Assemble Your Own Oscilloscope Tube Clock

Waaay back in the 1980s and '90s, before LCD displays and their ilk became the dominant display technologies, CRT (or cathode ray tubes) were what powered most screens for both work and entertainment. So dominant, that one might say, “What’s on the tube?” and the tech — somewhat ironically — gave rise to the name “YouTube.” It seems that what is old is new again, and with Nixie tube timepieces becoming something of a staple in retro-geekery, why not build your own vector graphics display clock with an old CRT?

If that seems like a huge challenge, you’d probably be correct, but Howard Constantine provides a shortcut in the form of his $125 Oscilloscope Clock Kit on Tindie. The kit doesn’t include an actual CRT, but lists several different models that can be used with it. There are also several options available, like a WiFi and GPS module to keep it showing the proper time, and there are several complete clocks listed on Constantine's online storefront.

It’s an interesting build, which will certainly draw a lot of attention at your home, or perhaps hackerspace. If you’d like a bit more background on this now-arcane technology, or a bit more insight about the build process, you can check out Stephen Cass’ article on IEEE Spectrum here, or his video shown above, which lays everything out nicely.