I have 3 Jeff Thomas NixiChrons; a sliver anodized one, a black anodized one , and a polished aluminum one ( my own modification on the original theme). These things are the cream of the crop! They are almost perfect and I just can’t say enough about them! They are GPS accurate and dependent (won’t work without the GPS). The only thing that doesn’t work to perfection is the temperature, but I think that’s because the probe sits beneath the case. If one took the time to extend this cable and locate the sensor out from underneath the clock, my guess is it would work just fine. The electronics (direct drive) and the simply elegant casework are unmatched! I have had the black one running for over 5 years now. I had two shift registers go bad in this oldest clock, but in the end determined the problem to be a bad solder joint on the “seconds” tube pins. The other 2 have been working flawlessly. Unlike many Nixie designs, there is no cross digit fade option. To make this clock perfect, I would like to see this feature, another wake/sleep setting, a non-GPS operating mode,  and a Cathode Poisoning routine included in a software update. But, even without these, it is still the best available, bar none! Thomas now uses the HaiCom 204III GPS. This GPS is awesome. It locks on in seconds anywhere inside my home! It should be noted that Thomas programs these 204III’s differently from the stock unit to work with his clocks and to eliminate any potential time sync issues. A really unique feature of this clock is the 9 chime style choices. The “Mantle Clock” style is a beautiful little series of tones that one would swear is mechanical. And to top it all off, these clocks are MADE IN THE USA and in my guesstimation, probably the best selling “production” nixie clocks ever made! I use these electronics in all my custom made clocks.

Sadly, Jeff Thomas passed away this last July, 2014, but the Nixichron and all of his wonderful contributions live on.  His inactive website has been graciously hosted by a kind member of the Nixie community. Jeff’s products are no longer available, at least for now.  http://www.nixie.dk/~jthomas/clockpage.html

Check out the pics below of the NixiChron driving red filtered IN-18’s (I colored these myself with glass paint) I also had the anodized coating removed and polished the aluminum case to a high lustre finish. I think it came out really NICE!!

Click on the big pic above to see and hear the polished NixiChron with the red IN-18’s in action.

Michael Barile

BadNixie.com LLC