Warehouse 13 hardware - nixie wristwatch on ebay

[J Thomas]

[bucko170]

SOLD

Missed out again

[J Thomas]

[clockace]

mick i thought you had one of those round ones i have seen? peter

[Sully008]

Mick, model 2 is in process. You're on the short list.

Try to find me (4) NL4998 or B4998 nixie tubes, and you go to the front of the line. I've only enough tubes on hand for five watches, so it'll be a very limited production item.

Model 2 is literally half the size of the original, and in a drivers watch configuration with four tubes edgewise. It has wrist shake activation, and does not look like a hockey puck or a brick. And most importantly; no microprocessor.

Regards, jeff

I had an opportunity to buy that watch, but my funds are currently tied up in dyno tuning my car this coming Thursday... Jeff, the Model 2 sounds interesting. Any chance of getting on the list? I still need to send you that solar cell, too.

Mike

[bucko170]

Mick, model 2 is in process. You're on the short list.
Try to find me (4) NL4998 or B4998 nixie tubes, and you go to the front of the line. I've only enough tubes on hand for five watches, so it'll be a very limited production item.
Model 2 is literally half the size of the original, and in a drivers watch configuration with four tubes edgewise. It has wrist shake activation, and does not look like a hockey puck or a brick. And most importantly; no microprocessor.
Regards, jeff

Model 2 sounds like it will be totally different and well worth waiting for, I can't wait to see one and I am very pleased to make the short list - Thanks Jeff

I had a look for the nixie tubes but had no luck finding any - sorry, I noticed some Russian tubes on eBay with 9mm digits, not sure how they compare.

[J Thomas]

[Sully008]

Mike

I had an opportunity to buy that watch, but my funds are currently tied up in dyno tuning my car this coming Thursday... Jeff, the Model 2 sounds interesting. Any chance of getting on the list? I still need to send you that solar cell, too.
Mike

Mike, you're on the list as well.
I have five takers now, and that's the limit without acquiring more tubes.

Regards, jeff

Sir, thank you for putting me on the list. I have some running around to do today so I should be able to get that solar cell in the mail.

[LEDluvr]

I hope everyone is going to show pictures of the finished product.
I'm looking forward to seeing them.

[J Thomas]

I hope everyone is going to show pictures of the finished product.
I'm looking forward to seeing them.

As you wish :



Well, it's not in the case yet. The case is a two part design; a machined alloy pan, either polished or anodized, and a clear polycarbonate cover. The cover will be machined from a solid block, and then polished. The low production quantities don't justify the cost of molding the cover.



It really is quite small. Three circuit boards are folded into a sandwich, with a rechargeable Lithium battery for power.
Two prototypes were assembled using a big 900ma cell, whereas the production watches will have a smaller 400ma cell. The difference is that the smaller cell will require a charge every 90 days, versus six months for the big one. It will cut the weight, and a couple millimeters from the depth.



The nixie watch uses very small (and difficult to acquire) B4998 nixie tubes, I opted to use a special neon lamp for the tens-hours digit to represent a one. It is also color matched to the nixie tubes. Additionally, I used the space beneath the neon lamp to pack in the high voltage supply that powers the tubes.



The watch electronics dimensions are 41mm wide, 19mm tall, 32mm deep. The weight is 28 grams. Of course this does not account for the enclosure. That will add a little to the final size and weight.

The watch will include a charge cradle. Recharging will be required on approximately 90 day intervals.

The watch is activated by a wrist snap-shake using a magnetized ball rolling in a steel barrel (see below minutes tubes). Unintended activations are kept to a minimum by an R/C timer circuit. I spent some time on this circuit.

Time setting is done by a rod magnet, activating micro reed switches placed on each end of the logic section. Fast set on the tens-hours end, slow set on the minutes end.

Remember, this is built using CMOS logic components; just like the original LED watches of the 70's. I didn't cheat and use a microprocessor. Although I did use seven very small TSSOP packaged IC's.

A tiny orange LED placed between the hours and tens-minutes tubes flashes with the changing seconds. Another neon lamp was just too big to stuff in there.




I need to correct a few mistakes on the first board fabrication. I'll likely go with a black solder mask color on the production board.
The enclosure is still out for quote. It's not been pretty either.


Anyway, that is the nixie watch 2. It included everything I wanted to add to the original design from nine years ago.

Regards, jeff

[bucko170]

Looks great !!

[Sully008]

Jeff,

That looks awesome! Funny, I never asked about the price . No matter, I want one.

Heaven forbid, but what would happen if one of the tubes breaks? Are replacements available?

Mike

[LEDluvr]

Very Cool Jeff!
Do we dare ask the price.... ??

[J Thomas]

[Sully008]

Hi Michael, it will be $495 when completed. Perhaps fifteen will be built. I'm doing this for myself, and not as a commercial effort.

I realize it's an entirely absurd price, and our hero Ed didn't include an emoticon for someone completely nuts, so I'll add one

Regards, Jeff

Jeff,

I don't find that price absurd at all, especially for such a limited piece. It'll be a privilege to own one. Thank you for continuing your passion for Nixie tube devices.

Mike

[bucko170]

I don't find that price absurd at all, especially for such a limited piece. It'll be a privilege to own one

Totally agree, count me in too

[LEDluvr]

I'd love to join in Jeff but unfortuntaley I can't $ -wise at this time.
(I'm still working on getting the blue module for the MIB Redux watch we discussed in another thread... )

But just seeing them is a pleasure! I can't wait to see the finished product - case n' all.

[teslabe]

Hi all, I'm new to this group but have been a member of NeoNixie for some time. My name is Kent and I have a dumb question. I bought two of Jeff's watches and he was nice enough to include a bare board and about 95% of the parts to build a third watch, minus the tubes. Well I got 4 B4021's from a place in Canada to use instead of the B7977's. They are low power (120v @ 2.0ma). Here is what I get when I turn on the display, please tell me it is just a case of insufficient current and not a set of bad tubes, they where stated as NOS. I've looked at the tubes under a microscope and I don't think they NOS but before I call the place I got them from, I could use some help. How do you post a picture????? I've tried ImageShack and nothing seems to post.[/img]

[J Thomas]

[bucko170]

Jeff, Any news with the new Nixie watch project? Any more sneak previews?

[J Thomas]

[Muris]

I love the watch!

Could you tell us what SMD parts you are using to multiplex the tubes. I am designing a clock, not a watch, so I am out looking for various parts to use in my design but I can't find any high voltage TTL drivable parts.
It is 170V-190V.

Thanks