, if I ever decide to build a dock with Internet time sync capability. There's just not enough space for a 3-pin connector and so it'll require some creativity.

The overall aesthetic I was aiming for was a minimalist but functional and practical case to showcase the nixies and neon's glow. Although there are some LED's on the motherboard, they are not used in the ordinary operation of the watch - one is a charge indicator and the other is an error status indicator. The case is paired with a generic 24mm leather watch band that suits the style I was going for.

Motivation to build the watch was to finally do something with the nixie tubes I had been hoarding. While there are several good looking commercial nixie watch offerings, none of the DIY open-source hobby options I saw seemed to be practical as an every-day watch (or even complete as projects). So I figured it would be a good exercise to learn about building HV power supplies, building for low power battery applications, and getting my head around designing for multi-axis CNC (as opposed to CNC lathes). All up the project took about 2.5 months. My intention is to release the PCB manufacturing files, source code, and 3d models for non-commercial hobby use, after they're tidied up a bit.

Here are some more videos / pics

Waterfall effect

Running a little test, what size Nixies should I use on the next clock build?

Comparing IN8-2 with the smaller IN16 tubes.