4017 Nixie Clock Project

by Peter H. Wendt

Most common question: "Your what Clock Project ?"

Before Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) the
electronic industry used cold-cathode tubes for displaying numbers, symbols and even
characters. Even though they are called "tubes" they differ from "radio tubes" by having
no heater wire to heat the cathode - and therefore run much colder. They do have a glass
envelope but unlike to (most) tubes they are not empty: they are filled with a gas
compound, mainly neon gas. If you apply a voltage between the anode (+ pole) and one
of the cathodes (- poles) the character-shaped cathode is covered with a pink to orange
discharge glow.
"NIXIE" was a trademark from Burroughs Corp. for their numeric display tubes. It is
rumored that they invented this kind of tube - or at least they got patents for it. There
were many different types of these tubes: viewed from the side, viewed from the top,
small ones, big ones, giant sized, types where a neon glows through a character-shaped
mask and arrays of multiple nixies with multiplexed wires. Even early "multi-segment"
types were available, capable to display letters like the later LED 7-segment arrays.

Now for some technical theory.

Basically these Nixie tubes are very simple devices. The following schematic will
explain, how they work.
If you apply a voltage Ub the voltage drops across the current-limiting resistor when one
of the cathodes K0 - K9 is tied to GND. The corresponding number-shaped cathode is
then covered with a pink to orange glow. The values for the minimum Ub, the anode
voltage Ua and the cathode current Ik needs to be taken from the nixie tube datasheet,
but you can estimate 140 VDC for Ua and 2 mA for Ik as good starting values for most
nixies.

If your Ub is about 220 VDC a 47K resistor / 0.5 Watts will do for some testing.
The datasheet for the very common ZM1080 / 1082 says that Ub should be at least 170
VDC and the Ik should settle at around 2 mA. Ua will then establish at about 140 VDC
"maintaining" voltage (noted as Vm in the datasheet). The difference between Ub and
Ua is the Ura that drops across the limiting resistor.

For a simplification we assume that the anode current Ia is equal to the cathode current
Ik - you will have to tie only one cathode pin to GND at one time anyway. Nixies that
use a "primer current" for faster ignition response have uneven anode and cathode
currents. But we may leave that aside here.

Advantage: If you rig a multimeter in Milli-Amperes range into the (common) anode
line during the testing you can track the current through the Nixie tube while connecting
the cathode pins or leads to GND - without needing to meddle around with the meter
wires. The unused cathode pins are left open (the term "floating" is used often). You
will be able to measure voltages up to Ua on the pins not connected.
Further advantage: if you have several Nixies in a circuit, these have all one common
Ub wire. If you install a mA-Meter in that line you get the total current drawn for all
nixies. And can assume that the individual current is total current divided by the number
of tubes you are using. This is not absolutely true - but we won't win the Noble Prize
with a very precise research on that anyway.

Some quick math to calculate the values for the limiting resistor

Ura = Ub - Ua -> 220 V - 140 V = 80 VDC

Ra = Ura / Ia -> 80 VDC / 0.002 A = 40.000 Ohms

Pra = Ura * Ia -> 80 VDC * 0.002 A = 0.16 Watts

Since there is no 40 KOhms resistor in the range of ordinary E24 5% standard resistors
it will surely do if you pick a 43 KOhms type 0.25 Watts here, not to exceed the 2 mA
cathode current.
 Calculation
for the Nixie Anode-Resistor

Supply Voltage Ub 220

V
Anode Voltage Ua 140
V
2.0
Cathode Current Ik mA
Ura : V
Ra : K
Pra : Watt

If you just press [Calculate] the values for the given Ub, estimated Ua and the given
cathode current Ik are used and the output is the current across the anode resistor Ura,
the resistor value in Kilo-Ohm and the thermal loss Pra of the resistor in Watt.
For your own calculation just overwrite the values in the upper 3 lines with what you
need and then click on [Calculate] again.

220 VDC is quite a bit. How to get them safely ?

Well ... the professional approach is to have either a special transformer for the required
voltages or at least an isolated 1:1 ratio separation transformer. If you live in the "low
voltage" areas of the world where 110 VAC is the usual AC mains voltage you may
survive a shock from the life wire. If you life in the "high voltage" areas like here in
Germany the 230 VAC line voltage will surely kill you if you accidentally happen to be
good grounded. A 1:1 transformer isolates the input voltage from the output voltage so
you are not directly connected to AC mains. The 230 VAC that goes in comes out as
230 VAC - but you have no connection to Earth (GND) when touching any wire. You
are -nonetheless- toasted if you touch both wires at one time.
The professionals’ phrase is "galvanically separated" - it is good to know that.

Separation transformers are usually big, heavy and expensive. Not as expensive as your
life of course, but enough to blow a budget. In our case however we don't need Kilowatt
capabilities. A few Watts will do - so we can build our own separation transformer by
simply using two small transformers "Back to Back".
The graphic below will show this simple solution.

The transformers can be simple, relatively cheap print-type transformers with greater 4
Watts output power. The ones I used on my prototype clock are rated 4 VA (Volt-
Amperes) with a single 230 V primary input and a single 12 V / 300 mA output. If you
cannot get those - take two with e.g. 15 VAC or two with 8 V AC. The "intermediate
voltage" between the two is of lesser importance, it is used for the logic board only. But
at least the "one on the right side" must have a 230 V coil.
If you have two different transformers: the bigger (stronger) one must be the one
connected to AC-mains. You cannot run a 10 Watt transformer from a 5 Watt type back
to back for example. The 10 Watt has a lower resistance for the secondary coil - and the
5 Watt secondary coil is then overloaded. At least when you add load to it. It may work
for some time however, but not reliably.

The 4 diodes 1N4001 for the low voltage circuit can be replaced by a block rectifier like
the B40-C1000 for instance; the 4 diodes 1N4007 for the high voltage part can be
substituted by e.g. a B1000-C125 rectifier bridge. This rectifier(s) must be capable to
run continuously with 350 V at least, so the minimum were a 1N4004 (rated 400V).

Other than that there are no secrets in that circuit. The 100 KOhms parallel to the 10 µF/
350 V capacitor in the HV part helps - for safety - discharging the capacitor when no
load is placed across the output. That's all. For your own pleasure you may add a 1
KOhms resistor at the +12V output and a red LED ... to remind you to the fact that the
power supply is switched on.

With my two 4-Watt Transformers I get 15 V AC in idle

between the transformers, 210 V AC idle voltage at the HV
end. Also in idle the DC-voltages across the rectifiers are
18.5 V resp. 290 V DC. The high voltage however drops
down to about 200 VDC when loaded with 4 x ZM1080 or 4 x ZM1020 Nixies and a
total of 4.8 mA current drawn. A power supply built like that will suffice to play around
with various types of Nixie tubes and get some insights on how they work.

Important: Security - and some useful hints

If you use a power supply like that above you will need a medium-blow 0.315 Amps
fuse in one of the AC main wires for protection when -in the worst case- the transformer
goes south. You should also install the whole power supply unit in a plastic case so that
it is practically impossible to touch any AC-line wire. That unit shown above is a
prototype not intended to be really used that way.

If you can get one of these "wall wart" transformers that have about 500 mA at 12V AC
you are fine off. In this case you only need one transformer in the clock itself and a
power socket where the AC-Adapter plugs to. For the above schematic the left-hand
transformer is your external wall adapter and the AC-input socket connects to the points
marked with "X" and "Y" then.
Some DC-Adapters can be reworked: if you can open the case of it without destroying it
- just unsolder the diodes and the filter capacitor that can be found in most of them and
connect the output wires directly to the secondary side of the transformer. Then you
only need the part of the power supply further above that is right from the left (input)
transformer. The 12 V AC (or 8 or 9 or whatever) comes from the wall-wart and your
second transformer must be chosen accordingly. And -if you go lower- the 7812 must
be replaced by e.g. a 7508 (8 V output) or 7805 (5 V output). The circuit itself doesn't
care much when running with anything between +5 and +15 V DC.

If you opt for that solution you can make your clock case from "more dangerous
material", like steel, copper, sheetmetal, carbon-fiber or anything else conductive. You
don't have the AC line fed into the unit and the worst thing that can happen is, that you
shorten your electronics elsewhere and it simply doesn't work -or- damages the
transformer(s).

Okay - but why building a clock from these Nixies ?

Good question. Today you can pick a lot cheapo LCD clocks from supermarkets for a
few bucks. But - how do they look ? Simply boring.
Go back to the Nixie animation further above. Look at it for a while and I'm sure you
can spot the difference.
I built digital counters and clocks with LED 7-segment displays and 74xx TTL-chips
already in the 70's. The commercial clocks used ready-made circuits, offered alarm and
such, but they looked cheesy cheap - didn't match my taste - and those who did were
horribly expensive. So I made my own desktop clock.
Same reason for the Nixie Clock: a custom-made case, antique looking glass tubes
somewhere in it or placed on top - a wide variety of possibly creative, unusual designs.
You can make it from all material you'd always wanted to build a clock from. Wood,
steel, acrylic plastic. Transparent, translucent or granite-solid.
However: the Nixie Clock described here is Just A Clock. Not a stop watch, timer, alarm
clock or anything like that. You may add some "Bells and Whistles", but due to the
nature of the circuitry it might be a bit complicated. More on that later.

Getting started with it: the proper timing

Heart of any clock is a source for a timing signal. Cheap AC-powered alarm clocks use
the 50 or 60 Hz AC line to generate a more or less accurate clock-signal from it. Usually
that would do - given that the accuracy over the whole year on the AC-line is within a 1
% range. Nonetheless I'd decided not to use that. First reason was to be independent
from the AC frequency. Secondly a crystal oscillator offers even better accuracy than
line-AC and third I had a circuit at hand anyway I used for a couple of applications in
the past. Main advantage: it operates with a generic 32.768 KHz mini crystal widely
available - and comes out with a 1 Hz timing pulse. The schematic below shows the
circuit.

There are two resistors: R1 acting as current-limiting resistor and R2 bias resistor. This
latter one is a) dependent to the circuit voltage applied to the 4060 divider chip and b)
dependent to the current flow through the crystal and its capacity. I made good results
with either omitting this one or using a 10 Mega-Ohms to start with. Your individual
mileage may vary.

The crystal I used is a miniature clock crystal X1 in a round

case with 19 pF internal capacity. The "tie-up" capacitor C1
is a low-loss ceramic type, the trimmer capacitor C2 is a
standard plastic type. With a frequency counter connected
to the 4060's pin 9 you can measure the buffered crystal
frequency and adjust it to read exactly 32.768 Hz.
The 4013 RS Flipflop is used to divide the 2 Hz from the 4060 down to the 1 Hz base
clock. The second half of the 4013 might be used to divide the 8 Hz signal at pin 1
down to 4 Hz for a "fast forward" set mode - not shown here however. If you are not
using the second half of the 4013: tie the pins 8, 10 and 11 to GND and connect 9 and
12. Pin 13 stays open. If you decide to use the 4013 pin 11 is your input, 13 the output.

It is highly recommended to keep the wires of the components (caps and resistors) short
trimmed and the leads between the components as short as possible. If the oscillator
fails to start up or dies after several seconds: make the bias resistor larger. It may go up
to 10 MOhm with these miniature crystals - or even left away. The bigger HC-style
crystals with higher internal capacity may require 100 KOhm - 1 MOhm bias resistors.
If you don't want a trimmer capacitor, you may use a ceramic capacitor of the same
value as C1 as well. Doesn't hurt the overall accuracy that much.

In the meantime - after I edited this page for the last time - I had built numerous
oscillators with the 4060 and got a lot responses from other folks. Alternative concepts
for the trimmer position, values of R1 and R2 and the C1 and C2 have been discussed.
Usually you have a datasheet for the mini xtal X1 to start with. This datasheet shows the
internal capacity - which *use to be* about 16 - 19pF.
The value for the tie-up cap C1 should be 2x the xtal capacity. 39pF fits quite nicely
here.
The value for C1 should be [xtal capacity < C2 < 3x xtal capacity], where 5 - 50pF
covers the entire range.
Determining the values for R1 and R2 is more tricky.
While R2 could be ommitted in the best case for very dense packing of components R1
is essential for the clean function here. If it is too high the xtal fails to start - if it is too
low the xtal enters "overtone mode" and the oscillator output frequency is either totally
erratic or way higher than supposed.
For R1 220KOhm has proved to be a good value, R2 should be 10M. If you have xtals
larger than these micro-types your R1 needs to be reduced - down to 2K2 for a HC32
xtal and R2 might be reduced to 4M7 for stable operation.

The 4060 allows to run at up to 4MHz @ 15V supply. If you have too much room and
wouldn't care about two more 4017 dividers: pick a 3.2768 MHz xtal, leave R1 away or
reduce it to 2K2, R2 to 10M, C1 to 22pF and install a 2 - 22pF trimmer. You get 200Hz
at the Q13 - divided by 2 in the 4013 for 100Hz. Add two more 4017s and you are
again at 1Hz with -probably- higher stability due to the higher reference frequency.
However: you should not test the 4060 frequency at pin 9. The probe capacity will alter
the result. You should test at O4 (pin 7) and your counter should read 204.800 Hz. The
trimmer allows a change of about +/- 25 Hz. If you don't have one adjust C2 to the
center, where about the half of the static "leaves" are visible. That will do to for most
cases.

Step by Step: the dividers (Seconds, Minutes and Hours)

At that point we've got to hold for a moment and think about a basic design question:
"Do we want a seconds display or only minutes and hours ?"

In either case we need two 60-stage dividers. Building a clock without a seconds display
saves room and driver transistors. Let's have a look at this part of the circuit.

The CMOS chip 4017 is a "5-stage Josephson decade counter" with built-in code
converter. Each low-to-high transition (= “positive edge”) on the clock input 14
advances the counter one position up from Q0 to Q9, which go to high level then. A
logical “1” signal on the reset input 15 sets it back to Q0.
To count the seconds properly we have to pull the first counter reset to GND with a
100K resistor, which causes the counter to count from 0 to 9 with every clock signal. At
9 it jumps back to 0 with the next clock pulse and the “Carry Out” signal at pin 12
changes from “0” to “1”, which counts the second counter one position up. The second
counter has the Q6 output wired to the reset pin. After the 59 th clock pulse it jumps back
to “00”. Any of the “Carry Out” signals changes back from “1” to “0” after receiving
the positive edge of the 6th clock pulse.

The capacitors on each pin 16 are local buffer caps only. They are there to reduce the
effect of local voltage sags. This is mainly an issue when the circuit is built on
experimental board or with no board at all. Given you have a stable, clean supply
voltage it will surely suffice to leave them away or add one or two of them on the chips
farthest away from the point where the supply voltage is fed into the circuit.

The "100nF" rating seems to be a tad uncommon to some people. It has been brought to
my attention that it may lead to some confusion and I had been asked if I meant
“microfarad” instead (but didn’t have the proper sign). No – it is Nano-farad. Or –
alternatively – I could use “0.1 µF” here to clarify what I meant.
The Seconds Divider is followed by the Minutes divider. Looks in most of it like the
Seconds Divider – but the In and Out is named different. Functionally they are alike.

Now comes a tricky part. In Europe (where I live) we have a 24-hours display. We’re
not “AM/PM” guys over here. 24 is a bit hard to decode, since it is neither a roll-over
nor is it just a single digit rollover. So note the reset-logic here. It is a wired-AND with
2 NPN-transistors that pull the Master Reset up when a “4” appears in the LSB while
there is a “2” on the MSB hours display. Neat, eh ¿
Also note the 10 µF capacitor, the 1N4148 diode and the 100K resistor. These three
form the “Power-On Reset” circuit that pulls the Master Reset line up for some time
after a power on occurred to bring the counters to all-Zero displays. It might be
unnecessary – but you never know with these CMOS counters.
The carry-out signal from the last counter might be used to create a “Day of Week”
display with another 4017 and e.g. a backlighted front panel. Be creative.

If you decide to have “US-style” AM-PM display you will have to slightly modify the
hours divider.

The counting on the hours display does not start at 00:00 but at 01:00. All numerals
need an offset. The Q0 output sets the “1”, the Q1 output the “2” and so forth. Due to
that you have to move the input of the 10-hours from the “Carry Out” (pin 12) to the pin
11, which advances the 10-hours with every transition from “9” to “0”.
While the counting resets at one minute after “12:59” at “13” in the hours display (and
not at “24” after “23:59”) you need to alter signal for the Wired-AND to the reset the
hours stage to pin 2 on the 10-hours and pin 4 on the 1-hours.
More power: Driving the Nixies

Problem with the Nixies is the relatively high voltage they operate with. Each cathode
pin that is not grounded is pulled up due to the electron migration inside the gas-filled
tube to near the anode voltage Ua. This may be 140 VDC – or above on some types. A
circuit that pulls down a cathode from this “idle voltage” to GND must be capable to
handle it. If you use a NPN transistor the Emitter I is tied to GND and the Collector I is
connected with one of the cathode pins. The Base (B) is connected to the counter
outputs via an appropriate current-limiting resistor. The “Collector / Base Voltage with
open Base” Ucb0 specs for the transistor must be higher than the idle voltage on the
cathodes. That’s the voltage a transistor can handle when being not conductive (= not
switched on). This disqualifies most common transistors, since their Ucb0 is only 15 –
60 Volts.

But – there are matching transistors available. Namely those designed for TV-purposes
(video stage, color final stage, deflection circuits) or various HF and switching
transistors can be used. If you have access to a listing of transistors with their base data
you will easily find some matching types. Most common and low-cost transistor is the
MPS-A42, which is a NPN transistor with Ucb0 = 300 V, Ic = 0.5 Amp and Ptot = 0.625
Watts designed for TV video stages. In Germany we pay 0.08 Euro (about 7 cents) for
one – comes cheaper if you buy 100 for example.
Also useable are BF118, BF179C, BF259, BF338, BSS48, BUW37 (all with a metal-
can case) or BF413, BF420A, BF422A, BF483 (plastic case), AT1, AT2, DC or
NMPSA-42 (SMD types) to name a few.
Alternatively you could tie down all cathodes to GND with a resistor of 100 Kohms to
reduce the idle voltage – without starting the cathodes to glow already. In this case a
more versatile transistor with a Ucb0 of least 65V like the BC174B or BC546 or BC846
should do. However – you need 3 times more resistors.

The schematic below explains the different driver circuits.

The left circuit is the pure simplicity: only one 33 K resistor between the counter output
and the base of the transistor. While in the circuit on the right you have an additional
voltage divider with a 47 K / 4.7 K resistor between the counter output and the base plus
an additional 100 K “pull down” resistor that reduces the voltage between the turned-off
cathode and GND.
To tell the truth: I didn’t bother much with the circuit on the right side. In fact I got the
idea from an old TV program display circuit that uses Nixie tubes. But the MPS-A42
transistors are fairly cheap and there’s no need to switch to some low(er) voltage types,
which aren’t much cheaper – if at all. But maybe you happen to have several hundreds
of them around ... feel free to use them.

The circuit itself is simple: the posi’Ive signal from the counter output passes the
current-limiting 33 K resistor and turns on the Collector-Emitter path, which then
grounds the cathode pin of the nixie. This turns on the neon glow for that cathode.
Under Control: Switches for setting the clock

Since this clock is only a counter it does not get the time "by automatic". However:
since it has "Auto-Zero" function you could try plug it in at midnight exactly ...
So we need switches. I like clocks where minutes and hours can be set independently.
And which has not to cycle through the entire 24-hours-counting in fast forward and
then set the "finetuning" with a slow mode switch. I prefer setting the minutes, then the
hours. Once I goof on that I don't need to re-run once again. And again. Maybe.

The solution is pretty simple. Two toggle switches, one between the seconds and
minutes divider and one between the minutes and hours divider will do the trick. Look
here:

The common contact on either switch is connected to the input of the counter to set
(minutes or hours). The resistor / capacitor combination debounces the switch a bit to
avoid "scrolling" when switching back from set to run mode.
The upper (NC - now closed) contact is connected with the output of the previous
counter. The Diode is for decoupling. It is not always necessary, but might help
avoiding problems, when the switch has "take-over" contacts that close both contacts
momentarily while toggling.
The lower (NO - Now open) contact is connected with the 1 Hz base clock from the
1Hz-Generator. If the clock is too slow for your feel (especially on the minutes count-
up) feel free to use the 2 Hz from the Pin 3 (Q13) of the 4060 directly or even use the 4
Hz signal that can be generated from pin 1 (Q11) of the 4060 and the second half of the
4013 Flip-Flop. Or use pin 2 (Q12) on the 4060, which offers 4 Hz already.
Ticking the seconds: A blinking colon

Those who opted to build a 4-digit clock with Hours and Minutes only (and save 16
transistors and 16 resistors at least) may wish to have something that indicates the
seconds pacing on. Analogous to the odd blinking ":" on other digital watches.
Easy done. If your Nixie has a decimal point you could use one of those. Nixies that
have a decimal point to the right of the number should use the one in the 1 / Hours digit
(LSB), with a left-side decimal point you use the one in the 10 / Minutes digit (MSB).
No special treatment required. The anode current on the Nixie goes up a bit - but that
shouldn't harm anything.

Those who use Nixies without decimal points or aren't attracted much by the look may
use a single neon-lamp in the middle between the hours and minutes display. See the
schematic below.

This is how the single, middle flashing neon lamp looks on

my second prototype: it is a relatively long and slim lamp I
recovered from some electronic crap in the early 70s ...
almost 3 decades later it came handy to act as a blinking
colon in a home-made Nixie Clock. Life is funny.

You could also use a LED - or some "Magic Eye" tube that
alters height / angle during the seconds ticking. But "real tubes" require a heater supply
which is several 100 mA normally - while the entire circuit with the 8 CMOS chips, the
driver transistors and such takes less than 10 mA. The Nixies take another 5 mA from
the 220 V supply - and that's all. If you stuff in a "radio tube" you will have to extend
both: your low-volt and high-volt supply as well. So far you come away with about 6
Watts electric energy - given that the two transformers have an efficiency of about 80
%.

Bells and Whistles: Adding extra-functions

(Not yet fully approved)

An easy method to add an extra function is using an integrated sound circuit. Usually
these chips are positive-edge triggered. Means: you pull the input high and the sound
plays. Given you got a chip with a "Big Ben" bell tone you simply add an AND-gate
output (or two transistors as for the "Hours" reset circuit) to the sound-chip "activate"
input. The AND-gate input is connected with the "0" outputs (pin 3) on the minutes
divider 4017s.

Result: any full hour when the display jumps to "00" in the minutes the sound is
triggered.
Hint: include a switch to shut off the sound. Sometimes these "good" ideas turn out to
be somewhat unnerving on the long run. (Big Grin !).

Finally: some pictures from my prototypes

So far I made three different prototypes. After some testings and trials the circuit has
stabilized to the components shown above. There is however a lot room for
improvements or changes, add-ons and whatnot. Especially the switches for setting the
time are subject to permanent change. A printed circuit board is also (yet) missing, but
I'm working on it.

Here are some pictures of the two working clocks.

The 1Hz generator.

Built as sample, used in "Study" clock.

6 x ZM1040 in red. Still without the neon lamp

30mm character height. in the middle.
Mounted 30° to the right. The Nixies were ZM1080,
Rail was for ZM1020 but I removed the red filter.
originally.

Originally this was a ZM1040

A standard sized Euro-Board. which used to have a red The "air-wires" phase.
The red LED takes more filter coating. Switches not installed.
power than all the chips. I removed it for better look.
The ZM1042 is the clear glass version.

A case study with 4 x Stacked board and display.

Z5600M. Different switches now.
(ex-GDR ZM1020-
equivalents)
Just completed.
Not enough room ? Everything on very A divider / driver circuit.
Build it compacter. small boards. To fit in Very compact built.
That's how I did it. the "Study" case. One of two.

A look inside.
Yes - it is pretty tight filled..