Last night I started to make the PCB. Using a laser printer (in my office has one  8) ) I printed the circuit in a normal paper. According Tips on the internet the best paper to do it is acetate or photo paper. I decided to go with normal just as a test, and for my surprise it works perfectly! I fixed the paper on the PCB using a Tamiya mask tape and using an iron (medium temperature) for around 2 minutes was enough to fix the ink on the PCB. Just put in cold water and remove the paper using a toothbrush. It’s not so easy, because the paper in fact is glued on the PCB. I tried to use boil water and I had the sensation that the work turns more easy. In the fridge with the water boiling I used the toothbrush to remove the paper (using soft movements). When finished, wash with cold/normal water and put it direct to corrode (don’t wait to dry). Just it. You can find more details here:

Pictures below:

Beautiful case to use as refference:

Reference:
http://woodize.com/media/official-images-of-the-simplon-nixie-clock/

The electronics starts to arrive. First package (national supplier): buzzer, PCB, CI 555, LED, capacitors and resistors.

Last month on the site Instructables.com I saw one Nixie clock Project. I have to say that I love valves, I love everything that has old style and there is nothing more old style than tube valves. The problem is that in my country it’s impossible to find this kind of electronic device, and if you find, the price will be very expensive.

When I saw the Andrea Biffi’s Nixie clock ( www.instructables.com/id/simple-user-adjustable-DIY-Nixie-Clock ), I said: I have to build one!!!

At the same day I started to design my project. After passing the excitement of discovery, I concluded that this will not be an easy project. It is very hard to find electronic parts in my town. I have to buy everything at ebay. Parts are coming from Ukraine, China, England, etc.. I love Ebay!!!! To my luck Andrea is helping me a lot by answering all my questions.

As part of my Nixie quest I decided to build 3 clocks. I bought one Nixie DIY kit at the Ebay, which I intend to give as a gift to my father. It will help to kill my anxiety in building one Nixie clock and will give me more patience to build the others. The second one will be based on the Andrea’s clock. The last one will be my personal project of one single digit Nixie clock, that will have the case based in one scientific fiction movie.

Welcome to my blog Nixie Addicted. I believe that I don’t need explain why my blog has this name, it speaks for itself. 

I am Brazilian (41 years old), electrical engineer, musician, plastic modeler and I'm also investigating electronics. As English is not my mother language I apologize for spelling mistakes and my weird way of writing.