Technically it's part of a computer. That was the timer for an automated radio station. You have all your tapes set up with your various recordings, and the timer is set to play a specific tape at a selected time. Example, one tape might be set up with music and another would be set up with news, and another with commercials. Your stepper motors also kinda works like the way the old automated rotary phone systems use to work. Very interesting.
wcemichael I actually thought this would be used to automate a railroad station, thou Radio does make sense with multiple tapes. At least radio stations uses more elegant tech that doesn't drive you nuts with mechanical clicking.
richkawaiipikachu I just happen to have seen a picture of the whole set up. something like that could be used for trains I guess, but they are always running late and that would mean a big accident if the computer only ran on timers.
the light bulb and motor trigger the stepper motors to move the dial and activate each number in the nixie tubes. since its for a radio station, you may not even hear it. being enclosed and all. very interesting.
The switches are called "uniselectors" and were a standard part of old electro-mechanical exchanges like strowgers. They were made probably in their millions, but are increasingly rare and valuable now. I have a UK made nixie clock that was driven by the same sort of uniselectors. The ones you have only move in one plane - in trunk selection uniselectors they also move up & down as well as rotate. Wonderful stuff - adjusting them was a very very skilled job.
Makes me remember the upkeep for rows and rows of step switches for the step by step switching and crossbar pre ESS at the pac bell central office in compton CA in the 70s 250,000 lines out of that office. COOL mechanical clock.
Pretty awesome peice of old archaic architecture you have there. Amazing how hard it was to do a simple thing such as keep time accurately in the 50's and 60's.
That is most amazing! A mechanical clock. But a digital clock. A NIXIE TUBE clock! That is a fantastic find, and it was neat to see how it would have been used to automate a series of reel-to-reels. Clk clk clk clk clk clk ckl c kl...
I believe the external sync would had been for a 1pps signal from a master clock. For the bearings in the switch use Nye 140B clock oil applied with a thin oiler. Nye 760G electrical grease should be used for the switch contacts and the ratchet pawls. Both are very expensive but well worth it for these hard-to-find Uniselectors.
what a really nice piece of hardware! It's awesome the way they built it, thinking it should LAST long... I never sen anything like it, expexially the photoresistor board to get the clock time base... awesome and spectacular! Thanks for sharing! :-)
@tubeie07 This device combined with a room full of tape machines (see last 2 photos) was the first attempt to run a radio station at night without an operator present. Google Schafer automation! It's worth the read.
I bet you'd love old ANITA calculators! They used thyratron tubes (neon filled glass tubes) to perform their switching. I was not able to acquire a full ANITA, but did get 6 decade counter/nixie display boards. I plan to use six trimline rotary telephone dials as pulse generators and build a simple adding machine from the parts. Old Friden and Marchant fully automatic mechanical calculators might catch your eye too. Friden even had a model that did square roots... all mechanically!
Very cool, getting the line sync from the motor/light mechanism is pretty interesting. I wonder why that was used instead of a microsiwtch (wear and tear?) or a frequency divider(cost of parts?).
Likely simplicity reasons. I also don't know if microswitches were around with equipment that old. It's quite easy to get 1Hz though. 60Hz AC motor (3600RPM), 10:1 Gear reduction, and a 6:1 gear reduction. I assume this method would not wear out very easily, and it's accurate as the power grid is. Even some cheap digital alarm clocks you put by your bed use a diode to get a 60Hz pulsed electrical signal.
such an awesome set up, I love old stuff its so mechanical. So Nixie tube production basically all stopped some time ago and then ceased in Russia in like the 80s. I saw there is some youtuber that has learned how to make them and has a small production line now. Do you know of anyone else? I really want to find some NR-17s there like the size of a quarter. Heck I'd love to find one even just close to Schafer that you have any suggestions where to look?
I just picked up an old nixie tube voltmeter display head with 7 stepper switches....maybe I can make one of these.....hmmm just have to figure out how the stepper switches "talk" to each other. The 60 Hz referenced time base is the easy part. What is the RPM of your synchronous timing motor? Does it have 2 light holes or more in it? Thanks
I have a Parabam digital clock that works similarly. It's not Nixie, it uses IEE rear projection displays. The timebase is a Bodine gear motor that turns four cams cycling leaf switches every 5 sec.
What an amazing piece of gear - what actually was it's purpose? Was it to trigger accurately cart decks or time calls or something like that in radio as I've not seen one before? I'm putting up some vids shortly from the Sony Betacart training video I located tonight after 20 years, if your interested John...
This clock would make a great gift for a deaf person.
That has to be the coolest clock I have ever seen
And the coolest jukebox!
such a beautiful sight seeing old technologie being brought back to life, i especially love tech that used nixies and this thing makes me so jealous.
Technically it's part of a computer. That was the timer for an automated radio station. You have all your tapes set up with your various recordings, and the timer is set to play a specific tape at a selected time. Example, one tape might be set up with music and another would be set up with news, and another with commercials. Your stepper motors also kinda works like the way the old automated rotary phone systems use to work.
Very interesting.
wcemichael I actually thought this would be used to automate a railroad station, thou Radio does make sense with multiple tapes.
At least radio stations uses more elegant tech that doesn't drive you nuts with mechanical clicking.
richkawaiipikachu I just happen to have seen a picture of the whole set up. something like that could be used for trains I guess, but they are always running late and that would mean a big accident if the computer only ran on timers.
the light bulb and motor trigger the stepper motors to move the dial and activate each number in the nixie tubes. since its for a radio station, you may not even hear it. being enclosed and all. very interesting.
This music + some retro tech is exactly what i needed at 3am, very comfy :D
I love the vintage equipment !!!! Much better than a new smartwatch
Man this would fit in a fallout-themed cafe lol
Would love to listen to that thing all day....
Looks like something out of Fallout.
Fascinating! Thanks for posting the video. Electromechanical things just have something about them that's tough to let go.
The switches are called "uniselectors" and were a standard part of old electro-mechanical exchanges like strowgers. They were made probably in their millions, but are increasingly rare and valuable now. I have a UK made nixie clock that was driven by the same sort of uniselectors.
The ones you have only move in one plane - in trunk selection uniselectors they also move up & down as well as rotate. Wonderful stuff - adjusting them was a very very skilled job.
I'd definitely have this clock in the bedroom.
This is beautiful. Ain't gonna lie, i want that clock quite bad.
Real beauty =)
Reminds me of an old automatic telephone switches. Ah, that noise, that smell…
The counter switches are exactly what was used as an interrupter at step by step telephone exchanges.
Paul and Earl were true geniuses. That's Paul in the final photo.
This is without a doubt the coolest clock I have ever seen.
Great job getting that industrial timer working again.
Well, that;s the coolest thing I've seen in a while!
Awesome machine. Well done !!! Nice set of reels at the end.
holy jesus what a glorious piece of mechanical technology, i would love to have such a clock, because this is the cooles clock ever
I found the sound to be quite relaxing. The motor had quite arythmetic tone
OMG, I just got my first nixie project -- a clock kit from the UK -- but what I wouldn't give to have this on my desk instead. Absolutely beautiful...
what a great piece of hardware
That is one of the most beautiful electronic machines I have ever seen.
That thing makes an awesome sound. Thanks for uploading!
Awesome clock, love it.
What a beautiful design with those stepper relays and nixie tubes.
Makes me remember the upkeep for rows and rows of step switches for the step by step switching and crossbar pre ESS at the pac bell central office in compton CA in the 70s 250,000 lines out of that office. COOL mechanical clock.
Nice Old Machine Gotta Love analog Format
Pretty awesome peice of old archaic architecture you have there. Amazing how hard it was to do a simple thing such as keep time accurately in the 50's and 60's.
I've been looking for one of these of a long time now, they are so hard to find!
That is most amazing! A mechanical clock. But a digital clock. A NIXIE TUBE clock! That is a fantastic find, and it was neat to see how it would have been used to automate a series of reel-to-reels. Clk clk clk clk clk clk ckl c kl...
I believe the external sync would had been for a 1pps signal from a master clock.
For the bearings in the switch use Nye 140B clock oil applied with a thin oiler. Nye 760G electrical grease should be used for the switch contacts and the ratchet pawls. Both are very expensive but well worth it for these hard-to-find Uniselectors.
Awesome! From an amazing era!
what a really nice piece of hardware! It's awesome the way they built it, thinking it should LAST long... I never sen anything like it, expexially the photoresistor board to get the clock time base... awesome and spectacular!
Thanks for sharing! :-)
Cool! Thanks for sharing.
That's good old technique! I like it.
Such clocks are very rare.
Beautiful!
I would love to own one of these...hint hint. Thanks for posting!! Keep me in mind if it needs a new home.
Other than it being the size of a factory; that is an amazing clock. great find.
Loveliness!
That's awesome!
Nice clock!
COOL! Thanks for posting.
fascinating!
Великолепно. Я думал только наши от этого тащятся. Респект автору!)
Amazing.
on camera the tubes come off as slightly pink. this could mean over voltage witch would reduce tube life. just a heads up
Wow, that is really interesting. Electro Mechanical designers were very ingenious. Got swept away in the computer age I guess.
I've seen those mechanical clocks when I was younger could never get my hands on one.
Nice score.
Black ops : Real life edition.
That was AWESOME :D
@tubeie07 This device combined with a room full of tape machines (see last 2 photos) was the first attempt to run a radio station at night without an operator present. Google Schafer automation! It's worth the read.
The people who developed the Seeburg Select-O-Matic system must have come from the telephone industry...
Definively!
Coolest thing I ever did see
Amazing!
If this came from the BBC it would had been a Patek Philippe master clock...
I'm sure it was a lot less noisy when it was mounted in its original location.
More reliable than a FLASH memory micro-controller.
EASILY.
6:05 An audiophile's wet dream! xD
amazing
That is so badass
thanks for that video dude
I bet you'd love old ANITA calculators! They used thyratron tubes (neon filled glass tubes) to perform their switching. I was not able to acquire a full ANITA, but did get 6 decade counter/nixie display boards. I plan to use six trimline rotary telephone dials as pulse generators and build a simple adding machine from the parts.
Old Friden and Marchant fully automatic mechanical calculators might catch your eye too. Friden even had a model that did square roots... all mechanically!
Perfect for horror movies....
Awesome, do you still have this ? Any chance I could get some HIGH resolution photos?
If you find an old radio station that hasn't thrown anything away since the '60s, you might find one.
You should attach that to your jukebox, that'd be one hell of an alarm clock. :-)
+twistedyogert That's genius. Some old hardware to manipulate some more old hardware. I can just imagine it now....
I'd buy or build one to use as an alarm clock. Turn on a lamp at a specific time, perhaps ring a bell later. I'd rather use seven segments though.
Really great clock, is it still running?
Very cool, getting the line sync from the motor/light mechanism is pretty interesting. I wonder why that was used instead of a microsiwtch (wear and tear?) or a frequency divider(cost of parts?).
Likely simplicity reasons. I also don't know if microswitches were around with equipment that old.
It's quite easy to get 1Hz though. 60Hz AC motor (3600RPM), 10:1 Gear reduction, and a 6:1 gear reduction.
I assume this method would not wear out very easily, and it's accurate as the power grid is.
Even some cheap digital alarm clocks you put by your bed use a diode to get a 60Hz pulsed electrical signal.
do you know where i could find one of these clocks?
Awesome
You could attach it to the record player and have a pretty cool alarm clock.
Its like a very very very old working clock.
such an awesome set up, I love old stuff its so mechanical. So Nixie tube production basically all stopped some time ago and then ceased in Russia in like the 80s. I saw there is some youtuber that has learned how to make them and has a small production line now. Do you know of anyone else? I really want to find some NR-17s there like the size of a quarter. Heck I'd love to find one even just close to Schafer that you have any suggestions where to look?
Reminds me of something you'd see on the LOST series.
I just picked up an old nixie tube voltmeter display head with 7 stepper switches....maybe I can make one of these.....hmmm just have to figure out how the stepper switches "talk" to each other. The 60 Hz referenced time base is the easy part. What is the RPM of your synchronous timing motor? Does it have 2 light holes or more in it? Thanks
Wicked COOL!!!
Cool!
Pretty freakin' crazy!... Oh, the shit that they used to come up with before the "digital age"! LMAO!
That rocks! Good find. So, oil once per 50 years?
Awesome clock....Does it come in a wristwatch version ??
You could hire this out as prop for movies etc
I am thinking about making one, any suggestions?
I have a Parabam digital clock that works similarly. It's not Nixie, it uses IEE rear projection displays. The timebase is a Bodine gear motor that turns four cams cycling leaf switches every 5 sec.
Hey JRC. What's the status on the electro-mechanical Nixie-clock here 11 years later ?
Up'n running every day ?
Those sequential relays look like some I saw in the
electronics surplus market in the 1980s.
How different are they from the similar ones used in telephone exchanges?
Didn't they pull those all out of exchanges in like 1970?
it would be cool if you could find some other components of the system and set up a little demonstration
Reminds me of the Siemens EMD switches in a telephone exchange in the early seventies.
More than likely these ARE telephone switch relays. This is how the dial system worked years ago.
Does anyone know where I can find the schematics to make something like this?
What an amazing piece of gear - what actually was it's purpose? Was it to trigger accurately cart decks or time calls or something like that in radio as I've not seen one before? I'm putting up some vids shortly from the Sony Betacart training video I located tonight after 20 years, if your interested John...
This video has brought out a level of jealousy I didn't know I could have. How do I get into you will?
do you know where to acquire such a jukebox system from the beginning?
Why... why do I want to own this so bad?
I want one.
Would anyone know the name of the second song?
AWESOME Clock!! Now i know from where the clock is! Is that on the pictures at the end are a recording studio?
I would like to purchase it from you mate, how much?
Anybody know what was that first song that was playing?