Personal atomic clocks.

Seriously.  Hear me out:

There are people who spend tens of thousands of dollars on home audio and call themselves audiophiles.  They buy low oxygen, ancient Western Electric cables to use to connect their speakers.  They buy dedicated amps that offer zero features by modern standards.  And, this market is big enough to support SEVERAL magazines on the topic.

Likewise, there is a market for watches that cost several thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.  Again, everyone has heard of Rolex, Longines and Breitling and these brands regularly advertise in broad interest magazines.

Knowing this, why do people look at me when I say that there is a demand for a personal atomic clock?  The market may not be huge but it is one that is willing to spend money. Even better, they can be made with off the shelf parts for little money. The blunt truth is that someone who is willing to buy used parts and is willing to tinker can make their own for less than $100 from parts for sale on ebay.

Let’s step back for a second.

What is a clock?  Simply, a clock is an oscillator and a counter.  The oscillator moves or ticks at a regular interval and the counter keeps track of the ticks.

An atomic clock is one that derives its frequency reference from some sort of an atomic event.  So, instead of gravity driving a pendulum, you measure the energy emitted from a rubidium source.  Dave Jones of the EEVBlog has a great video on how these work so I won’t go in to much detail here.  Rubidium oscillators are a common atomic reference while cesium standards are the industry standard for precision.

These devices can be small.  The standard rubidium oscillator is a few cubic inches.  Symmetricom has managed to shrink this in to what they call a Chipscale Atomic Clock – a device so small it can be mounted right to the PCB.

http://www.symmetricom.com/csac/

And how much does a rubidium oscillator cost?  About $50 used on eBay.  And how much does a counter cost?  Maybe a dollar if you use a common microcontroller.  The total price may be closer to $30 if you use something prebuilt like an Arduino.

The one last part of the equation that is missing is the display.  If you know me, you already know that I am going to say Nixie tubes.  Nixies would actually be perfect for this application because a modest investment could mean that one manufacturer would own the remaining stock of IN-18s.  Talk about a competitive advantage – no one could produce a similar clock.  There may be one or two popping up on eBay but my rough estimate of the market is that for around $100,000 you could buy the remaining known stock.

Of course, there are dozens of types of nixie tubes and great care must be taken to ensure that there is a sufficient supply for mass production.  Sourcing tubes would likely require several trips to former Soviet countries to meet with dealers and source NOS.  However, initial prototypes could be built with tubes for sale on eBay.

So we now have an oscillator, a counter, and a display.  From an electronics perspective, we now have a minimum viable product.  But we want to make the BEST clock on the market, not just a good one so there are three things that we will do different.   First, we will include a redundant frequency reference.  This will increase both the short-term and long-term stability of the device and will as provide a compelling selling point.

Second, we will include a series of external frequency references – probably 1 PPS and 10 MHz.  Now, if someone has another oscillator or reference that they want to add, they can easily integrate it.  If you’re a lab and have a house reference, this will work perfectly.

Lastly, we will include a bi-directional time reference –ideally both NTP and GPS.  This not only saves the user from having to manually set the time but it also allows them to have an additional frequency reference.  This clock should also act as a frequency reference and output the same 1 PPS and 10 MHz outputs so it can be used as a reference for other devices.

To this point, I’ve only been talking about the electronics.  The last part is the quality of the enclosure.  I am not a fan of the Sony-Black design (I don’t hate it as much as Steve Jobs apparently did) but I am a fan of laboratory or industrial looking test equipment with sharp edges.  I want it to be heavy.  I want people to know that this device is not a toy.

It’s possible to build the BEST clock for the consumer market.  So what?

Well, okay, the point of making a product is to sell it, right?  We would need to perform some market tests but based on anecdotal conversations with serious nixie clock collectors and want-to-be time nuts.  Based on my connection to the nixie clock market as well as to the manufacturers, I believe that a target price is $10k is realistically achievable.  I have been shown proprietary designs of unreleased products that sell for similar price points and personally know many of the buyers who have expressed purchase intent in the unreleased products.

How would one go about building this?  Well, there are two parallel design tasks as far as I can tell.  We will assume that we are using a common development platform like a PIC or an Arduino and that some components, such as the power supply can be built from reference designs or purchase as assembled components.  That leaves the tasks of designing the enclosure and the electronics.

The enclosure can be developed without the complete electronics.  The outline of the major components are known and, ideally, this will be a large enough device to ensure that space will not be an issue.

The electrical engineering task will take some research.  None of the components have particularly obscure requirements.  The nixie tubes require a high voltage current limited power source but that should be relatively easy to engineer.

The biggest challenge will be writing the software.  How does one account for more than one frequency reference?  Do you simply average the outputs?  Do you use one to correct another?  Does one simply act as a backup?  These are not questions with obvious answers but these problems have been solved.  Generally speaking, each frequency reference is used to “steer” another oscillator to produce a more accurate signal.  This synthesized signal is what is used to measure time as well as provide the output reference.

Lastly, and this is a major consideration, the insides of the device must look nice.  After I finished Steve Jobs’ biography I had a new appreciate for the level of design that went in to every product.  I want to carry that same level of detail in to my product.  I want users to be able to open it up and I want them to be able to see the inside workings of their ultimate clock.

So what’s next?

Nixie clocks are inherently limited by the number of tubes on the market.  It may be possible to manufacturer new ones but eventually other display technologies will need to be used.

Aside from the display, it may be possible to create variations of the product.  For example, what about a $1000 alarm clock that is based off of the Symmetricom Chipscale device?  There are many other options and those will be the subject of another blog post.

How rubidium oscillators work

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video and photos after the break:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Kickstarter.  Not all companies are VC fundable and not all entrepreneurs want to give up equity of funding.  This model serves as a nice way to prove market demand, get real customers and still give the company the freedom that it wants.  I like it and I hope it catches on.

About the orginization:

We’re StudentRND, a student-run nonprofit organization that inspires students to learn more about science and technology. During the summer, we run a workspace where students gather and work on cool science and technology projects. We also partner with local high school robotics teams to offer them a space to work over the summer. Follow our summer adventures at Facebook.com/StudentRND and @StudentRND on Twitter!

Driving this device is easy – there is one common pin and the remainder of the pins correspond to a different segment in the display.  I was powering these with 3V but for those curious, the full data sheet for the KW series in PDF format.

Video and photos after the break.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jürgen Grau is the deigned behind this device  and he sells this clock as both a kit and fully assembled. The kit costs €149 and the fully assembled costs €179 (Currently: $190/$230)  Jürgen is very accessible and is fluent in German and English.

Now, on to the clock!  Stylistically, I like it.  The photos on NixieKits.eu do not do this device justice.  The LED’s are much more vibrant than I expected and the colorful effect that they create manages to look nice without looking gaudy.  There is a knob in the back which allows you to turn the brightness of the LED’s up and down (and completely off.)  The colors slowly cross fade and and produce a pleasing effect on the front of the case.  I didn’t think I use this feature much because I generally prefer simple designs – but the colors are mesmerizing.  I actually leave the LED’s on all of the time, something I would not have expected.

Be sure to watch the video after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What makes this tube odd is that the center supports in the middle of the digit are missing and the giver that is normally in the upper left corner is missing too.  Additionally, the back of the display is transparent instead of the usual black finish.  I cleaned the tube but the cloudiness is actually inside the of the display.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Or, do you just have an interesting factoid about these guys?

SOLVED: Display #1: NEO8000

The enclosure is about 4″ tall and 1/3″ thick. On the front is stamped “Y.S” and on the back is written “NEO-8000M Made In Japan 3.9.3″  There do not appear to be any other markings.

SOLVED: Display #2: NEO5000

The enclosure is about 3″ tall and 1/3″ thick.  The only markings I can see are “”Made In Japan 2.d.3″

UPDATE: These are the NEO5000 and NEO8000 – I found clear photos of them on Neonixie-l from a post ajfranzman made 6 years ago… I’m still looking for specs if anyone has them.

(Egon warned against crossing the streams.  He did not warn against crossing the wires and reversing the polarity.  If you do, this is what happens)

Click here to view the embedded video.

After watching the videos, it is amazing to think that these devices, built in the 1920′s achieved such precision.  Calculations were not preformed by hand, but by the contours of a gear that was precision ground by a machinist. (More info below the videos)

Video #1: Basic Mechanisms in Fire Control Computers Part 1 (3 sections)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video #2: Basic Mechanisms in Fire Control Computers Part 2 (4 sections)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I believe the machine show in the video and the photo on this site is the Mark 1 computer.  From Wikipedia:

The Mark 1, and later the Mark 1A, Fire Control Computer was a component of the Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System deployed by the United States Navy during World War II and up to 1969. It was used on a variety of ships, ranging from destroyers (one per ship) to battleships (four per ship). The Mark 37 system used tachymetric target motion prediction to compute a fire control solution. Weighing more than 3000 pounds (1363 kilograms), the Mark 1 itself was installed in the plotting room, a water tight compartment that was located deep inside the ship’s hull to provide as much protection against battle damage as was possible.

Essentially an electromechanical analog computer, the Mark 1 was electrically linked to the gun turrets and the Mark 37 gun director, the latter mounted as high on the superstructure as possible to afford maximum visual and radar range. The gun director was equipped with both optical and radar range finding, and was able to rotate on a small barbette-like structure. Using the range finders, the director was able to produce a continuously varying set of outputs, referred to as line-of-sight (LOS) data, that were electrically relayed to the Mark 1 via synchro motors. The LOS data provided the target’s present range, bearing, and in the case of aerial targets, altitude. Additional inputs to the Mark 1 were continuously generated from the stable vertical, a gyroscopic device that reacted to the roll and pitch of the ship, the pitometer log, which measured the ship’s speed through the water, and an anemometer, which provided wind speed and direction.

Image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewayofthegun/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_I_Fire_Control_Computer

Why would Apple use a different material for these keys?  (My wired Apple Keyboard does the exact same thing.)  Does anyone know why there is this difference?

The unusual keys:

• J
• F
• Cap Lock
• Fn
• Control
• Alt / Option
• Enter / Return
• arrow keys

Click here to view the embedded video.

• The Flashlight: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10709
• The Keyboard: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC184LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA1Mg&mco=MTMzNzg5MDM

The Large Ones:

• Box markings: RS Stock No. 586-863 7 segment filament display.
• Unit Markings: L080705 3015-F

The Small Ones

• Unit Markings: KW-104SAU-8P & 8649, 8611, 8636, 8705

[Show as slideshow]

Lore more here: http://www.leftfield.org/~dd/minitron.html

The controls are pretty simple – the knob controls the brightness and power.  The switch has three positions.  In the center position, the numitron counts through the digits.  In the upper position it illuminates all of the segments of the display while in the bottom position, it only illuminates the decimal point on the display.

The power supply itself is odd.  I cannot tell what type of cells it uses.  The internal mechanism supports 5 cells that seem to be narrower and longer than a C sized cell.  To make it work, I wired a 9V battery to the internal terminals.  (Oddly, this thing draws so much current that a single 9V battery cannot actually power the device.  As the display begins counting, it seems to reset at the 8 position.  To get around this, I had to wire three batteries in parallel to support the load.)

Click to enlarge

Click here to view the embedded video.

By Art Lebedev – $n/a

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/segmentus/

From the guy who brought us the Verbarius clock comes the Segmentus.  (Is anyone else noticing a naming pattern here?) This concept clock was built to address the challenge of creating a digital clock with hands.  While clocks have addressed this challenge before, this one brings the usual Art Lebedev polish to the final product.  The only thing I want to know is how noisy would this be to operate?  With dozens of little motors and mechanical parts,  this might not be a clock that you would keep in your bedroom.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The application itself is intuitive.  Simply open the application and wait for a GPS signal.  Once it is established, hit the record button and then put the phone to sleep.  It will keep recording data as a background process while you take your walk, run, flight, etc.  When you’re done, simply re-enter the application and hit stop.  You should probably give the track file a useful name.  After a few uses, it will be hard to tell “track23.gpx” from “track17.gpx.”  From there, you can export the data using the methods described above.  We want to save the track as a GPX file an import it to Google Earth.

In Finder (or Explore for you Windows folks…) open your Android device and grab the GPX file.  Drag it to the 3d view of Google Earth and voila – your track is open.  Use the following tools below to control the animation:

This control offers basic Play functionality.  It is visible above the Layers panel when you have a PATH selected in the Places panel.  Long story short – just click play.

The control below is visible in the top left portion of the 3D view.  You can use it to select a given point in time as well as to crop the start/stop points of a path.

The control below is visible at the bottom left portion of the 3D view.  It is used to start/stop/loop/save animations.  (This does NOT save video clips.  More on that later)

Lastly, the settings used in the animation are as follows (click to enlarge)

RESULTS:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Other Notes:

• The animation was captured with iShowU HD.  I love this program and think it is one of the best OS X screen capture programs on the market.  The video was captured as an intermediate file format and re compressed using Quick Time Pro.  From there, it was uploaded to Vimeo as a 720P HD video file.
• Turning off 3d Buildings seems to speed things up…but it looks boring
• Turn off other interesting layers that Google Earth has on by default.  They just become a distraction in the final video
• When importing the data, have it stick the data points to the ground for best results
• The data points are jagged.  I haven’t found a good way to smooth them out but decreasing the sample frequency or increasing your speed should help.
• Downtown areas do not work well for GPS accuracy

Get My Tracks:

Laserglow Special Holiday Newsletter – December 2009

Dear Fellow Laserist,

Happy holidays from Laserglow! You are receiving this message because you have made contact with Laserglow in the past, and we think that you may be interested in our new products and announcements. If you don’t want to receive these messages anymore, just hit “reply” and put the word “REMOVE” in the subject line to be permanently removed from this mailing list. We certainly wouldn’t want to bother you with our great sales, discount codes and new laser products!

Boxing Day Sale – Save 20%! (Dec 23-Jan 4)
Here in Canada the day after Christmas is called “Boxing Day”, and traditionally this is a time when stores have the biggest sale of the year. (Similar to the American “Black Friday”.) This year Laserglow is celebrating Boxing Day by offering you 20% off any in-stock handheld laser! You could save literally hundreds of dollars by taking advantage of this amazing sale. Electra, Hercules, Aries, and Aquarius lasers are all on sale (along with every other handheld series) so if you didn’t get what you really wanted for Christmas this is the best time to get it. This sale is only on items which are in stock, so you’d better hurry beacause the most popular items will not last long! To get your instant discount, simply add an in-stock item to your shopping cart and use discount code boxing20

Check out how much you could save!

Galileo-5 (green astronomy pointer): reg. $89 SAVE $17.80!
Electra-20 (violet 405 nm): reg. $439 SAVE $87.80!
Aquarius-10 (blue 473 nm): reg. $599 SAVE $119.80!
Aries-250 (blue 473 nm): reg. $789 SAVE $157.80!
Hercules-400 (green 532 nm): reg. $1989 SAVE $397.80!

…and of course our full selection of pointers and handheld lasers also qualify for the discount as long as we can keep them in stock. This offer is not combinable with other discounts or promotions including the “free shipping” promotion or other existing discount codes.

Rigel yellow laser pointer (593.5 nm) now available at 20 mW!
After a long period of development (and a lot of requests from our customers) we’re pleased to announce that we’ve been able to increase the power of the Rigel series yellow laser pointers to 10 and 20 mW! These brand-new models have just been released, and since we have some in stock they even qualify for the Boxing Day sale!

Take a look at the Rigel product page for more details: http://www.laserglow.com/GRI

We hope that you find this newsletter valuable, and if you have any questions please feel free to contact our sales department by email or phone: sales@laserglow.com or 1-416-729-7976

Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,

Justin Hosaki
Sales and Marketing Manager

Dimitry Fedorov
President
Laserglow Technologies

Sent by Laserglow Technologies, 216-5 Adrian Ave. Toronto, ON Canada M6N5G4

Macro Photo of a 2.5 Inch Hard Drive

I disassembled the drive and I simply wanted to take a photo of the hard drive internals.  I was surprised that the drive spun up with the cover removed- and was completely shocked that it still worked without errors.  I managed to keep it working for several hours without fail while I took a few photos and more importantly video.  I used the same reverse lens mount and cheap Canon EF 35-80 1:4 as in my previous macro experiments.  See the results below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you are interested in using the source footage, you may be able to find it on iStockPhoto or you may contact me directly.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

According to Amazon.com:

Product Features

http://www.usa.canon.com/app/emails/eossep09/

Canon EOS 7D

Not responsible for typographical errors.

All images and effects are simulated.

Images ©2009 Arthur Morris, Stephen Eastwood, Simon Bruty, Eric Meola, Bob Davis, Bruce Dorn, Onne van der Wal, Clint Clemens, Terrell Lloyd and Parish Kohanim. All rights reserved.

©2009 Canon U.S.A., Inc. Canon, EOS and DIGIC are registered trademarks of Canon Inc. in the United States and may be registered trademarks or trademarks in other countries. All other product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.

HDMI, HDMI logo and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are registered trademarks or trademarks of HDMI licensing, LLC.

This e-mail is being sent to consumers who have elected to receive communications from the Consumer Imaging Group of Canon U.S.A., Inc. If you would like to update your e-mail address or change the way you receive e-mail messages (html or text) please click here.

If you received this e-mail in error or wish to stop receiving e-mail communications from the Consumer Imaging Group of Canon U.S.A., Inc. please click here to unsubscribe.

Internet Marketing, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A., Inc.

One Canon Plaza, Lake Success, NY 11042

Privacy Statement

I received my MS-5a Mosaic readout displays from the Vintage Technology Association today.  Not only did they include the two displays, but there were also a few other extras included as well.  Nice work, guys!

The units themselves are rated for 3v, 50 mA but I can’t tell if that is 50 mA per segment or total.  Powering them is simple, all you need is two AA batteries and a few alligator clips.  The top set of fingers provide the common connection and the remaining connectors power the individual elements and the decimal point.

The markings on the unit:

MOSAIC INDICATOR MSM-5A Lamp  3v 50 MA.  ALCO ELECTONIC PRODUCT. INC LAWRENCE MASS

Markings on the box:

ALCO ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS, INC. Lawrence, MASS.  JAPAN.  MOSAIC READOUT INDICATOR MODEL MSM-5A VOLT 5. (note: It looks like the 5 is scratched out…which makes sense.  The units themselves are marked for 4V).

The display is smaller than I anticipated.  I’ve included a video to help you get a better idea of the size of the unit.

I did find one other source of these displays: SurplusShed.com  The version I have they are selling for $5/each.  They also have a MS-250 which appears to be the same thing except with a red front and a different connector on the rear.   Check out the links below for more info.

Video Demo:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photo Gallery:

Links

• Original Post: http://www.ineedcaffeine.com/content/2009/08/ebay-find-msm-5a-incandescent-display/
• The Seller’s eBay page hp2114b
• The Auction (expired) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310159188937
• The Seller’s Website (Vintage Technology Association) http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/
• Surplus Shed (MSM-5A): http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/m2225.html
• Surplus Shed (MS-250AR): http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/m2244.html

The are 7 segment displays where each segment is its own discrete incandescent display in its own envelope.  According to the description, it is even possible to swap out the bulbs with a similarly shaped light source, such as an LED.  Below are the auction photos.  I will replace them with my own photos once they arrive.

Photos:

About the Seller:

I’ve written about this seller before; they have a website called the Vintage Technology Association.  They have a few other notable auctions: this magic eye tester in addition to the nicest dekatron demonstrator / spinner I have ever seen.

From their site:
The VTA is an electronics research and development group, based out of Dayton, Ohio, which specializes in the study, preservation and implementation of obsolete industrial technology. In addition to maintaining an electronics museum, the VTA also develops electronic instruments through our Yilane Systems design division. We are experienced at interfacing even the most disparate technologies; there is no limit to what we can build, given a reasonable development period and a source of parts

Links

• The Seller’s eBay page hp2114b
• The Auction (expired) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310159188937
• The Seller’s Website (Vintage Technology Association) http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/

But here is the interesting stuff:

You Tube Video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Specs:

Bar code Scanner head and decoder.  Fixed Mount.  RS-232 Connection, Precision motor driving a 10-sided mirror scans 200 times per second.  Built in firmware for setup and configuration.  Scans all common bar code symbologies.

• Spec Sheet http://files.microscan.com/products_pdf/ms610spec.pdf
• Manual: http://files.microscan.com/products_pdf/ms610manual.pdf

Photos:

This unit is for Sale: $75.00

Contact brian@ this domain.com for more information.

by Phosphor Watches $185.00 USD

http://www.phosphorwatches.com/

My primary interest is still, and always will be, collecting Nixie Clocks.    However, I just found what is probably the first practical and mass produced e-ink watch.  I’ve you’ve never seen an e-ink display, they are quite a bit different than the LCD monitor you’re using to read this.  Instead of having the light be emitted from the display, light is reflected off of it like newspaper or any other printed medium.  However, they have an amazing contrast ratio between black and white giving them a distinct advantage in legibility and making reading them on a sunny day easy.

They have three basic formats: traditional called Ana-Digi, square called Digital Hour, and my personal favorite is a full calendar called (shockingly) Digital Calendar.  All watches are offered with a metal, leather or polyurethane wristband.

These things are beautiful.  I want one.  I have to imagine that these will become the e-ink equivalent of the Synchronar (world’s first LED watch…)

I won’t bore you with any more text.  Here are the other photos:

PHOSPHOR e-ink watch (Digital Hour)

PHOSPHOR e-ink watch (Ana-Digi)

about e-ink technology:

Electronic ink is a proprietary material that is processed into a film for integration into electronic displays. Revolutionary in concept, electronic ink is a fusion of chemistry, physics and electronics to create this new material. The principal components of electronic ink are millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. In one incarnation, each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top of the microcapsule where they become visible to the user. This makes the surface appear white at that spot. At the same time, an opposite electric field pulls the black particles to the bottom of the microcapsules where they are hidden. By reversing this process, the black particles appear at the top of the capsule, which now makes the surface appear dark at that spot.

e-ink Technology Cross Section

To form an E Ink electronic display, the ink is printed onto a sheet of plastic film that is laminated to a layer of circuitry. The circuitry forms a pattern of pixels that can then be controlled by a display driver. These microcapsules are suspended in a liquid “carrier medium” allowing them to be printed using existing screen printing processes onto virtually any surface, including glass, plastic, fabric and even paper. Ultimately electronic ink will permit most any surface to become a display, bringing information out of the confines of traditional devices and into the world around us.

From PHOSPHOR Watches

http://www.phosphorwatches.com/v/site_pages/einktechnology.asp

Art Technology Limited
Unit 11, 7th Floor, Grand City Plaza No.1
Sai Lau Kok Road, Tsuen Wan
New Territories, Hong Kong
T: +852.2553.2662
F: +852.2580.1661

Featured:

• Jeff Thomas / Nixichron Nixie Clock
• Jon Ellis / Nimimini Numitron Clock
• Konstantin Bodrenkov / IV-11 clock VFD Clock

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’re still here, however, you’re probably interested in the specs of this gadget:

• Cree MC-E LED with lifespan of 50,000 hours
• 2 modes with 8 types of output:
• 4 types of primary output :Turbo (630 Lumens, 1 Hour) -> Low (13 Lumens, 130 Hours) -> Mid (93 Lumens, 11 Hours) -> High (277, 4.5 Hours)
• 4 types of strobe mode: Strobe -> Slow flash -> SOS – > Fast flash
• Digitally regulated output – maintains constant brightness
• Uses eight 1.5V AA batteries, can works on 4 batteries in emergency
• 208mm (L) x39.4mm (D)
• Made of T6 aircraft-grade aluminum
• Premium Type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish
• 284-gram weight (excluding batteries)
• Waterproof to IPX-8 Standard
• Toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating
• Push-button tailcap switch
• Anti-roll, slip-resistant body design
• Included accessories: shoulder strap, two spare o-rings and rubber switch boot

Fenix TK40

Buy it here: Amazon.com

More Info: Fenixlight.con

Specs

• 200mW @ 650nm
• 120mW @ 532nm
• 40mW @ 473nm
• 190mW @ 405nm

Software is LaserLine

Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gallery

by Kosbo.com

$Price Unknown / request only

I just found this clock while doing a Google Image search for something completely unrelated.  It appears to be by eBay seller Sparkeltube.  It is a 6 discrete digit VFD based clock.  It has two alarm and a built in buzzer.  But let’s face it – you’re buying this for the display   I love this thing – I want one!

More photos and website description after the jump

FTA

• Unique and new VFD Clock on the market !
• Fully assembled and tested VFD Clock
• Six BIG 20mm high digits (IV-11 VFD Tubes)
• Displays Time , Date and 2 Alarm clock sets
• Accurate & calibrated time clock source from internal crystal
• Integrated 2 Alarm Clocks
• Easy control with only 2 buttons
• Uses standard 12V wall plug Power Supply
• Precision Seconds setup
• Internal buzzer for Alarm1 and Alarm2
• High efficiency integrated on board DC-DC converter

Photos:

Links:

• IV-11 Clock: http://kosbo.com/iv11clock/
• Kosbo Store: http://www.kosbo.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=18&vmcchk=1&Itemid=18
• More Kosbo Clocks: http://www.kosbo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=39&Itemid=53

via eBay/ $98 / sold by Tortugascuba

I found one more magic eye winker in addition to the one yesterday.  This one is a little more expensive but it comes as a complete kit.  I really like this little version.  There are no integrated circuits and it looks well built.  I don’t know if I would spend $100 on it..but I do like it.   Check out the video and the description after the jump.

Gallery

Magic Eye Winker. Similar to Dekatron Spinner. Uses a Valvo EAM86 (6GX8) Tuning Indicator Tube (aka Magic Eye).

Tuning indicator tubes, more commonly known as “Magic Eyes”, found their place in early radios around the late 1930s. They were usually the more expensive radios, that used this feature, to aid in fine tuning of a radio station. By the early 1950s these tubes also were used as VU meters in early tape recorders. The EAM86 was specifically intended for VU meter service. They also found applications in many pieces of tube era test equipment, since they made such a handy unscaled meters. They were used in some fashion or another until the mid 1970s.

Magic eye tubes are simple voltage level indicators. Here are a couple of sites were you can see the various types made: Ake Holms Tubes and magiceyetubes.com. These tubes came with a wide variety of features, including multiple indicators, and with (or without) internal amplifying triodes. Some could be viewed at the top end of the tube while others were viewed from the side.

What I’m selling here is what I call a “Magic Eye Winker”. Its a simple ‘all-tube’ circuit. NO Semiconductors: Transistors, IC, or Diodes.The eye winks open and closed due to the oscillation of its internal triode. That triode is wired as a phase-shift oscillator with a frequency in the ballpark of 1Hz (roughly one cycle per second). The ‘rectifier’ for making the 150VDC, from household 120VAC, is a common 6AL5 vacuum tube dual diode. The 6AL5 was more commonly used in radio receiver demodulator circuits. The ‘eye’ in this winker is an EAM86 (European designation), which is also a 6GX8 (North American designation). A “Winker” is to a Magic Eye, as a “Spinner” is to a Dekatron.

Here is a video at Dailymotion showing this unit working: Winker Video.

Here are some higher resolution photos: Top View and Bottom View. And here is an additional photo of The Rear showing the Siemens tube, though the unit being sold has a Valvo tube. The tubes are NOS.

The winker is housed on two clear acrylic plates. The top plate serves as the circuit board, with all the components mounted to it as if it were a PCB (printed circuit board). The bottom plate serves as the base, and keeps your fingers from accidentally coming in contact with the live (and hot) circuit. It also has the schematic engraved onto it. The tube sockets are actually individually socket pins which are suppose to be soldered to PCB pads. Here they are mounted in acrylic, without any pads, so they float a bit which actually reduces strain on the glass tubes (in pre-manufactured sockets, the pins float, which also cause no strain on the tube). This a completed unit, ready to plug in and go. It is NOT a kit, nor made from a kit. I designed and made it myself from scratch.

WARNING: This circuit plugs directly into a 120VAC household outlet, and is NOT electrically isolated. It should be safe to handle as long as you use some common sense. Keep it away from wet areas, such as near the kitchen sink, or a bathroom. Its not a good idea to have it on a shelf over your bathtub. The filament current is also taped directly from the 120VAC, and is limited to 300mA, due to the 6.8uf capacitor. That cap has a reactance of 390 ohms at 60Hz. At 50Hz the reactance would be 470 ohms, so the current would be limited to 255mA. If used in Europe, a 220V to 120V step down transformer is needed. Its ‘All-Tube’ so static electricity is not a problem. It should even withstand an EMP.

eBay Seller: Tortugascuba

This Auction:  http://cgi.ebay.com/Magic-Eye-Winker-EAM86-6GX8-akin-to-Dekatron-Spinner_W0QQitemZ150333532934QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Electronics_R2?hash=item150333532934&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116