The ILC1-1/8L VFD tube is one of the largest VFD displays that was ever made. The digits are nearly 2.5″ tall and can be easily read from across a room. I’ve adapted my standard TTL logic clock circuit for use with these display tubes.
The clock must be powered by about 7.5VAC. It draws about 500mA. A DC power supply will work too, but one side of the tubes will be noticeably brighter because the heater filament will give off more electrons on the side closer to the positive. This design could easily be adapted to have 6 display tubes and display the seconds, but these tubes aren’t cheap!
Below are all the open source design files to build your own clock. The Bill of materials is simply a .csv spreadsheet. There is a .png image schematic for easy viewing. The .JSON files are Easy EDA format that can be imported into Easy EDA. Download them into your local drive, and import them into Easy EDA by clicking on File, Open, EasyEDA. I do not share Gerber files. Because they can’t be modified I don’t consider this to be “open source.” You can generate your own Gerber files by importing the .JSON files.
Schematic in PNG image format:
Bill of materials:
Easy EDA files:
Note that “PCB_Jumbo_VFD_Back” is just a blank PCB with screw holes to cover the back. It has a hole in the center to hang the PCB on a wall. This is optional. You could also just use the main PCB as a back cover. The two layers are screwed together with M3 fasteners.
