Do you know "Numitrons"?

Those incandescent 7 segments bulbs are used here to make a 6 digits clock with a very nice orange glow: I used "IV-9" russian tubes that are cheap and easy to get on eBay (look for "IV-9 numitron").

Brightness control is included and this clock uses only 12 volts, so no risk with high voltage here (you can put your fingers, these tubes are NOT Nixies).

This 6 digits Numitron clock is built with only classical components that are very easy to find (16F887 PIC processor, UNL 2003 & UNL 2803, DS 1302 timechip, 7 transistors and 48 1N4148 diodes).

Everything fits on a 16 x 10 cm double-sided PCB, ready to be simply screwed on a wooden block to make a great desktop clock with all components visible (see photos)!

Project status:

• PCB finalised - Very nice with buttons and status leds aligned - Note that 1 IC has not been used on prototype, will de suppressed in final PCB release
• Clock /calendar software (written in C) is finalized, including bright control, time/date setup, ECO mode, battery test (CR2032)
• An automatic DCF synchronization is planned (connector available) but software is not done for this final part.
• I also plan to add an LDR for automatic brightness control, will have space on new PCB version
• I already built six for last Xmas owners looked happy ;-)

Vote for my project and you build yours for Chrismas!