If you are looking to buy a Nixie clock with bright tubes with clear digits then you really have to look at the bigger tubes such as Z566M, Z5660M, ZM1040 and as you mentioned, IN-18. These tubes give exceptional clarity in their displays but as you pointed out, they are expensive as a ready built clock. Buying a kit such as a PV Electronics Spectrum kit and the tubes themselves will still set you back around $400 to $450 but then you have the satisfaction of knowing you built it yourself.
There are a lot of smaller tubes that have good display qualities and these range from the diminutive IN-17 up to tubes like the ZM1020 which is an end view tube or if you want a vertical tube then something like the IN-8 which has very clear digits. As previous replies have told you, IN-18 tubes and their likes are expensive and if you can find them for less than $350 then you are lucky. The ultimate in quality tubes available in quantity just now are those of Dalibor Farny, the R|Z568M which is a masterpiece of workmanship but are $145 each! If you think that is expensive then try and buy a set of RODAN Okaya CD47s! You can quite easily build a very good clock for around $150 including board, tubes and power supply. Add $40 more and you could get THIS CLOCK. <http://www.pvelectronics.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_31&products_id=150> If you search Fleabay for Nixie Clocks you will see the variety that is available and the range of prices. If you want better photographs of any clock then just contact the seller and ask for them. BTW, the clock you looked at is out of stock and when it does come back in stock it will probably be dearer due to teh increase on IN-18 tube prices. As in all things, you get what you pay for. <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-avugJsyv7Vs/WMOmBFyx3uI/AAAAAAAABHw/4CZ7qmZsWNEGiaVpQZ85oKnoJkDfhy5GgCLcB/s1600/IMAG0850a.jpg> The photo shows a Z566M clock with a IN-14 board in front of it. Taken in daylight so you can see how 'bright' the digits are even with the RGB tube lighting on. By the time the Z566M clock is finished and in a custom built case, it will be worth a lot more than the $350 I paid for the components -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/02f864e8-abbd-4ba5-84d7-8b00e3c1ca35%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
