Four Letter Word Generator by Peter Hand
I just got my IV-17 Four Letter Word generator. It has a dictionary of 5,400 words including common acronyms and a few proper nouns too. For those of you keeping this at your office, it even has a word filter to prevent offensive words from being shown. Be sure to check out the video and photos below. Learn more here. Read more
TubeClockDB Video
This is just a quick video I made for TubeClockDB.com. Be sure to share the YouTube video link.
Featured:
- Jeff Thomas / Nixichron Nixie Clock
- Jon Ellis / Nimimini Numitron Clock
- Konstantin Bodrenkov / IV-11 clock VFD Clock
Kosbo IV-11 VFD Clock
6 digits IV-11 VFD Clock with 2 Alarms.
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
Updated Tube DB
I just added a few more photos to the tube database. New photos below. Read more
Nixie, Numitron and VFD Tester
I am considering building the following tester based on my own design. I’d like some feedback:
Features:
- Clearly labeled inputs for power (VFD, Nixie and Numitron)
- On board batteries for Numitron power (no other power needed)
- On board batteries for the filament for VFD Displays (only +30v needed or 3 9v batteries)
- Outputs for up to 18 elements: should handle any type of display you will encounter!
- Buttons for each element to allow for testing of each element individually
- A black finish on the board with white silk screened text
- Fully assembled!
- Probably more as I go
Price: Est. $50. Read more
Display Tube Database
I’m working on creating a database of all of my Nixie, Numitron, and VFD display tubes. Below is the preliminary table and all of the photos can be found here. Please let me know what you think. Changes? Suggestions?
Last updated 04-30-2009
added IV-17, IV-22, photos
eBay: Magic Eye Winker
Magic Eye Winker EAM86 6GX8
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. Read more
Samsung Approximation Clock
By John Smout / Clock-It / Price Unknown
I found this clock while searching for clocks to feature and reminds me a lot of the Verbarius clock. It is a large VFD display that spells out the time and appears to be able to display other information. Sadly, it seems that only four of these clocks were ever made. Go check out Clock-It now, he has some good stuff there.Samsung VFD display in grey metallic finish case Read more
Elektronika 7
A clock so unique it has its own Wikipedia entry
I found one of these clocks on eBay a while ago and shamelessly stole the images from it, from Wikipedia and from one other source (below.) They are old VFD Matrix displays that have become somewhat of a collector item. Since Wikipedia has a good description I will let them describe it:
Electronics 7 are industrial clocks with luminescent indicators where each figure was formed by four or eleven 7-segment lamps. For each indicator there was a board decoding the binary code sent by the main board. There were also models based on light-emitting diodes . The basic shortcoming of the clocks was that the segments of the display were gradually burnt out, and there was a significant difference in a luminescence between more often and less often displayed segments. It usually happened after ten or more years of continuous work. All the street and wall clocks were based on the kit by Saratov factory “Reflector” and even now are used in many administrative and industrial premises in Russia. The clocks were made on the basis of vacuum-fluorescent indicators manufactured in Russia.
Super Electrofluorescent Profanity Machine
By Etsy user Koolatron / $125
I like this device. Not only is it a cool use of a great use of cyan VFD displays, but it is small and at $125, it is worth every cent.
First and foremost, it is a 4-letter-word device. Normally, these are made with tubes such as the B7971 or similar Panaplex displays (think of a flat version of a nixie tube). Instead, the inventor opted to go with a VFD. I’ve never seen a FLW this small and I’ve never seen one with display type. Basically, it is a device that spells out words, usually in English, that are exactly four letters long. Nice work! Second, this device acts as a clock. It might not be as polished as say, the Nocrotec, but this device does have a charm to it. I really hope the seller decides to make more of these. At $125, it is a great deal.
Gallery and seller’s description after the jump


