*PLEASE NOTE: When making Bracula I never would have thought that I will be forced to add this to the below description: beware of fake sites/facebook posts using parts of this video and some additional (stolen) pictures of Bracula, trying to lure unsuspecting people into buying a "Hanging Hellfire Clock" DIY kit for 70 dollars or so. I am not affiliated with any webshops or manufacturers, I made one single Bracula (thus it is unique in the world; if someone managed to make a DIY Bracula kit - which I highly doubt - it is a stolen design) and it is still displayed on my night stand.*

First of all: I know. But if a taped-to-the-wall banana could sell for a certain price, I am thinking that selling a one of a kind, hand made piece of Nixie art is worth a try. Should this selling attempt be successful, the income will be used to secure my family's financial future.

The clock is called Bracula, because it is made of Brass, Copper (Cu) and Aluminum. I made it manually, over the course of one year, with attention to each detail (it is made of ¬345 pieces and with around 110m wire) - it was completed on the 20th of July, 2020. It is not perfect, but given that it was made by hand, with a minimal usage of small, handheld power tools (cordless drill, a dremel, jigsaw, heat gun and a soldering iron), it looks pretty amazing, worthy of attention of Nixie enthusiasts, collectors, or anyone who wishes to own a unique Nixie clock.

I based the three capsules' design on the award winning Lantern clock, however I improved the Lantern's capsule design to be more decorative (the tube PCBs are not visible, there is a copper cover masking them and also, there are grooved brass rings aroung the IN-8-2 tubes and the wires going out the capsules; what's more, all the LEDs and Nixie tubes can be replaced without soldering).

The capsules' hinges are made with RC plane ball joints, thus they are highly durable and mobile. The clock's buttons are made of 9mm bullet shells, engraved with their functions (ADJ, SET, DST, ALM). Also, there is an engraved plaque beneath the capsules, which reads "Tempus fugit, aeternitas manet." - "Time flies, eternity remains."

Bracula operates with IN-8-2 tubes (from "old new stock") and is powered by PV Electronics' Elite PCB. It features a motion sensor, temperature display, time syncronisation (via the Xterna module) and all the extensive functions supported by the Elite PCB.

What's more, as a difference compared to all other IN-8-2 Nixie clocks all over the world, 4 out of 6 of Bracula's IN-8-2 tubes are wired so that the dot cathode in the Nixies double as seconds indicators: they are flashing and thanks to the Elite PCB's versatile functions, they can be set up to do this in various patterns. Also, they are used to indicate plus and minus temperature values.

All six IN-8-2 tubes are backlit by APA106 RGB smart LEDs and this backlight can be switched from below the tubes to the plexiglas walls of the capsules with the two switches on the back of the clock.

The Xterna time and temperature module is operated with 3 AA batteries. Batteries will not be included, due to shipping safety reasons.

Naturally, Bracula comes with spare IN-8-2 tubes. Also, I am more than happy to explain how it is built, down to the last washer.

The clock is located in Transylvania, Romania. Due to the difficulties of international shipping, I do not accept returns and as I am a physical person, cannot really offer warranty, however given that Bracula is 99% made of non-corrosive metal (brass and copper do tarnish over time, but it can be easily cleaned) and the Nixie tubes have a very long lifespan, if it is properly used/displayed, I don't expect maintenance will be necessary over the course of the next couple years. Should this be necessary, I will be more than happy to assist; this clock is my "Mona Lisa" and I'd want to ensure it will operate flawlessly and its beauty will delight its owner for many years to come.

Naturally, free shipping. I selected 4 to 10 business days for handling because I want to make sure not to miss anything due to rushing and I want to ensure that the clock will be packed as safely as possible.


Package contents:

- The assembled, ready-to-use Bracula clock
- 1x 12v 1.5A EU plug power adapter (a wall socket adapter might be required if other there are other wall socket standards in use in your region).
- 1x assembled, ready to use Xterna module (operates with AA batteries - these are not included due to shipping reasons)
- 6x spare old new stock IN-8-2 Nixie tubes with untrimmed wires
- 1x USB stick with the clock's user manual

Functions supported (powered by the PV Electronics Elite PCB - list of functions copied from the http://www.pvelectronics.co.uk/ website and adapted to Bracula's build):

- Hours, Minutes and Seconds display
- Uses a Quartz Crystal Oscillator as the timebase
- 12 or 24 hour modes
- Programmable leading zero blanking
- Date display in either DD.MM.YY or MM.DD.YY or YY.MM.DD format
- Programmable date display each minute
- Scrolling display of date or standard display
- Alarm, with programmable snooze period
- XTERNA synchronisation with status indicator LED
- Dedicated DST button to switch between DST and standard time
- Supercapacitor backup. Keeps time during short power outages
- PIR Motion Sensor - Configurable timeout
period
- Simple time setting using two buttons
- 11 second indicator modes
- Seconds can be reset to zero to precisely the set time
- Programmable night mode - blanked or dimmed display to save tubes or
prevent sleep disturbance
- Weekday aware ‘Master Blank’ function to turn off HV/ tubes and LEDs on
weekends or during working hours
- Standard, fading, or crossfading with scrollback display modes
- ‘Slot Machine’ Cathode poisoning prevention routine
- Programmable RGB tube lighting – select YOUR favourite colour palette
- 729 LED lighting colours possible. Have a different colour or your choosing every
hour, or autochanging colours
- Not AC frequency dependent – works in all countries
- All user preferences stored to non-volatile memory

XTERNA module:
- Display of outdoor temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit.
- Min / Max temperature in last 24 hours
- Wireless, Auto Sync of time from GPS with auxilliary TCXO
- GPS Sync time, and time since last GPS Fix
- Voltage of XTERNA module battery