Project “Divergence Meter”
Nixie Tubes Clock with Columns
Designed for 6/8 IN-18 xUSSR Nixie Tubes with Sockets
IN-18 Tubes are one of the biggest mass-produced Nixie Tubes
Nixie Clocks are one of the most beautiful and popular Vintage Clocks
Clock features Startup Tune, RGB backlight, USB port for updates
Nixie features Sockets and options include Tubes, Columns, Power Supply
Pluggable Accessories include compact external Temperature sensor
Nixie Clock is fully compatible with Arduino platform program codes
It allows you to write your own unique programs for the Arduino platform
All the latest Source codes are always available on our GitHub channel
PCB, Design, Schematics, Case and Software made by GRA & AFCH

Listing includes: 

• Nixie Tubes Boards with Sockets (NCT318, NCT818 optional and NCM109 Boards)
• Columns with Dots – 2 or 3 pcs (optional, choose in selector)
• Power Supply (12V, 1A) (US, EU, UK, AU) (optional AC plug, choose in selector)
• User Manual on Vintage style paper

Content description depending on your selection:

6 Tubes PCBs for IN-18 listing includes:

• 1 piece - Assembled Tubes Board NCT318 (without Tubes)
  This Board support 6 pcs of IN-18 Tubes and comes with two NE-2H Neons or two glass Columns with four NE-2H Neons inside
• 1 piece - Assembled MCU Board NCM109
  This is main Control Board with flashed microcontroller unit Atmega328 and other electronic parts
  It is a multipurpose Board that support any Tubes Boards of 3xx and 4xx series made by GRA & AFCH

8  Tubes PCBs for IN-18 listing includes:

• 1 piece - Assembled Tubes Board NCT318 (without Tubes)
  This Board support 6 pcs of IN-18 Tubes and comes with two NE-2H Neons or two glass Columns with four NE-2H Neons inside
• 1 piece - Assembled Tubes Board NCT818 (without Tubes)
  This Board support two IN-18 Nixie Tubes and comes with one NE-2H Neon or one glass Column with two NE-2H Neons inside
  This Board can't be used as standalone Tubes Board and can be connected only to NCT318 Tubes Board
• 1 piece - Assembled MCU Board NCM109
  This is main Control Board with flashed microcontroller unit Atmega328 and other electronic parts
  It is a multipurpose Board that support any Tubes Boards of 3xx and 4xx series made by GRA & AFCH

Nixie Tubes are NOT included with the Boards!

Tubes Boards offered for 6 and for 8 Tubes configurations

Nixie Tubes Boards features Socket pins for Nixie Tubes

Columns with separating Dots are optional for the Clock

Power Supply is optional for the Boards

Our Benefits: 

• All our Nixie Tubes Clocks are using HV513WG chips,
  it provides higher brightness in multiplexing mode in comparison with HV5812 chip and greater reliability compared to legacy K155ID1
• We offer flexible Tubes Boards platform, that support many Nixie Tubes
  (out Tubes Boards designed for IN-4, IN-8, IN-8-2, IN-12, IN-14, IN-16, IN-17, IN-18 and Z573, Z5660M, ZM1042, Z568M Nixie Tubes)
• It is easy to build a beautiful Nixie Tubes Clock with our Boards, we also offer Acrylic, Wooden and Stone Cases for our Clocks
• Fast uploading pf the Firmware via USB to the Control Board
• All the latest version of the Firmwares to all our Nixie Clocks are always available on our GitHub channel
• No need for additional drivers, we are using only genuine USB-to-serial converters (FTDI),
  drivers for them are pre-installed in all popular OSes: Windows, MacOS, Linux
• It is easy to modify the Nixie Clock’s Firmware functions for your tasks due to the open Arduino platform
• We use High Quality PCBs and Components, also we use Japanese aluminum capacitors only for our Boards (Nichicon, Panasonic)
• Tubes Board is easy to modify by cutting if you want to build 4 Tubes Clock [HH:MM] from 6 Tubes Clock
• Our Nixie Boards use Power On Self-Test (POST): LED backlight flashing,Tubes flashing and Start up Tune. Our Boards use,
  Firmware version can be seen at the end of the POST test
• Our Tubes Boards use Unique detailed Tube test – our soft test checks each Tubes segment on every Tube so it distinguishable to see segments failures
• We provide competent technical support for all our products

 

 

Software Features: 

• Support for many kinds of Nixie Tubes (4 tubes [HH:MM]; 6 tubes [HH:MM:SS] and 8 tubes [HH:MM:SS:UU/Temp]).
• Date format: 4 tubes [DD:MM]; 6 tubes [DD:MM:YY]; 8 tubes [DD:MM:YYYY]; 12/24 hour mode.
• Slot Machine (Anti poisoning – tubes saving function. Increases the service life).
• Unique RGB LED backlight with 16,7 million colors. Your can choose any constant color of backlight LED and memorize it. Or you have option for a cyclic full spectrum color change!
• Switching on/off LED backlight in the matter of seconds.
• As alarm sound clock uses standard RTTTL (Nokia format) melodies, so you can easily change it (included songs: Mission Impossible, We Wish You…).
• Easy updating firmware via USB using Arduino IDE.
• Software based on Arduino Sketch, so MCU has Arduino bootloader within.
• Power On Self-Test (POST): LED backlight, tubes and sound. You can check firmware version at the end. Unique detailed tube test – our soft check each segment on every lamp. Distinguishable to see segment failure.

  

Hardware Features: 

• Special schematic that prevent “blue spot” effect inside IN-18 tubes.
• Full static displaying mode.
• No flickering.
• High brightness and contrast.
• Integrated High Voltage Power supply 150 – 220V.
• 3 PWM channels for RGB LEDs 8 bit per channel = 24bit = 16,7 million colors. It can be disabled in the menu (please check the manual).
• High quality PCB and components. We use Japanese aluminum capacitors only (Nichicon, Panasonic).
• Test points for testing, adjust and control low and high voltage circuits.
• Pads for internal buttons and terminals for external buttons.
• Pads for internal USB connector and terminals for external USB.
• Terminals for internal and external power connector.
• 2 dots Column (digits separator) with independent controls for upper and lower dots.
• Power consumption: 12V, 1000mA (Recommended: 12 VDC, not less than 1A ).
• NCM109  MCU board size: 100 x 50mm  (world’s smallest dimension).
• NCT318 Tubes board  size: 264 x 50mm
• NCT818 Tubes board size: 94 x 50mm

Hardware features include ''Blue Spots" prevention:

Example of assembled NCM109 Control Board

Actual photos of Nixie Tubes PCBs:

Tubes Board NCT318 Tubes Board NCT318 can be cut to get Board on 4 Nixie Tubes Additional Tubes Board NCT818 to get Boards on 8 Nixie Tubes

Boards Dimensions in 2D and 3D

Tubes Board NCT318 in 3D Tubes Board NCT818
Dimensions of NCT318 Tubes Board Control Board NCM109 Tubes Board NCT818
Example of using the Boards: MCU Control Board NCM109 with NCT318 Tubes Board: MCU Control Board NCM109 with NCT318 Tubes Board with glass Columns: MCU Control Board NCM109 and NCT318 with additional NCT818 Tubes Board: MCU Control Board NCM109 with NCT318 and NCT818 Tubes Boards with glass Columns:

Dear customers! If you have ANY questions, PLEASE ASK us