The Scope Clock
I am very happy to be able to bring this video to you today featuring the Scope Clock from Cathode Corner.
There’s likely only a handful of these being offered for sale in an assembled state, so I’d suggest if you’re interested you’d be best putting in an order sooner rather than later. Certainly before this video goes live on YouTube at the weekend.
That said, do not feel pressured to spend so much money on something you definitely don’t need. No one needs an oscilloscope clock. Most people will be able to get along perfectly well without ever owning one, living a long and happy life with no sense of missing out. Also, if you are tempted - it's the usual story of 'buyer beware'...I'm not endorsing or guaranteeing this product, just demonstrating it. I also haven't owned mine long enough to confirm how accurately it keeps time...over time.
Anyway - here's the video link https://youtu.be/50XL37kJ3ME
You can find more info at https://scopeclock.com
For me though, getting hold of this fulfils a desire that stretches back well over a decade. If I’d never been looking for a scope clock in 2010, it’s doubtful I’d have stumbled across the Nixie watch and if I hadn’t bought that Nixie watch it’s very possible that I wouldn’t have shifted the focus of my youtube channel into showing more unusual retrotech. If that hadn’t happened, I really don’t know what I’d be doing today.
In connected news, YouTube emailed over my 2021 headline stats this afternoon and the number one most viewed video of the year was that old Nixie watch video from 2010.
Anyway, I hope you like this video. I’m going to turn off the computer for a few hours and watch some television instead.
Take it easy and we'll chat again before Christmas.
Comments (92)
Thanks for the great video. I bought one of these recently, ebay.co.uk/itm/Cathode-Ray-Tube-Nixie-Clock-Art-Deco-Vintage-Unique-Rare-Mullard-CRT-BBC-Valve-/203805685680? Its similar to the one you showed but UK made ? The same guy also sells a great VFD clock, but his supplies are very sporadic. Talking of VFD, I've also bought one of these form Amazon amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07C2NJLC3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 combined VU meter and digital clock, it drops into clock mode as soon as the audio stops for a period. You may have shown that but I've still got some of your videos to catch up on ! Keep up the great work !
That’s a very neat minimalist looking scope clock. I did have one of those VFD VUs at one point - I think it ended up in a video, but it’s been a while.
Done my best to check the comments before; I've seen a couple of people have been re-writing the firmware on these things to be used as an oscilloscope again. Specifically to play Jerobeam's music on them, but can also be used as a general waveform oscilloscope. Here's a link to just one of them. https://github.com/kilrah/AudioScope
Thanks for the great video, Mat! Keep seeing these on US Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/listing/646570753/oscilloscope-clock-or-scope-clock-made), so at least someone else is making these. Also, you know we are going to ask about that new black box in your Hi-Fi. :) Happy Holidays!
Two questions because I'm completely ignorant of this and curious - firstly, what are the commenters repeating ad nauseam about 'leet' or 1337? I did a search and see two possible meanings. They think you included on the video intentionally. If you already answered or commented about this, I did not find it. Secondly, I wonder why I haven't learned about or even seen vector vs. raster things out in the wild over here.
Those who don't speak l33t are n00bs. 😏 13:37 on the clockface, and the video itself is 13:37 long. Clearly intentional by Techmoan. Leet is a bit of a running gag in nerd circles. Harkens back to the BBS era (that's pre-Internet) where the 'elite' (eleet) would have their own lingo and catchphrases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet
When I was about 11 I was given a oscilloscope as a "toy" to play with. It was an old Waterman Pockescope S-11-A, made in the late 40s. It seemed similar in size to the ScopeClock demonstrated in this video, except it was housed in an heavy tin metal case and filled with tubes (or valves as you would call them?) that could be seen glowing through the vents on its side. I have fond memories of doing experiments with it, like connecting various oscillators and toy synths, and feeding a stereo signal in the X/Y inputs which would look like what the Pioneer SD-1000 could display in one of its mode.
Does you nixie watch from this video https://youtu.be/QqvWq39228k still work? I bought an identical one the day you released the video from the link In the description and have been wearing it daily without any issues. The four tube watch gets a lot of attention even more so then my two from Cathode Corner.
It doesn’t unfortunately. I got it out one day and it wouldn’t take a charge. I’ve got to guess the battery needs replacing, but I haven’t tried yet.
Great video as always but wow for $500 that is expensive for this type of product. These tubes are actually not all that rare, I have a basement full of them mostly from Russia and the smaller ones like what is featured are fairly easy to find. If people are looking for an assembled clock may I recommend https://oscilloscopeclocknixiecrt.com/ I have bought three clocks from this person and they have been running for a number of years and are significantly less expensive and are very well built. It's an interesting product from Cathode Corner and having both the original round nixie watch and the updated square one I have zero doubts this is a solid product. It's funny Cathode Corner is what drove me into Nixie madness resulting in me purchasing and eventually building over 40 nixie clocks, numitron clocks, VFD clock and thyratron clocks and led me to find great people like Mr. Nixie, Pete of PV Electronics and many wonderful people from Ukraine and Russia in my search for different kinds of nixie tubes. I have a weird interest in time prices for some reason and just enjoy seeing them so videos like these will always be a fan favorite for me
I wish I’d known about that website earlier. I’d have no doubt picked one of those up.
Is there any danger of burn-in with an oscilloscope?
Yes but most boards have a shifting mechanism in place so that the image doesn't stay static. On this clock I would expect there to be something since it doesn't seem to feature a night mode which a lot of my Oscilloscope clocks have where they power off after a certain time.
An epic short video (is there such a thing?) about an epic product! Bit of a missed opportunity by Cathode Corner not to call it the "Osillyscope", perhaps. 🤓 The previous mention in the comments here about oscilloscope music just reminded me that you used to have a custom Techmoan oscilloscope intro — along with its rather spacey sound — for a few short videos years back. I think mixing up different intros for videos would be awesome. You could have a system where the oscilloscope intro I just mentioned is used for what was previously known as the 'cheese sandwiches'. Then you have the regular intro for retro stuff, and the modern CGI intro for when reviewing modern tech. The variety would be distinctly Techmoan, but also a nice additional "spice" for the format. "-Care for some oregano on your cheese sandwich, Sir?" Just an idea. You're your own producer. 👍
I have considered doing something like this - however whenever the intro changes it causes immense confusion. For perhaps two or three years I tried to establish the cheese sandwich video concept - but every time it was used it just caused confusion despite the long explanation in the descriptions.
It must have been torturous to wait to open that box. Hearing your joy at finally getting this item fills me with happiness. It is indeed a thing of beauty. Nice to see the Nixie watches; hello, you dear old friends.
You’ll have seen a few Nixie watches featured over the years - however the only ones I have that still work are from Cathode Corner. It might be coincidence…
I realised last night that the only thing that could improve this, in my opinion, is a 3.5mm input to play oscilloscope music into it. I think that the images from Jerobeam Fenderson's 'Planets' would look great. If this was available I would have to buy one.
...so you want an oscilloscope? 🤔
Very nice of David to send you a scope clock, what an excellent early Christmas gift!
You'll notice an edit at the end - I'd originally said 'getting this made it worth hanging around until the end of 2021 after all' - but I thought it could come across as a bit bleak so I did a snip. However it is definitely one of the highlights of the year.
Nice to see they've linked to "Square Nixie Watch review by TechMoan" :-))
Its always fascinated me how the first round watch video gets 5m views and the square one gets 275k. That just shows the power of YouTube’s recommendations. The square watch video is much better in my opinion.
So, order placed for a kit. Just the next installment of the love-hate relationship with the channel, 3rd time that I get great stuff because of it but that my wallet hates it 🤣 Will try to write some code too, maybe also make some hardware changes I have ideas for
Please keep everyone here updated. I’d love to see what improvements people can come up with.
Quite keen to get one and write some code for different displays, such as a clock face to fill the screen also with complications 🤔. Interesting as it seems open source
The typeface used on the scope is delightful. It manages to look restrained and quiet even though many of the letterforms - like that 7 ! - are flamboyant and idiosyncratic.
Absolutely gorgeous bit of kit there, and an excellent video. You can tell its really been put together with a lot of love and care for oscilloscopes (but thats no surprise given its from a place called cathode corner.)
That is rather gorgeous and I wish I had somewhere to put one.
I'm not sure where to put mine. It doesn't help that it's the kind of thing I'd like to have on prominent display and the kind of thing the Mrs can't stand to look at.
"As deep as this piece of string." LOL I think my piece of string might be of different length so not sure whether I have space for this. :-)
Oh, it was just a standard length piece.
I have used a few generations of scopes. For my degree we were required among others to build and test circuits but I have been using it on an off for years, from simple things as visualizing voltage outputs to more recently monitor brushless motors with digital ones. There is this thing of lugging big clunky equipment around and fiddling with knobs that clicking on a computer does not give you, even if the new digital ones have better resolution. I think that is something you transmit very well on the channel. It is also refreshing to see that people goes beyond the every day work and shows creativity and joy. In that context, while 500 euros are a sizeable chunk of money, I don't think it is overpriced at all, though not for me... That is also why is nice to see it in the hands of someone who enjoys it With regards to the nixie videos, that is interesting, however never forget the power of hindsight. I watched them recently (like last week, so happy to keep boosting them). I was of course aware of nixies but only vaguely. However I must say that the HP watch video was in my opinion much better all around. One of my favourites (though I don't know how it fits in the timeline) and indeed my favourite videos are the retro tech ones.
The first Logic analyser I used, displaying all sorts of stuff on screen. was actually a plug in module for a Tektronix Oscilloscope. In 1989 I changed jobs, lured by the state of the art HP Touchscreen Logic Analyser (16500B) that the company I went to had just bought
I would love a scope clock. thanks for the demonstration. I have an ancient 10 Mhz scope and an Arduino lying around. A Christmas and new year project for when I run out of turkey leftovers sandwiches. Edit: Somebody has done it. I need some digital to analogue converters. That's easy to make with lots of resistors.
At 2:55 there is a double "front" in the audio? Maybe a problem when cutting the audio? Probably not noticeable when not using moderately expensive headphones.
I came in here because I wanted to mention that I heard that reverb in “front” as well.
Fantastic
Lovely looking thing as you say. It is also interesting to read how this led to a pivot in your channel. The three fates were smiling on you that day Mat.
It looks like there's an issue with the editing at the 4:11 mark. You say "a nice clear digital clock, hours and minutes, moving on, we get the seconds added" while the video is still showing the menu, and then when you say seconds it's showing the face without seconds, and so on. It looks like the audio sync is off a bit? I tried playing the video in another browser to make sure it wasn't just on my end since nobody else seems to have mentioned it so I am feeling quite insane edit: I see in the YouTube comments you used the YouTube editor to correct a mistake after uploading the video, I guess that is likely what broke the audio sync
It seems fine now. There’s usually a transitional period.
What an incredible kit! I love the way these tubes look!
Techmoan has such nice toys. Great video, again.
How appropriate that you did a shot of the clock on top of your Pioneer reel-to-reel...! They're both super-cool things that I'd love to have in my house, but they cost way more than I'd be willing to spend, so I'm grateful that you've put together such good videos about them.
They’re both things everyone can live without and not lose a wink of sleep.
That definitely is a beauty, but I can't talk myself into spending that much. I'll just have to wait for the "CRT Wristwatch" to come out--imagine it would cost less, just a bit more cumbersome;-D
So basically a PipBoy then xD
I've just checked the website and kits are already sold out, the Techmoan effect in action!
I did warn David that he might get inundated when this goes live on YouTube. Fortunately he’s a sensible bloke, so rather than let more orders flood in than he can handle, he has a strict restriction on the stock levels. Pity Kickstarters aren’t as thoughtful.
Wow - that is gorgeous, positively drool inducing! Thanks for sharing, Mat.
I want one but I'd far rather build the kit. I would really enjoy the building process. Even so, £400 it's sill a lot of money to find. Word of caution, as several people have said, that screen will eventually burn in. Keep the brightness down as much as you can and use the brightness control to turn the screen off at night. It would be good to have the centering subtly and slowly move the image side to side and up and down by half a cm over every hour or so. That and a sleep mode would be the first things to add on the next revision.
I think it's $400 US, which is slightly easier to swallow when buying from Australia with our shocking exchange rate. Someone up futher in a reply mentioned the code actually does shift the screen slightly over time.
I swear it's the type of clock you would find in the set dressing of a Reanimator sequel
I note on the Scope Clock website that the CRT is expected to have a 10 year lifespan. My first thought is that whilst the Scope Clock is beautiful, I wonder how long it will be until burn-in starts to become an issue with the tube (even with the mitigation mentioned in one of the earlier comments). I still want one, though. Thanks for showing it (and thanks to the Scope Clock guy for sending it to you).
That was the same thought I had while watching this. I'd have to imagine the tens digit in 24-hour mode or the AM/PM indicator in 12-hour mode being static for a good portion of a day.
That’s a work of beauty! Hope he does more fun stuff like this in the future and that we get the Techmoan take on it! :)
Great video as usual Mat. I bought a UK scope clock on eBay a month or so ago, made by a chap in St Ives. I'd bought a VFD clock from him previously. He doesn't make that many so there's nothing on eBay at present but I only paid £200 for it so looks like I got a good deal. I've got a photo I can post but not sure if I can on Patreon ?
There doesn’t seem to be a way to embed images on Patreon. People just tend to link to an image hosting website. £200 does sound very fair.
Given that it's arduino-based, I wonder if they'd extend it to have features like your device that shows your youtube subscription count. That'd be awesome to see on an oscilloscope display.
Given the recent lack of movement - I may ask a stonemason to engrave the subscriber count on a rock. It'd save on electricity.
A real thing of beauty. Thanks for the short but very nice video!
Wow
How does it protect against screen burn? There is no mention of this on the website and you mentioned it doesn’t turn off. You can imagine that some parts would be susceptible to burn if left in clock mode. Surprised nothing has been programmed in to prevent this.
I have no idea, sorry.
Great video, thank you. As you say it is art. very nice just to look at.
Thanks - I’m glad you liked it too.
Bruh.... That thumbnail. 🤤
Good or bad? - I can never tell.
Very cool clock and video. Thanks also for showing off your incredible, ambidextrous "Tennis for Two" skills.
A reflection on a lonely childhood. Just joking.
Great video Mat, even though I'm probably never going to get one for myself. Also, the built-in games were a nice touch. Here's hoping the video does well enough for you!
wow, thats so beautiful. Real craftsmanship there!
I absolutely want a kit, but need to check those end of year finances :( The awesome thing is the code is public so we can play with adding and sharing more displays
Ordered a kit. Thanks Mat for sharing. The trigger word was "Arduino". So finally a CRT display to create programs for.
You’ll have to keep us all updated as to what you manage to get it to do - I’m interested to see.
"Tennis for Two" appeared on an oscilloscope type CRT a decade before Pong appeared on a converted TV set. https://www.pong-story.com/intro.htm Anyway Pong itself was just a (licensed) copy of a Magnavox game.
I did include mentions of all of this in an earlier edit - but it got the video way bogged down. The Tennis for Two chap isn’t known for trying to shut down two player tennis games. Whoever the latest patent troll is that bought Atari this week - is. After all that’s really the only reason you’d buy Atari. It’s definitely not for the employees and their unbeatable tech know how.
Neat. I'm assuming this is a true vector display (like an oscilloscope) but I don't see any of the retracing that I'd usually see with something like that. Maybe it's just because there isn't enough data on the screen, or maybe they just have it running really fast. But I have to wonder if there is any chance this is really a raster display?
From the page "given the unique characteristics of a vector display"... tetris shows it well with the minimizing of lines
Recorded today huh? That's a fast edit and upload 👍
I re-recorded a few sections today I was unhappy with.
Absolutely a work of art.
Hah! Your "alternative measurements" made my day.
Does it retain the date and time when you switch it off Mat ? Looks like a nice neat bit of kit.
The small CR2032 battery fixes that, for up to 5 years he said.
The Tetris Company are infamously litigious! More so than Atari with Pong, I'd say. I trust they'll manage to restrain themselves when it comes to the emerging red-hot market of $500 oscilloscope clocks...
Definitely cool, thanks for sharing!
I love this! I actually have a very old electronic calculator, a Friden EC-130, made in 1965, which also uses an oscilloscope display with electrostatic deflection and draws characters with strokes, sort of like this wonderful clock.
Vectrex uses the same technique (hence the name). Loads of test equipment from the 1970s did the same because it needed a far smaller amount of expensive memory than a frame store.
Pong! I want one. $500! Pass. Still want one though.
Oh wow. I'm excited even before viewing it and my foreseeable and avoidable disappointment once I see the price.
Ooh I like the look of that.