I have a design for a similar thing though it uses WiFi for NTP and is based on the 'B-7971 Smart Socket' concept - as for price - I think mine is similar (though without case) - but I am just a hobbyist who likes to make my projects available to anyone interested. The economics of R&D, procurement and production of a kit, software development and support would mean that selling it for any less would be soul destroying. I would be interested in hearing opinions from anyone else on this group who make their projects available to others for construction as to how they might arrive at a price of a kit that reflects not just the component cost but all the time that goes in to designing and refining something like this. If you spend 30 hours doing something - are you then happy to sell and support it for little more than the cost of the components alone?
Perhaps if the price is considered 'insane' then one could sit down with a pencil and paper - rough out a design, prototype it, test it, design the PCBs, have them made, refine them and re-fab them then sit down and produce the code that actually runs the thing et voila - all that money saved and all you have invested just the cost of the components and the PCBs and a little time. I know a few people who actually do this for a living and it's very tough for them. It's easy to look on ebay where you will almost certainly find all sorts of kits of very few $$$ - and if you are happy with the specification and the price and are not up to doing it all yourself then, why not just buy it and be happy with it. I appreciate that in this case the price has been sited as 'insane' but then the vendor has only made a few and perhaps they are just like me - just a hobbyist - it's sometimes too easy to assume that just because it's coming from China - it should cost something more like $30 - impossible to say. This is absolutely NOT a rant in any way and I most sincerely do not wish to start some massive thread full of complaints about how expensive something is or how cheap it should be - if you like it and are not interested or capable in designing and making one yourself - then why not go for it. The price on the listing is $115 + shipping - perhaps there is duty to be added - or perhaps I missed something (apologies if I did). Personally, if I was not capable of making my own then $115 seems super cheap to me when compared to the time and effort it would take me to learn electronics design, PCB and software development skills. Again, this is NOT a rant! - Richard On Sunday, 28 December 2025 at 12:36:19 UTC Robert G. Schaffrath wrote: > Price is insane. With postage it works out to approximately USD$200. If it > was $30 I would get one as I have spare B7971's packed away but sans a tube > it isn't worth it. If one had to buy a tube, and could find one, you would > be looking at double the price IMHO. > > On Saturday, December 27, 2025 at 3:08:09 PM UTC-5 Tom Katt wrote: > >> I've seen similar single tube clocks before, but not that specific >> version. Seems a little pricey for a kit requiring you to supply the >> tube? Granted it's got some acrylic for a case, but I just bought a 6 digit >> board (also sans tubes) for $38 - see my recent post (of course I found the >> same thing for $10 less after I purchased lol). Must be because the >> B7971's are unique... IN18 single tube clock kits go for under $25 >> <https://www.ebay.com/itm/375930283086?chn=ps&google_free_listing_action=view_item> >> . >> >> -- 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 view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/056db7d7-934d-4716-9c18-7e0330ac66b2n%40googlegroups.com.
