The TC18 – My IV-18 Based VFD Tube Clock
December 26, 2009 12:25 pm [5 Comments]
This is the home page for my VFD tube clock project, the TC18.
The TC18 is a clock built around an old Russian IV-18 VFD tube. You can read the story of how it came to be at this blog post.
Purchase Info
I’m sorry to say that the clock is not for sale. I may be able to offer a limited run sometime in the future but there are no current plans to do so. The main reason for this is that the clock required a massive amount of manual effort to produce and things being what they are I would need to charge hundreds of dollars to make it worth the effort. John (the designer of the enclosure) and I have discussed this a bit and there may be something in the future but it’s not certain. If you would like to be notified if the clock is ever for sale please just leave a comment at the bottom of this page saying so and I’ll get in touch if it happens.
Specifications
- IV-18 Russian VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) tube for display.
- ATmega328P microcontroller running at 16MHz.
- Running Arduino bootloader for easy update.
- Completely custom firmware.
- DS3231 RTC (Real Time Clock) chip for keeping extremely accurate time.
- Lithium battery for keeping time during main power loss.
- MAX6921 VFD driver for controlling the 17 high voltage outputs.
- Custom high voltage boost switching power supply with voltage feedback; controlled by CPU.
- EEPROM storage of all configuration parameters.
- Rotary encoder with push to select for configuration menus.
- Custom aluminum enclosure designed by John Pfeiffer and realized by myself.
Downloads
Credits
The enclosure of this clock was designed by John Pfeiffer at http://blog.giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com/
Parts of the circuit are based on Ladyada’s Ice Tube clock at Ice Tube Clock
That clock is sold in kit form by Adafruit at Ice Tube Clock Kit
Some of the parts used in the schematic and board drawings are from the Sparkfun Eagle library at SFE_Footprint_Library_Eagle
Videos
Press and Exposure
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Your project amazed me. Something I have wanted to do all my life (62yrs). I am a electronic engineer of the old school and fascinated with the amount of labor of love you put into this. If you start a company, you will be a millionaire soon. Good luck and will look for you on Facebook.
I love the design. I have been thinking of making one myself, and I like how you used an external RTC in the circuit. I was wondering if you could throw a schematic up in pdf format, as I am using a different design program, and can’t import eagle files.
Hi there,
I’m interested in building a VFD lamp but i have a problem with MAX6921 i live in Poland the chip isn’t available in my country, did You buy the chip form Maxim od they send You a sample? I wanted 3 samples (need to make 3 clocks) but Maxim don’t seend them to my country eather. Have You got any ideas?
With Regards
Shalvan
Shalvan,
I got 2 chips as samples from Maxim and then I ordered 5 more directly
from them. You can buy directly from Maxim at http://www.maxim-ic.com and I
believe they will ship worldwide.
Ray, I put up a PNG of the schematic in the download section.