Due to the height demands of people wanting to use their nixie tubes to make a clock, we designed a clock PCB. This text specifies the v2 clock, but should also apply to v1 due to the fact that there software is almost identical.

All the features of the clock are accessible true the menu:

1. Menu 1
   1. Set time
   2. Set day
   3. Set blink
2. Menu 2
   1. Set alarm
   2. Set auto power on/off #1
   3. Set auto power on/off #2
3. Menu 3
   1. Manual power on/off
4. Special menu
   1. Snooze
   2. Alarm off

Menu 1 With v2 (DCF77) time and date are set automatically using DCF77, with v1 and v2 (50 Hz) you should set these manually. Blink specifies if the centre colon is blinking (at 0.5Hz) or always on.

Menu 2 Alarm is set using “set alarm”. The alarm is turned off when you set it to 00:00. In order to extend the tubes lifetime you can set two power off times. In the “set auto power on/off” menus the left two digits specify the off time and the right two digit the on time. So when you set “auto power on/off #1” to 09:17 and “auto power on/off #1” to 01:06 the tubes will go dark between 09:00 and 17:00 and between 01:00 and 06:00.

Menu 3 Manual wake-up the clock out “auto power on/off” / Manual putting the clock in “auto power on/off”.

Special menu Special menu is only available when the alarm is going off. With snooze the alarm will sound again in 9 minutes. Alarm off is self explaining. When the alarm is not going off, alarm off can be achieved by set the alarm time to 00:00

For more detailed information please see the manual.

See page 6 of manual.pdf (see downloads)

Main PCB

Part Value/Name
C1, C3, C5, 100n
C6, C8
C2, C9 1u
C4 470u
C7 10u @ 400V
C10 4n7
C11 47n
D1 1N4148
D2 BYV27
D3 6V2 zenerdiode
IC1 PIC16F628A/648A (1)
IC2 4017N
IC3 7805L
IC5 NE555D
IC6 BRUG
L1 220uH
Q1 IRF840
R1, R10, R11, 33k
R12
R2, R3, R4, 100k
R5, R20, R23,
R24
R6, R7, R8, 470k
R9
R14, R15, R16,10k
R17, R18, R30
R19 27k
R21 100R
R22 330R
R25 1k
R26 220k
R27 5k potmeter
R28 10k potmeter
R29 4k7
R31 39k
T1, T6, T7, MPSA42
T8
T2, T3, T4, MPSA92
T5
T9 BC547

Tube PCB

Part Value/Name
C1 1u
C2, C3 100n
IC1 4015N
IC2 74141N
N1 IN-8-2/IN-14/
IN-18/IN-12 (1)
N2 IN-8-2/IN-14/
IN-18/IN-12 (1)
N3 IN-3/neon (1)
N4 IN-3/neon (1)
R1, R2 100k/180k (1)
R3, R4 33k

PSU PCB

Part Value/Name
C1 10u @ 400V
C2 10n
C3 1u
C4 4n7
D1 BYV27
D2 6V2 zenerdiode
IC1 NE555D
L1 220uH
Q1 IRF840
R1 100R
R2 330R
R3, R4 100k
R5 1k
R6 220k
R7 5k potmeter
R8 10k potmeter
R9 4k7
R10 10k
T1 BC547

For all the pictures please visit the nixie clock result page


Also a video is made showing all the functions

You can download the manual for the clock (v2 both versions) here: manualv2.pdf (220.9 kB)
You can download the manual for clock v1 (v1 both versions) here: manualv1.pdf (485 kB)
You can download the software manual the clock (v1, but v2 is almost identical) here: sw_manual.pdf (247.5 kB)
You can download the jumper settings for clock v1 (v1 multiplexed) here: multi_jumpers.pdf (671.5 kB)
You can download the jumper settings for clock v1 (v1 direct driven) here: dd_jumpers.pdf (670.8 kB)
You can download the jumper settings for clock v1 (v1 both versions) here: jumper.pdf (457.6 kB) replaced see above
You can download the filter schematic here (use the xantus version): circuit.gif (2.3 kB)
You can download the case blueprint here: blueprint_case.jpg (78.6 kB)
Firmware can be request trough email by the original owners (for all versions)
You can find the firmware for the clock v2 (v2 both versions) here: Nixie clock code page