The Cold War Nixie Tube Clock That Never Was

Hank writes, "I recently completed an all-tube, zero solid state, dekatron and nixie tube clock that is built only with components that were available in 1959. It's not a reproduction, because it was never a product in the first place!

You don't see them much anymore, but in this clock Dekatron tubes are probably the most important components because they are the register elements that store and count the current time. Dekatron tubes were introduced the early 1950s and were often seen in particle counters for atomic research. They were also used in some lower speed base-10 computers, but faded out in around 1960 when solid state binary-based computing took over. 

It's fully documented on my website with schematics (hand-drafted of course), operation/service manual, a video, and hi-res photos."

It took him a year and a half to build this brilliant one-of-a-kind chronometer. That's time well spent, if you ask us. 

See Hank's Cold War Clock page for more photos and details.