MyNixieClockProject

byPeterH.Wendt
Rel.0.9.5_en,LastUpdate:Wednesday,20091118

Mostcommonquestion:"YourwhatClockProject?"
BeforeLightEmittingDiodes(LEDs)andLiquidCrystalDisplays(LCDs)theelectronicindustry
usedcoldcathodetubesfordisplayingnumbers,symbolsandevencharacters.Eventhoughthey
arecalled"tubes"theydifferfrom"radiotubes"byhavingnoheaterwiretoheatthecathodeand
thereforerunmuchcolder.Theydohaveaglassenvelopebutunliketo(most)tubestheyarenot
empty:theyarefilledwithagascompound,mainlyneongas.Ifyouapplyavoltagebetweenthe
anode(+pole)andoneofthecathodes(poles)thecharactershapedcathodeiscoveredwitha
pinktoorangedischargeglow.
"NIXIE"wasatrademarkfromBurroughsCorp.fortheirnumericdisplaytubes.Itisrumoured
thattheyinventedthiskindoftubeoratleasttheygotpatentsforit.Thereweremanydifferent
typesofthesetubes:viewedfromtheside,viewedfromthetop,smallones,bigones,giantsized,
types where a neon glows through a charactershaped mask and arrays of multiple nixies with
multiplexedwires.Evenearly"multisegment"typeswereavailable,capabletodisplayletterslike
thelaterLED7segmentarrays.
Theanimationbelowshowsthebuttonlike,topviewedZM1020.
ItisaNixiewith15mm(0.6")characterheight.

Yougottheidea,right?
Nowforsometechnicaltheory.
BasicallytheseNixietubesareverysimpledevices.Thefollowingschematicwillexplain,how
theywork.

Ifyou applya voltage Ub the voltage drops across the currentlimiting resistor when one of the
cathodesK0K9istiedtoGND.Thecorrespondingnumbershapedcathodeisthencoveredwith
a pink to orange glow. The values for the minimum Ub, the anode voltage Ua and the cathode
currentIkneedstobetakenfromthenixietubedatasheet,butyoucanestimate140VDCforUa
and2mAforIkasgoodstartingvaluesformostnixies.
IfyourUbisabout220VDCa47Kresistor/0.5Wattswilldoforsometestings.
ThedatasheetfortheverycommonZM1080/1082saysthatUbshouldbeatleast170VDCand
the Ik should settle at around 2 mA. Ua will then establish at about 140 VDC "maintaining"
voltage (noted as Vminthedatasheet).ThedifferencebetweenUbandUa is the Ura that drops
acrossthelimitingresistor.
ForasimplificationweassumethattheanodecurrentIaisequaltothecathodecurrentIkyou
will have to tie only one cathode pin to GND at one time anyway. Nixies that use a "primer
current"forfasterignitionresponsehaveunevenanodeandcathodecurrents.Butwemayleave
thatasidehere.
Advantage:IfyourigamultimeterinMilliAmperesrangeintothe(common)anodelineduring
thetestingyoucantrackthecurrentthroughtheNixietubewhileconnectingthecathodepinsor
leadstoGNDwithoutneedingtomeddlearoundwiththemeterwires.Theunusedcathodepins
areleftopen(theterm"floating"isusedoften).YouwillbeabletomeasurevoltagesuptoUaon
thepinsnotconnected.
Furtheradvantage:ifyouhaveseveralNixiesinacircuit,thesehaveallonecommonUbwire.If
youinstallamAMeterinthatlineyougetthetotalcurrentdrawnforallnixies.Andcanassume
thattheindividualcurrentistotalcurrentdividedbythenumberoftubesyouareusing.Thisisnot
absolutelytruebutwewon'twintheNoblePrizewithaverypreciseresearchonthatanyway.
Somequickmathstocalculatethevaluesforthelimitingresistor

Ura =Ub Ua >220V140V=80VDC

Ra =Ura /Ia >80VDC/0.002A=40.000Ohms
Pra =Ura *Ia >80VDC*0.002A=0.16Watts

Since there is no 40 KOhms resistor in the range of ordinary E24 5% standard resistors it will
surelydoifyoupicka43KOhmstype0.25Wattshere,nottoexceedthe2mAcathodecurrent.

Calculation
fortheNixieAnodeResistor
SupplyVoltageUb 220

AnodeVoltageUa 140

CathodeCurrentIk 2.0

mA

Ura:

Ra:

Pra:

Watt

Calculate

ResetCells

If you just press [Calculate] the values for the given Ub, estimated Ua and the given cathode
currentIkareusedandtheoutputisthecurrentacrosstheanoderesistorUra,theresistorvaluein
KiloOhmandthethermallossPraoftheresistorinWatt.
For your own calculation just overwrite the values in the upper 3 lines with what you need and
thenclickon[Calculate]again.

220VDCisquiteabit.Howtogetthemsafely?
Well...theprofessionalapproachistohaveeitheraspecialtransformerfortherequiredvoltages
oratleastanisolated1:1ratioseparationtransformer.Ifyouliveinthe"lowvoltage"areasofthe
worldwhere110VACistheusualACmainsvoltageyoumaysurviveashockfromthelifewire.
Ifyoulifeinthe"highvoltage"areaslikehereinGermanythe230VAClinevoltagewillsurely
kill you if you accidentially happen to be good grounded. A 1:1 transformer isolates the input
voltagefromtheoutputvoltagesoyouarenotdirectlyconnectedtoACmains.The230VACthat
goesincomesoutas230VACbutyouhavenoconnectiontoEarth(GND)whentouchingany
wire.Youarenonthelesstoastedifyoutouchbothwiresatonetime.
Theprofessionalsphraseis"galvanicallyseparated"itisgoodtoknowthat.
Separation transformers are usually big, heavy and expensive. Not as expensive as your life of
course,butenoughtoblowabudget.Inourcasehoweverwedon'tneedKilowattcapabilities.A
few Watts will do so we can build our own separation transformer by simply using two small
transformers"BacktoBack".

Thegraphicbelowwillshowthissimplesolution.

The transformers can be simple, relatively cheap printtype transformers with greater 4 Watts
outputpower.TheonesIusedonmyprototypeclockarerated4VA(VoltAmperes)withasingle
230Vprimaryinputandasingle12V/300mAoutput.Ifyoucannotgetthosetaketwowith
e.g. 15 VAC or two with 8 V AC. The "intermediate voltage" between the two is of lesser
importance,itisusedforthelogicboardonly.Butatleastthe"oneontherightside"musthavea
230Vcoil.
Ifyouhavetwodifferenttransformers:thebigger(stronger)onemustbetheoneconnectedtoAC
mains.Youcannotruna10Watttransformerfroma5Watttypebacktobackforexample.The10
Watt has a lower resistance for the secondary coil and the 5 Watt secondary coil is then
overloaded.Atleastwhenyouaddloadtoit.Itmayworkforsometimehowever,butnotreliably.
The4diodes1N4001forthelowvoltagecircuitcanbereplacedbyablockrectifierliketheB40
C1000 for instance the 4 diodes 1N4007 for the high voltage part can be substituted by e.g. a
B1000C125 rectifier bridge. This rectifier(s) must be capable to run continously with 350 V at
least,sotheminimumwerea1N4004(rated400V).
Otherthanthattherearenosecretsinthatcircuit.The100KOhmsparalleltothe10F/350V
capacitor in the HV part helps for safety discharging the capacitor when no load is placed
acrosstheoutput.That'sall.Foryourownpleasureyoumayadda1KOhmsresistoratthe+12V
outputandaredLED...toremindyoutothefactthatthepowersupplyisswitchedon.
Withmytwo4WattTransformersIget15VACinidlebetweenthe
transformers,210VACidlevoltageattheHVend.Alsoinidlethe
DCvoltagesacrosstherectifiersare18.5Vresp.290VDC.Thehigh
voltagehoweverdropsdowntoabout200VDCwhenloadedwith4x
ZM1080or4xZM1020Nixiesandatotalof4.8mAcurrentdrawn.
Apowersupplybuiltlikethatwillsufficetoplayaroundwithvarious
typesofNixietubesandgetsomeinsightsonhowtheywork.

Important:Securityandsomeusefulhints
Ifyouuseapowersupplylikethataboveyouwillneedamediumblow0.315Ampsfuseinoneof
theACmainwiresforprotectionwhenintheworstcasethetransformergoessouth.Youshould
alsoinstallthewholepowersupplyunitinaplasticcasesothatitisfacticallyimpossibletotouch
anyAClinewire.Thatunitshownaboveisaprototypenotintendedtobereallyusedthatway.
Ifyoucangetoneofthese"wallwart"transformersthathaveabout500mAat12VACyouare
fineoff.Inthiscaseyouonlyneedonetransformerintheclockitselfandapowersocketwhere
theACAdapterplugsto.Fortheaboveschematicthelefthandtransformerisyourexternalwall
adapterandtheACinputsocketconnectstothepointsmarkedwith"X"and"Y"then.
Some DCAdapters can be reworked: if you can open the case of it without destroying it just
unsolder the diodes and the filter capacitor that can be found in most of them and connect the
outputwiresdirectlytothesecondarysideofthetransformer.Thenyouonlyneedthepartofthe
powersupplyfurtherabovethatisrightfromtheleft(input)transformer.The12VAC(or8or9
orwhatever)comesfromthewallwartandyoursecondtransformermustbechoosenaccordingly.
Andifyougolowerthe7812mustbereplacedbye.g.a7508(8Voutput)or7805(5Voutput).
Thecircuititselfdoesn'tcaremuchwhenrunningwithanythingbetween+5and+15VDC.
Ifyouoptforthatsolutionyoucanmakeyourclockcasefrom"moredangerousmaterial",like
steel,copper,sheetmetal,carbonfibreoranythingelseconductive.Youdon'thavetheAClinefed
intotheunitandtheworstthingthatcanhappenis,thatyoushortenyourelectronicselsewhere
anditsimplydoesn'tworkordamagesthetransformer(s).

OkaybutwhybuildingaclockfromtheseNixies?
Goodquestion.TodayyoucanpickalotcheapoLCDclocksfromsupermarketsforafewbucks.
Buthowdotheylook?Simplyboring.
GobacktotheNixieanimationfurtherabove.LookatitforawhileandI'msureyoucanspotthe
difference.
IbuiltdigitalcountersandclockswithLED7segmentdisplaysand74xxTTLchipsalreadyin
the70's.Thecommercialclocksusedreadymadecircuits,offeredalarmandsuch,buttheylooked
cheesycheapdidn'tmatchmytasteandthosewhodidwerehorriblyexpensive.SoImademy
owndesktopclock.
SamereasonfortheNixieClock:acustommadecase,antiquelookingglasstubessomewherein
itorplacedontopawidevarietyofpossiblycreative,unusualdesigns.Youcanmakeitfromall
material you'd always wanted to build a clock from. Wood, steel, acrylic plastic. Transparent,
translucentorgranitesolid.
However:theNixieClockdescribedhereisJustAClock.Notastopwatch,timer,alarmclockor
anythinglikethat.Youmayaddsome"BellsandWhistles",butduetothenatureofthecircuitryit
mightbeabitcomplicated.Moreonthatlater.

Gettingstartedwithit:thepropertiming
Heartofanyclockisasourceforatimingsignal.CheapACpoweredalarmclocksusethe50or
60HzAClinetogenerateamoreorlessaccurateclocksignalfromit.Usuallythatwoulddo

giventhattheaccuracyoverthewholeyearontheAClineiswithina1%range.NonthelessI'd
decided not to use that. First reason was to be independent from the AC frequency. Secondly a
crystaloscillatoroffersevenbetteraccuracythanlineACandthirdIhadacircuitathandanyway
Iusedforacoupleofapplicationsinthepast.Mainadvantage:itoperateswithageneric32.768
KHzminicrystalwidelyavailableandcomesoutwitha1Hztimingpulse.Theschematicbelow
showsthecircuit.

Therearetworesistors:R1actingascurrentlimitingresistorandR2biasresistor.Thislatterone
is a) dependent to the circuit voltage applied to the 4060 divider chip and b) dependent to the
currentflowthroughthecrystalanditscapacity.Imadegoodresultswitheitheromittingthisone
orusinga10MegaOhmstostartwith.Yourindividualmileagemayvary.
The crystal I used is a miniature clock crystal X1 in a round case
with19pFinternalcapacity.The"tieup"capacitorC1isalowloss
ceramic type, the trimmer capacitor C2 is a standard plastic type.
With a frequency counter connected to the 4060's pin 9 you can
measurethebufferedcrystalfrequencyandadjustittoreadexactly
32.768Hz.
The4013RSFlipflopisusedtodividethe2Hzfromthe4060down
tothe1Hzbaseclock.Thesecondhalfofthe4013mightbeusedtodividethe8Hzsignalatpin
1downto4Hzfora"fastforward"setmodenotshownherehowever.Ifyouarenotusingthe
secondhalfofthe4013:tiethepins8,10and11toGNDandconnect9and12.Pin13staysopen.
Ifyoudecidetousethe4013pin11isyourinput,13theoutput.
Itishighlyrecommendedtokeepthewiresofthecomponents(capsandresistors)shorttrimmed
andtheleadsbetweenthecomponentsasshortaspossible.Iftheoscillatorfailstostartupordies
afterseveralseconds:makethebiasresistorlarger.Itmaygoupto10MOhmwiththeseminiature
crystalsorevenleftaway.ThebiggerHCstylecrystalswithhigherinternalcapacitymayrequire
100KOhm1MOhmbiasresistors.Ifyoudon'twantatrimmercapacitoryoumayuseaceramic
capacitorofthesamevalueasC1aswell.Doesn'thurttheoverallaccuracythatmuch.

InthemeantimeafterIeditedthispageforthelasttimeIhadbuiltnumerousoscillatorswith
the4060andgotalotresponsesfromotherfolks.Alternativeconceptsforthetrimmerposition,
valuesofR1andR2andtheC1andC2havebeendiscussed.
UsuallyyouhaveadatasheetfortheminixtalX1tostartwith.Thisdatasheetshowstheinternal
capacitywhich*usetobe*about1619pF.
ThevalueforthetieupcapC1shouldbe2xthextalcapacity.39pFfitsquitenicelyhere.
The value for C1 should be [xtal capacity < C2 < 3x xtal capacity], where 5 50pF covers the
entirerange.
DeterminingthevaluesforR1andR2ismoretricky.
WhileR2couldbeommittedinthebestcaseforverydensepackingofcomponentsR1isessential
forthecleanfunctionhere.Ifitistoohighthextalfailstostartifitistoolowthextalenters
"overtone mode" and the oscillator output frequency is either totally erratic or way higher than
supposed.
For R1 220KOhm has prooved to be a good value, R2 should be 10M. If you have xtals larger
thanthesemicrotypesyourR1needstobereduceddownto2K2foraHC32xtalandR2might
bereducedto4M7forstableoperation.
The4060allowestorunatupto4MHz@15Vsupply.Ifyouhavetoomuchroomandwouldn't
careabouttwomore4017dividers:picka3.2768MHzxtal,leaveR1awayorreduceitto2K2,
R2to10M,C1to22pFandinstalla222pFtrimmer.Youget200HzattheQ13dividedby2in
the 4013 for 100Hz. Add two more 4017s and you are again at 1Hz with probably higher
stabilityduetothehigherreferencefrequency.However:youshouldnottestthe4060frequency
atpin9.Theprobecapacitywillaltertheresult.YoushouldtestatO4(pin7)andyourcounter
shouldread204.800Hz.Thetrimmerallowsachangeofabout+/25Hz.Ifyoudon'thaveone
adjustC2tothecenter,whereaboutthehalfofthestatic"leafes"arevisible.Thatwilldotofor
mostcases.

StepbyStep:thedividers(Seconds,MinutesandHours)
Atthatpointwe'vegottoholdforamomentandthinkaboutabasicdesignquestion:
"Dowewantasecondsdisplayoronlyminutesandhours?"
Ineithercaseweneedtwo60stagedividers.Buildingaclockwithoutasecondsdisplaysaves
roomanddrivertransistors.Let'shavealookatthispartofthecircuit.

TheCMOSchip4017isa"5stageJosephsondecadecounter"withbuiltincodeconverter.Each
lowtohigh transitition (= "positive edge") on the clock input 14 advances the counter one
positionupfromQ0toQ9,whichgotohighlevelthen.Alogical"1"signalontheresetinput15
setsitbacktoQ0.
TocountthesecondsproperlywehavetopullthefirstcounterresettoGNDwitha100Kresistor,
whichcausesthecountertocountfrom0to9witheveryclocksignal.At9itjumpsbackto0with
thenextclockpulseandthe"CarryOut"signalatpin12changesfrom"0"to"1",whichcounts
thesecondcounteronepositionup.ThesecondcounterhastheQ6outputwiredtotheresetpin.
After the 59th clock pulse it jumps back to "00". Any of the "Carry Out" signals changes back
from"1"to"0"afterreceivingthepositiveedgeofthe6thclockpulse.
The capacitors on each pin 16 are local buffer caps only. They are there to reduce the effect of
localvoltagesags.Thisismainlyanissuewhenthecircuitisbuiltonexperimentalboardorwith
noboardatall.Givenyouhaveastable,cleansupplyvoltageitwillsurelysufficetoleavethem
away or add one or two of them on the chips farthest away from the point where the supply
voltageisfedintothecircuit.
The "100nF" rating seems to be a tad uncommon to some people. It has been brought to my
attentionthatitmayleadtosomeconfusionandIhadbeenaskedifImeant"microfarad"instead
(butdidn'thavethepropersign).NoitisNanofarad.OralternativelyIcoulduse"0.1F"here
toclarifywhatImeant.
The Seconds Divider is followed by the Minutes divider. Looks in most of it like the Seconds
DividerbuttheInandOutisnameddifferent.Functionallytheyarealike.

Now comes a tricky part. In Europe (where I live) we have a 24hours display. We're not
"AM/PM"guysoverhere.24isabithardtodecode,sinceitisneitherarollovernorisitjusta
singledigitrollover.Sonotetheresetlogichere.ItisawiredANDwith2NPNtransistorsthat
pulltheMasterResetupwhena"4"appearsintheLSBwhilethereisa"2"ontheMSBhours
display.Neat,eh?

Also note the 10 F capacitor, the 1N4148 diode and the 100K resistor. These three form the
"PowerOn Reset" circuit that pulls the Master Reset line up for some time after a power on
occuredtobringthecounterstoallZerodisplays.Itmightbeunneccessarybutyouneverknow
withtheseCMOScounters.
Thecarryoutsignalfromthelastcountermightbeusedtocreatea"DayofWeek"displaywith
another4017ande.g.abacklightedfrontpanel.Becreative.
If you decide to have "USstyle" AMPM display you will have to slightly modify the hours
divider.
Thecountingonthehoursdisplaydoesnotstartat00:00butat01:00.Allnumeralsneedanoffset.
TheQ0outputsetsthe"1",theQ1outputthe"2"andsoforth.Duetothatyouhavetomovethe
inputofthe10hoursfromthe"CarryOut"(pin12)tothepin11,whichadvancesthe10hours
witheverytransitionfrom"9"to"0".
Whilethecountingresetsatoneminuteafter"12:59"at"13"inthehoursdisplay(andnotat"24"
after"23:59")youneedtoaltersignalfortheWiredANDtotheresetthehoursstagetopin2on
the10hoursandpin4onthe1hours.

Morepower:DrivingtheNixies
ProblemwiththeNixiesistherelativelyhighvoltagetheyoperatewith.Eachcathodepinthatis
notgroundedispulledupduetotheelectronmigrationinsidethegasfilledtubetoneartheanode
voltageUa.Thismaybe140VDCoraboveonsometypes.Acircuitthatpullsdownacathode
from this "idle voltage" to GND must be capable to handle it. If you use a NPN transistor the
Emitter(E)istiedtoGNDandtheCollector(C)isconnectedwithoneofthecathodepins.The

Base (B) is connected to the counter outputs via an appropriate currentlimiting resistor. The
"Collector/BaseVoltagewithopenBase"Ucb0specsforthetransistormustbehigherthanthe
idlevoltageonthecathodes.That'sthevoltageatransistorcanhandlewhenbeingnotconductive
(=notswitchedon).Thisdisqualifiesmostcommontransistors,sincetheirUcb0isonly1560
Volts.
But there are matching transistors available. Namely those designed for TVpurposes (video
stage,colorfinalstage,deflectioncircuits)orvariousHFandswitchingtransistorscanbeused.If
youhaveaccesstoalistingoftransistorswiththeirbasedatayouwilleasilyfindsomematching
types.MostcommonandlowcosttransistoristheMPSA42,whichisaNPNtransistorwithUcb0
=300V,Ic=0.5AmpandPtot=0.625WattsdesignedforTVvideostages.InGermanywepay
0.08Euro(about7cents)foronecomescheaperifyoubuy100forexample.
AlsouseableareBF118,BF179C,BF259,BF338,BSS48,BUW37(allwithametalcancase)or
BF413,BF420A,BF422A,BF483(plasticcase),AT1,AT2,DCorNMPSA42(SMDtypes)to
nameafew.
AlternativelyyoucouldtiedownallcathodestoGNDwitharesistorof100KOhmstoreducethe
idlevoltagewithoutstartingthecathodestoglowalready.Inthiscaseamoreversatiletransistor
withaUcb0ofleast65VliketheBC174BorBC546orBC846shoulddo.Howeveryouneed3
timesmoreresistors.
Theschematicbelowexplainsthedifferentdrivercircuits.

Theleftcircuitisthepuresimplicity:onlyone33Kresistorbetweenthecounteroutputandthe
baseofthetransistor.Whileinthecircuitontherightyouhaveanadditionalvoltagedividerwith
a 47 K / 4.7 K resistor between the counter output and the base plus an additional 100 K "pull
down"resistorthatreducesthevoltagebetweentheturnedoffcathodeandGND.
Totellthetruth:Ididn'tbothermuchwiththecircuitontherightside.InfactIgottheideafrom
anoldTVprogramdisplaycircuitthatusesNixietubes.ButtheMPSA42transistorsarefairly

cheapandthere'snoneedtoswitchtosomelow(er)voltagetypes,whicharen'tmuchcheaperif
atall.Butmaybeyouhappentohaveseveralhundredsofthemaround...feelfreetousethem.
Thecircuititselfissimple:thepositivesignalfromthecounteroutputpassesthecurrentlimiting
33KresistorandturnsontheCollectorEmitterpath,whichthengroundsthecathodepinofthe
nixie.Thisturnsontheneonglowforthatcathode.

UnderControl:Switchesforsettingtheclock
Sincethisclockisonlyacounteritdoesnotgetthetime"byautomatic".However:sinceithas
"AutoZero"functionyoucouldtryplugitinatmidnightexactly...
Soweneedswitches.Ilikeclockswhereminutesandhourscanbesetindependently.Andwhich
hasnottocyclethroughtheentire24hourscountinginfastforwardandthensetthe"finetuning"
withaslowmodeswitch.Iprefersettingtheminutes,thenthehours.OnceIgoofonthatIdon't
needtorerunonceagain.Andagain.Maybe.
Thesolutionisprettysimple.Twotoggleswitches,onebetweenthesecondsandminutesdivider
andonebetweentheminutesandhoursdividerwilldothetrick.Lookhere:

Thecommoncontactoneitherswitchisconnectedtotheinputofthecountertoset(minutesor
hours).Theresistor/capacitorcombinationdebouncestheswitchabittoavoid"scrolling"when
switchingbackfromsettorunmode.
The upper (NC now closed) contact is connected with the output of the previous counter. The
Diodeisfordecoupling.Itisnotalwaysneccessary,butmighthelpavoidingproblems,whenthe
switchhas"takeover"contactsthatclosebothcontactsmomentarilywhiletoggling.

The lower (NO Now open) contact is connected with the 1 Hz base clock from the 1Hz
Generator.Iftheclockistooslowforyourfeel(especiallyontheminutescountup)feelfreeto
usethe2HzfromthePin3(Q13)ofthe4060directlyorevenusethe4Hzsignalthatcanbe
generatedfrompin1(Q11)ofthe4060andthesecondhalfofthe4013FlipFlop.Orusepin2
(Q12)onthe4060,whichoffers4Hzalready.

Tickingtheseconds:Ablinkingcolon
Thosewhooptedtobuilda4digitclockwithHoursandMinutesonly(andsave16transistorsand
16resistorsatleast)maywishtohavesomethingthatindicatesthesecondspacingon.Analogous
totheoddblinking":"onotherdigitalwatches.
Easy done. If your Nixie has a decimal point you could use one of those. Nixies that have a
decimalpointtotherightofthenumbershouldusetheoneinthe1/Hoursdigit(LSB),witha
leftside decimal point you use the one in the 10 / Minutes digit (MSB). No special treatment
required.TheanodecurrentontheNixiegoesupabitbutthatshouldn'tharmanything.
ThosewhouseNixieswithoutdecimalpointsoraren'tattractedmuchbythelookmayuseasingle
neonlampinthemiddlebetweenthehoursandminutesdisplay.Seetheschematicbelow.

Thisishowthesingle,middleflashingneonlamplooksonmysecond
prototype:itisarelativelylongandslimlampIrecoveredfromsome
electroniccrapintheearly70s...almost3decadeslateritcamehandy
toactasablinkingcoloninahomemadeNixieClock.Lifeisfunny.
You could also use a LED or some "Magic Eye" tube that alters
height / angle during the seconds ticking. But "real tubes" require a
heatersupplywhichisseveral100mAnormallywhiletheentirecircuitwiththe8CMOSchips,

thedrivertransistorsandsuchtakeslessthan10mA.TheNixiestakeanother5mAfromthe220
Vsupplyandthat'sall.Ifyoustuffina"radiotube"youwillhavetoextendboth:yourlowvolt
andhighvoltsupplyaswell.Sofaryoucomeawaywithabout6Wattselectricenergygiventhat
thetwotransformershaveanefficiencyofabout80%.

BellsandWhistles:Addingextrafunctions
(Notyetfullyapproved)
Aneasymethodtoaddanextrafunctionisusinganintegratedsoundcircuit.Usuallythesechips
arepositiveedgetriggered.Means:youpulltheinputhighandthesoundplays.Givenyougota
chipwitha"BigBen"belltoneyousimplyaddanANDgateoutput(ortwotransistorsasforthe
"Hours" reset circuit) to the soundchip "activate" input. The ANDgate input is connected with
the"0"outputs(pin3)ontheminutesdivider4017s.

Result:anyfullhourwhenthedisplayjumpsto"00"intheminutesthesoundistriggered.
Hint:includeaswitchtoshutoffthesound.Sometimesthese"good"ideasturnouttobe
somewhatennervingonthelongrun.(BigGrin!).

Finally:somepicturesfrommyprototypes
SofarImadethreedifferentprototypes.Aftersometestingsandtrialsthecircuithasstabilizedto
thecomponentsshownabove.Thereishoweveralotroomforimproovementsorchanges,add
onsandwhatnot.Especiallytheswitchesforsettingthetimearesubjecttopermanentchange.A
printedcircuitboardisalso(yet)missing,butI'mworkingonit.

Herearesomepicturesofthetwoworkingclocks.

The1Hzgenerator.
Builtassample,usedin"Study"clock.

6xZM1040inred.
30mmcharacterheight.
Mounted30totheright.
RailwasforZM1020originally.

AstandardsizedEuroBoard.
TheredLEDtakesmore
powerthanallthechips.

Stillwithouttheneonlamp
inthemiddle.
TheNixieswereZM1080,
butIremovedtheredfilter.

OriginallythiswasaZM1040
whichusedtohaveared
filtercoating.
Iremoveditforbetterlook.
TheZM1042istheclearglassversion.

Acasestudywith4xZ5600M.
(exGDRZM1020equivalents)
Justcompleted.

Notenoughroom?
Builditcompacter.
That'showIdidit.

The"airwires"phase.
Switchesnotinstalled.

Stackedboardanddisplay.
Differentswitchesnow.

Everythingonvery
smallboards.Tofitin
the"Study"case.

Adivider/drivercircuit.
Verycompactbuilt.
Oneoftwo.

Alookinside.
Yesitisprettytightfilled..

OtherrelatedTopics:
MyNixieTubeMiniTesterMyLittleNixieCollection
A"7SegmentToNixie"Decoder(verystrangething)
DimmingtheNixiesANixieClockForEveryone...!
2001byPeterH.Wendt
MaintainerNotes:alltipsgiveninthisdocumentarewithoutanywarranty.
Ifyouaccidentlykillyourself,burnthehouseorbloweverythingyourproblem.
Switchyourbrainon,think,reconsiderandthenact.Butfirst:Think!
Youmayhoweverpickanythingyoulikefromthispageifyouquotetheoriginalsource.
Feelfreetoleavemeanote,reports,picturesoraskquestionsifyoulike.
Itrytorespondifmytimeallowes,whichisnotalwaysthecase.
Sorry.Ihavealothobbiesandajob.