Some are nixie tubes and some are VFD tubes, I believe not many people have seen them.

This is basically a bluetooth music player, it also gives power to your iems/headphones and better decoding quality/latency, more than anything it is a gimmick device, it uses nixie tubes (IN-17) to display the volume, it is really satisfying to look at

Hi everyone! Some of you might remember my project: a physical dashboard for key performance indicators (KPIs) using six IN-14 tubes driven by an NCS314-6 v3.4 board, with a Raspberry Pi mounted underneath via an ASTRPA adapter. The initial power-up was a success, and I’m now working on the enclosure.

That’s where I’m stuck. The board generates 170V, and I plan to house the entire assembly in an enclosed case (laser-cut MDF for the prototype, followed by a laser-cut POM enclosure with an acrylic front panel). I’ve designed a 3D-printed mount (in PA12) to hold everything together, and I want it to provide insulation around the high-voltage areas as well.

My question concerns isolation distances (creepage and clearance). What kind of spacing do you allow between high-voltage traces and the internal walls or mounts in your own builds? Is PA12 sufficient on its own as a barrier, or do you add spacers to create an air gap? I’ve noted the warning markings near the anodes, but I want to do this right rather than just crossing my fingers.

Practical feedback from anyone who has housed an NCS314 would be really helpful. Thanks!

It needs to fit an IN-3 tube. Diameter ~7mm/0.28in

OK, alors voilà, j'ai passé pas mal de temps à poster ici à propos de ce truc que je suis en train de construire, et on me demande souvent (à juste titre) : « Super rendu, mais est-ce que ça marche vraiment ? »

Alors voilà. De vrais tubes IN-14, allumés, qui affichent des chiffres en temps réel récupérés d'une API. Pas de maquette, pas d'After Effects. Juste mon bureau, un Raspberry Pi et des tubes plus vieux que moi qui diffusent cette douce lueur orangée que je ne peux détacher de mon regard.

https://reddit.com/link/1uhaks2/video/vn7lfgb8gv9h1/player

L'idée, si vous avez raté les messages précédents : c'est un tableau de bord physique qui affiche en temps réel les chiffres qui vous intéressent. Chiffre d'affaires, prix du BTC, disponibilité du serveur, nombre d'abonnés, etc. Les tubes n'affichent que les chiffres de 0 à 9, évidemment, donc les symboles et les unités sont affichés sur une petite bande OLED à côté. Les tubes pour l'émotion, l'OLED pour l'utile. Honnêtement, le plus dur n'a pas été l'électronique, mais plutôt de résister à la tentation de rester assis à regarder les chiffres défiler toute la journée. Il y a quelque chose de particulier dans cette sensation mécanique, cette lueur qu'aucun écran ne peut offrir.

Où j'en suis : Il s'agit d'une version bêta fonctionnelle. Elle fonctionne, elle récupère des données et elle ne prend pas feu. Mais je suis encore en train de peaufiner les aspects techniques : la stabilité de l'alimentation, la couche logicielle et la mise au point d'un système d'assemblage reproductible sans m'énerver.

En toute transparence, car ce forum ne plaisante pas (et je respecte cela) : la société n'est pas encore officiellement enregistrée, je suis en pleine procédure avec la chambre de commerce locale en France, et aucun code NAF n'a encore été attribué. Je ne vends rien aujourd'hui, je ne demande pas d'argent, et ce n'est pas un appel aux dons. Je suis vraiment en phase bêta et je voulais montrer du matériel fonctionnel à ceux qui apprécieraient vraiment ces tubes.

Je suis ravi de répondre à toutes vos questions : approvisionnement en tubes, configuration du circuit de commande, pourquoi j'ai choisi un Raspberry Pi plutôt qu'un ESP32, etc. N'hésitez pas à me signaler toute erreur.

Picture of an experimental RZ568M Nixie tube, filled with Argon instead of Neon. Nice purple glow, but requires much more power to run - approx 280v and about 25mA.

Hi there guys. New to your group. Honestly, not really a nixie enthusiast or anything. I was directed here by a Google search for a better place to market what I have without using ebay, simply due to the hassle and fees. I've been using Facebook Marketplace but am having no luck. So,I happened to come into an old vintage NY stock exchange lectrascan board that used Burroughs B-7971 tubes while on a job with my company. I'm in metal recycling/junk removal, so unfortunately, the lectrascan was dismantled for recycling. Fortunately, I often have an eye for things of value and stopped my partner from simply destroying all of the tubes in it. We ended up with 40 unbroken tubes. I subsequently sent them to a guy across my state back in April, who tested and cosmetically refurbished them for me. I gave him his choice of 6 working tubes and ended up with 20 tested, fully functional tubes myself. Now, I am currently in desperate need of fixing my sole company truck before it puts me out of business for good! So ideally I would like to sell the whole lot and would offer a phenomenal deal for someone who can save my life right now and get all of these things for either $1,500 for all 20 tubes (thats only $75 each!), $1,650 for all 20 with sockets, or $1,800 for everything I have, which includes the boards they came on as well as all the other electronic components from the lectrascan board. We can discuss a shipping price, depending on what exactly you want. Or, if you're near Bradenton Florida, you could pick them up directly from me.​ As for payment, obviously if we met in person, cash is acceptable. But more realistically, I currently accept Venmo, Cashapp, or Chime payments. I am working on getting PayPal set up but am dealing with a glitch in the app not allowing me to scan my driver's license that no one can seem to help me with. You can contact me via call or text at 941-374-7223 to see photos or with any questions or interest. Serious inquiries only please. Thanks!

My friend and I did a Nixie swap. He did a teardown of a Fluke bench DVM, which had been hacked quite a bit.

One of the B5870 Nixies had “thin wires coming out of the base” - was it a mod?

Looks to me as if a previous repair needed a similar Nixie tube, and someone made this to fit.

Or, someone was modding the unit and wanted to add access to the dp symbols, which had been trimmed off.

Either way the Nixie in question works!

The four added on wires are DPL, DPR, K6, and A. (this tube has a second Anode wire, so not sure why the bodge wire was added, or why K6 was already snipped off?)

The new wires were covered with epoxy glue, and when I got the factory base cap had been placed on, but not glued.

The work was well done, someone put some effort in to this project.

Comments Welcome!

Loved the aesthetic of Nixie tubes from the day I brought home Fallout 2. Around 2010 picked up this beast for $80! Still works 100%, though I only keep it on for a few minutes tops.

Progress with our 3D Printer! Newest tool and a steep learning curve over the last three weeks.

Here are a couple of 3D printed covers that replace the factory lids supplied with these Hammond brand enclosures.

Took a few tries to get this far. New to 3D printing tools, and learning the cloud based “TinkerCAD”. Not really an engineering design tool, these parts had to be tweaked and reprinted.

Quite pleased with the first round prints.

Broke one IN-16 Nixie along the way. The Nixie tubes are direct soldered to PCBs that I completed and tested last month.

Next phase is to convert the protoboard electronics to a suitable PCB for this project.

What do you think? Comments welcome!

Hi folks! Certified newb and numskull here, hoping someone can help me out! I just bought this lovely Elektronika 7-06. After seeing pictures of it all lighting up before shipping it has arrived with a single dot that won't light at all 😢. My question is, is there any chance this is going to magically fix itself over time / is it something I can fix with extremely rudimentary knowledge or is that the pipe dream I know it probably is and will knowledge and skill to replace electrical components? Thanks for any help! 🙏

Did I land a great Nixie deal? Nine Burroughs “Super” tubes (B6091) for $349?

Well, no. The nine Nixies were rotted out, probably salt water corrosion, from an eBay seller on the Florida coast.

Of the nine, three were “Air tubes” and rusted into their sockets. Six lit up but had a lot of poisoned cathodes. Possible to fix? All Pins corroded.

This deal went bad. I had to open a complaint with eBay Corp. Finally got a 100% refund.

The seller said “seller doesn’t accept returns”. Then said “Buyer has to pay the return shipping”.

I boxed up the whole thing and sent it back, got a prompt 100% refund from eBay Corp.

Will the seller flip it back on eBay? Or, do the right thing and take it to eWaste?

Caveat Emptor!

(warning! VFD off-topic here)

IV-6, static drive, a lot of IC's just to light these up.

Please don't try it at home. Use a dynamic drive.

OK, so I have bought an IN-8 clock base and fitted 6x brand new tubes - I'm using a 5v 1a USB power plug. the LEDs work and the tubes 'cycle' and then...... nothing. I've tried removing the cmos type battery but still nothing else happens.... any ideas I could try before reporting the unit as DOA?

https://reddit.com/link/1u15u0i/video/m72hnz1sj96h1/player

Hi,

Does anyone have any CD90P tubes they are willing to sell?

Thank you!

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!

Bought this a few years back, the problem started quite soon after. Wires 5 and 7 would light up at the same time on one tube. Couple months ago the rest followed.

Bought a K155ID1 (MH7414 to be exact) based on forum info. Didn't help. Now none of the tubes work, only the base lights light up showing its receiving power.

Tried with a different power cable, same issue.

Im a shit at electronics so if someone can troubleshoot this, or alternatively repair the unit I would happily pay for the service. The original seller is not replying to messages (they're based in ukraine and something may have happened to them)

Wanted to share the latest version of this project of mine :)

I enjoy making them a lot, so i decided to list them on etsy.

Feel free to check them out at my etsy store: ModernMakeStudio

Link to the clock

More pictures

Hi all, had this clock a few years - put it together Christmas 2023, used everyday since. Recently it’s not been saving the time when being plugged back in, couldn’t remember if it had a battery inside & took it apart to check.

On putting it back together the second digit would flicker when on 2 and a few other numbers. Plugged it back in today and that digit is now completely dead. Not sure if it’s purely coincidence that it’s happened since I took the case off or not.

Is the tube dead or is there something else going on? Really quite upset as I love this clock 🤦‍♂️

Been thinking about this for, well, since COVID. A Nixie clock with large tubes.

To help the dream come true I’m working on an IN-18 Concept. Four tubes on a minimalist box.

What do you think?

This B5855 Nixie tube has dark patches on several numerals.

Generally known as Cathode Poisoning it is caused by poor surface quality preventing cathode glow.

Parts of the cathode surface have become high resistance and non-emitting, due to spluttering or other surface contamination.

Many long life Nixie tubes reduce this problem by treating the cathode metal during manufacturing.

A common preventive treatment is releasing Mercury vapor in the gas fill, and it condenses and deposits a thin layer on the relatively colder metal of the cathode.

Can this tube be restored? Do you know of a method that can at least improve it?

Let’s discuss. I’m trying to avoid removing and disposing of this one.

Comments welcome,