I wanted a new desk clock but nothing that was for sale really fit the bill well. So, I made me this. I wanted it to look like it wouldn't have been out of place at NASA in the 60's. Who doesn't love a bit of neon?
Yessir, American long-life ones. The Russian ones without a Penning mixture in tend to turn black quite quickly.
There's not much to it, really. I bought a cast aluminum box. I cut the hole for the screen with a Dremel, filed the chamfer on it. Was echoing HP equipment of the 60's in style. A piece of orange plexiglass to help contrast and get rid of the purplish tinge the mercury inside the tubes gives. I bought the clock circuitry about 20 years ago from a guy in Germany; it's a fairly simple thing, a PIC at the core of it. Tubes are multiplexed in two sets of three. Local oscillator also watches the AC line frequency and uses that as a backup source. Round here that means the time likes to drift.. our line frequency isn't very stable. A few plastic standoffs made from acrylic to hold it all in place inside. Got it all painted up with Rust-Oleum in the garden. Then drilled and tapped the legs for screws. Added some rubber feet and Robert is your father's brother. Not much to it, really. I would love to say "I built it all out of individualized components and made a decade counter for each" but I can't. But it does work nicely. I have it on my bedside table now. I have another clock I'm working on, too. Phil
The Jalopy Journal
