Absolutely gorgeous Z568M Nixie clock on Ebay

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jb-electronics

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Oct 10, 2017, 11:05:01 AM10/10/17
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Look at this wonderful tube clock (not mine):
http://www.ebay.de/itm/272881750088

I know we're all in love with Dalibor's tubes here, but these Z568M look
nice.

Cheers
Jens

Paul Andrews

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Oct 10, 2017, 12:26:45 PM10/10/17
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Super nice. It helps me decide what to do with my tubes, when I get around to building a clock for them. It is especially nice to see something that complements the red filter.

Nicholas Stock

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Oct 10, 2017, 12:28:49 PM10/10/17
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Bit too minimalist for my tastes, but the tubes are lovely....although I do like the clear versions better.

I wonder if Dalibor is going to release a filtered version of his tubes?

On Tue, Oct 10, 2017 at 9:26 AM, Paul Andrews <pa...@nixies.us> wrote:
Super nice. It helps me decide what to do with my tubes, when I get around to building a clock for them. It is especially nice to see something that complements the red filter.

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jb-electronics

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Oct 10, 2017, 1:07:23 PM10/10/17
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The red-filtered verion exists already, but I believe it is a custom model. I really enjoy the minimalist style actually, but I see that this is a very subjective point. Jens
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jb-electronics

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Oct 10, 2017, 1:28:46 PM10/10/17
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Oh actually I was wrong. I got confused when I saw this page here: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/nixie-machine-ii-mad-gallery-geneva

gregebert

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Oct 10, 2017, 1:42:49 PM10/10/17
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The funny thing about these extraordinary clocks is that.....
  • I would never pay that much money for a clock to buy it assembled, kit-form, etc
  • If I built one on my own, I would probably spend more money on parts, etc than buying it assembled
  • If I built my own, I would never sell it for such a low price

Tomasz Kowalczyk

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Oct 10, 2017, 2:06:53 PM10/10/17
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Stunning. I like when the base is small, without any fancy details nor RGB back(under)light. It puts the tubes in the center of attention.
I wonder how tightly packed are components inside and how the wood was processed - some components, like DC jack or boost converter coil take up alot of space. Not to metion any buttons or knobs to set the time.
The flat and very thin base reminds me of a bonsai tree - and like bonsai trees, this clock is a work of art.

jb-electronics

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Oct 11, 2017, 11:15:39 AM10/11/17
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I could not agree more, Tomasz. The slim base was the first thing that caught my eye. Personally, I find the vertical proportions just about perfect. But a six-tubes version with Z568M is simply too wide for my taste. I'd rather go for a four-tube version, but with the addition of one of Dalibor's newly designed colon tubes. That would look simply amazing.

Regarding the electronics, I think using SMD quite a lot is possible these days. Because the base of the Z568M tubes is pretty big, and there is no LED backlighting, there is probably enough space under the tubes themselves for some drivers (if they are mounted in the PCB directly). You could even use ten small MPSA92 SMD transistors, but then I am not so sure how you would go about the dimming. Maybe invest in an extra anode PNP driver.

This clock truly is a work of art.

Cheers
Jens
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Dalibor

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Oct 12, 2017, 4:56:31 AM10/12/17
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Wonderful clock! I love the combination of wood and red filters - thats something totally different to what we do.

- We have few projects/studies in development and absolutely simplistic clock is one of them - just stand and tubes, no LEDs, nothing - full attention on tubes. 15mm tall stand with all electronics inside ;-)
By the way, 4 tube clock has great proportions, I like it really much - also the price would be nicer.

- Red filters - this is also under development, we have nice red lacquer, but it needs to be made slightly more orange - right now it filters also some part of orange light making it less bright (Thanks Michael Barile for this hint!)

Cheers, Dalibor
IMG_2866.JPG
IMG_2863.JPG

Jack Buechler

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Oct 12, 2017, 5:51:20 AM10/12/17
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Does anyone want to sell me 6 B7971 tubes at a reasonable rate? I would li9ke to build one of the new NIxie clocks from Michael B. 


You would be shipping to Washington DC not the UK. to make it easier for you - most collectors seem to be in the US.





This reminds me of a precious painting - better for the tubes to be on display than in a vault somewhere collecting dust.......


let me know.


many thanks


Jack


Scott McInness

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Oct 12, 2017, 5:59:09 AM10/12/17
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I like the look of that six-tube version – my preference is for hidden electronics and exposed tubes, so I would definitely put my name down for one of those... Dammit, I like the look of the four-tube version as well! This could get expensive.

 

Cheers,

Scott.

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Nick

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Oct 12, 2017, 7:19:05 AM10/12/17
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On Tuesday, 10 October 2017 20:28:49 UTC+4, Pramanicin wrote:
Bit too minimalist for my tastes, but the tubes are lovely....although I do like the clear versions better.

I wonder if Dalibor is going to release a filtered version of his tubes?

You can coat your own clear tubes  any colour you want - note my avatar - a VFD tube I coated myself.


The stuff to use is called FEV - French Enamel Varnish, or Glass Varnish.

Two ways I found it works well - one is dipping and then hanging upside down to dry - best to use a tube base in a frame for this.

The other is to spin the tube (in a base) to ensure an even coat whilst it dries.

Glass must be ABSOLUTELY clean before dipping - I found methylated spirits and IPA both worked well. Only handle tube with gloves after cleaning.

FEV is good stuff

Nick

Paul Andrews

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Oct 12, 2017, 7:42:09 AM10/12/17
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I am seriously considering getting some white gloves to handle my tubes anyway. Does that make me obsessive?

blkadder

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Oct 12, 2017, 9:55:49 AM10/12/17
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Awesome looking clock.  All of mine are housed in big bulky housings.  I would love to see how the kit was put together.  I would also love to get hold of one of Dalibors six tube mounts.  One of these would look great on it's own, or even attached to one of my cases (lol).

Thanks to OP and Dalibor for posting pics.

Ron

jb-electronics

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Oct 12, 2017, 1:22:45 PM10/12/17
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There is more pictures here: http://imgur.com/gallery/eFbR8
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Nicholas Stock

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Oct 12, 2017, 3:59:16 PM10/12/17
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Define reasonable Jack? ;-)

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Michail Wilson

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Oct 12, 2017, 4:12:25 PM10/12/17
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Hello,

 

I have tubes; however, I don’t think I would be in a good price range.

 

So, just to set a price….

$130 each + shipping.  Will take a video of units working and mark them as you wish prior to shipping if you like.

 

There are cheaper units on ebay, so no need to tell me you can get them cheaper.

Also, I can with 100% guarantee that a specific seller on ebay is currently selling bad units. 

He screwed me for a bunch of bad units of which I am also willing to sell at less than his ebay price - heh.

 

Michail Wilson

206-920-6312

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Jeff Walton

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Oct 12, 2017, 4:24:22 PM10/12/17
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I am not sure of the seller that Michail is referring to on ebay, but I can add my experience that this listing contains known bad tubes and the seller knows that some of us are on to him…

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-pc-HUGE-B-7971-B7971-NIXIE-TUBE-FOR-COOL-CLOCKS-/253196543763?hash=item3af3b0a713:g:otUAAOSwPGlZ3utx

 

BEWARE.

 

 

Jeff W.

Ulysses Balis

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Oct 12, 2017, 4:51:15 PM10/12/17
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Speaking of B-7971's, on a whim, I just did a search on eBay for the rarer cousin of the B-7971, the B-8971.  Amazingly, I found one.

As I haven't bid on this type of tube in a while, I'm not sure what the going rate is these days, but $200 seems reasonable, given how rare they are.


It looks like a used tube and as such, cathode poisoning/degassing would be a concern, especially since there are no photos depicting it in an energized state.  To the seller's credit, he/she does have perfect feedback.


Ulysses B.




On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 4:23 PM, Jeff Walton <jwalt...@gmail.com> wrote:

I am not sure of the seller that Michail is referring to on ebay, but I can add my experience that this listing contains known bad tubes and the seller knows that some of us are on to him…

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-pc-HUGE-B-7971-B7971-NIXIE-TUBE-FOR-COOL-CLOCKS-/253196543763?hash=item3af3b0a713:g:otUAAOSwPGlZ3utx

 

BEWARE.

 

 

Jeff W.

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Nicholas Stock

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Oct 12, 2017, 4:54:39 PM10/12/17
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Those tubes have been on the bay for many many months and no-one has purchased them, yet the seller keeps the price at 200 dollars.

Too expensive.

I have some of the little 5971's but alas no clock to put them in yet....

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gregebert

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Oct 12, 2017, 5:17:51 PM10/12/17
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While on the subject of bad 7971's, has anyone done failure analysis on a bad tube ?

I have one that is completely dead because there is a crack in the base, therefore it leaked. No mystery there.
Another one has 1 bad segment that does not illuminate at all even above 250V, with no obvious signs of why. All other segments are good.

There is some sort of internal substrate, perhaps mica, that appears to have traces on it to connect from pin-straps to the individual segment cathodes. Perhaps the internal connections get broken from temp-cycling, physical shock, etc. I'm not going to break mine open to find out.

Paul Andrews

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Oct 12, 2017, 6:21:52 PM10/12/17
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She says she has more than one in the listing description.
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Robert L

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Oct 12, 2017, 7:39:45 PM10/12/17
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Hi Greg,

Failure analysis of open traces and wires... This from looking at a couple of large tubes earlier this year...

1) Measure capacitance anode to element and compare with a known good tube. I found significant reduction in capacitance on an element with a break in the lead near the tube base. 

2) I've also been able to resolve about 1 mm on a failed trace using a Keysight 53220A counter for crude TDR... Have done the same with a Stanford Research SR-620... many others models will work as well - especially if you don't need such fine resolution. I was looking for length differences in the mm range on the end of a 3' BNC cable. The relatively long cable gave me nice separation between outgoing edge and the reflection.

Launch a fast edge into the trace to encourage a pronounced reflection... I used a 2.5 V positive going pulse with about 1 nS rise and fall times fed with a very short connection to a "T" at the counter input. Input to counter DC coupled and 50 Ohm terminated. Fast edge then routed from the BNC "T" at the counter input into the trace being measured. I measured the time difference between the primary falling edge (triggering the interval counter at around 1.5V falling) and the rising edge of the reflected wave (triggering around -250 mV rising). I had the counter average a couple hundred samples allowing me to resolve down to ps differences and about a mm resolution... Compared interval from DUT and traces of known lengths on units with cuts at known points (exacto knife). 

It helped setup to first put the BNC "T" at a 50 Ohm terminated scope input to see the waveform with reflection and to get a good idea of trigger points... then move the BNC to the counter input.

Numbers above are approximate and from memory.

Best regards,
Bob

Jack Buechler

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Oct 13, 2017, 5:06:14 AM10/13/17
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I guess these days $80 minimum is the going rate or $500



From: neoni...@googlegroups.com <neoni...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Nicholas Stock <nick...@gmail.com>
Sent: 12 October 2017 20:59
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] re: 6 - B7971 tubes
 
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alb.001 alb.001

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Oct 13, 2017, 9:54:39 AM10/13/17
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Shipping is via E-Bay global shipping  and we have heard about their examination/destruction of nixie tubes with no recourse to the seller.

For what it's worth. 

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Ulysses Balis <ulb...@gmail.com>
Date: October 12, 2017 at 4:51 PM

Speaking of B-7971's, on a whim, I just did a search on eBay for the rarer cousin of the B-7971, the B-8971. Amazingly, I found one.

As I haven't bid on this type of tube in a while, I'm not sure what the going rate is these days, but $200 seems reasonable, given how rare they are.


It looks like a used tube and as such, cathode poisoning/degassing would be a concern, especially since there are no photos depicting it in an energized state. To the seller's credit, he/she does have perfect feedback.


Ulysses B.



On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 4:23 PM, Jeff Walton < jwalt...@gmail.com> wrote:

I am not sure of the seller that Michail is referring to on ebay, but I can add my experience that this listing contains known bad tubes and the seller knows that some of us are on to him...

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-pc-HUGE-B-7971-B7971-NIXIE-TUBE-FOR-COOL-CLOCKS-/253196543763?hash=item3af3b0a713:g:otUAAOSwPGlZ3utx

 

BEWARE.

 

 

Jeff W.

From: 'Michail Wilson' via neonixie-l [mailto:neonixie-l@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2017 3:12 PM
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [neonixie-l] re: 6 - B7971 tubes

 

Hello,

 

I have tubes; however, I don’t think I would be in a good price range.

 

So, just to set a price....

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Jack Buechler

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Oct 13, 2017, 12:37:16 PM10/13/17
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or even $600!



jb



From: neoni...@googlegroups.com <neoni...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jack Buechler <ja...@buechler.org>
Sent: 13 October 2017 10:06

Jack Buechler

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Oct 22, 2017, 11:30:03 AM10/22/17
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Looks like $800 or more for 6 tubes…..

or even $600!

 

 

jb

 

Define reasonable Jack? ;-)

 

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Nicholas Stock

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Oct 22, 2017, 12:20:25 PM10/22/17
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Prices really haven’t changed over the last couple of years. Listings regularly go for about 95 to 110 dollars per tube. Very occasionally you can pick up a bargain, but these are getting rarer. 600 dollars will get you a set if you’re patient.

Sent from my iPhone

John Rehwinkel

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Oct 22, 2017, 10:07:08 PM10/22/17
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>
> I wonder if Dalibor is going to release a filtered version of his tubes?

Even if he doesn't, I find that "Night Shades" brand taillight spray in red makes a great tube coating.

- John

SWISSNIXIE - Jonathan F.

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Oct 29, 2017, 8:22:21 AM10/29/17
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This clock is now an auction since it was not sold for the first stated price.
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