Bottlehead style nixie clock build log

P

phatfish

Member
I’ve always admired the look of the Bottlehead kits I’ve put together, and have lusted over nixie clocks for quite some time. I’ve decided to combine the two and find a solder yourself nixie kit into a 6x10 Bottlehead chassis.

I’ve picked up a 4 tube kit from pv electronics in the UK. They seemed generally recommended, have a nice modular tube system, and seemed similar to the kits I’ve done with mostly through hole soldering.

So far I’ve set up a colon using a shielded 7 pin socket, some grommets and INS-1 neons. Stay tuned as I build this thing out!
 

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Your post got me thinking...I was trying to figure out how to use the solder-in tubes with miniature tube sockets to keep the look. The pinned nixie tubes are pricy.
The 4 tube kit comes without tubes, correct? What tubes did you go with and did you get them from PV?
Thanks in advance,
Karl
 
Hey Karl, I indeed wanted to go with pinned tubes so I could have top plate mounted sockets. I’ll be using IN-8 tubes with matching PL27-1PD sockets. Tubes haven’t arrived and they are coming from Russia…in retrospect I probably should have ordered elsewhere (it’s been over a month).

These tubes also come in a IN-8-2 variety with long leads. So the plan is to get a clock set up to take IN-8-2 tubes and run some wires from the socketed IN-8 tubes.
 
PV electronics appreciation post.

Kit seems really well thought out with great instructions. Not quite as idiot proof as Bottlehead, but they have a lot of pictures and voltage checks along the way. PCB appears very high quality, black with gold contacts. All the chips are socketed making for good repairability.

Also included a shot of the clever modular tube connector. You get a mini PCB specifically for the tube you plan to use. And that slides onto a universal header.
 

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The PV website says they aren't taking direct web-based orders and asking for a screen shot to be e-mailed. Was your order handled the same way?
TiA,
Karl
 
Hi Karl, not exactly... There was a two part process where I placed my order online then a day or two later received an invoice to pay for it. In practice I guess this isn’t all that different, but it is strange. For what it’s worth, Pete over there was responsive to some questions I had and I received my order pretty quickly considering it was UK>US.
 
Some dry fitting before finishing the top plate and wiring up the tube sockets. Toggle switches are a bit bigger than I would have liked, but not a ton of Off-Mom toggles it seems. Indicator LEDs are for GPS sync and DST.

Tubes are in the US at least now, so I should have them pretty soon.
 

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Going to be nice. Tubes yet?
I pulled the trigger, at least sending order info to pv sales.
Would you mind sharing the cut-out diameter and the mount spacing? I'm trying to pre-design my top plate and all my searches end up on commercial sites.
Thanks
Karl
 
Honestly, I just kinda laid things out and used a stepped bit until the sockets fit so this is pretty inexact. But looks like I went to 5/8th on the stepped bit for the tube sockets, and I spaced them 1 and 1/8ths between the pairs and ~7/8ths from center. Also looks like they are offset ~7/8ths from the 7pin. But again, I just kinda moved things around until I liked the look.
 
I didn't look closely at the underside shot, I was thinking the tubes/sockets were closer to the size of the Compactron sockets used on the SEX 3 amp.
Thanks for the info and keep us posted as you progress,
Karl
 
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