What is the Harwell? It’s a rather special timepiece that uses seven vintage neon counting tubes to tell the time among other interesting things. The clock is named after one of the early relay based computers of the 1950’s that made heavy use of these neon filled counting tubes (Dekatrons). Combining a modern micro-controller with some more cool ‘old-skool’ technology, we think we’ve constructed a pretty interesting homage to the computing/counting days of yore. It is also, to our knowledge, the only ‘commercial’ Dekatron clock deliberately offered for sale ever. It offers lots of customisation options, such as different ‘faces’ (combinations of chimes/dekatron behavior/LED lighting), light-guided LED collars, ‘chimes’, GPS or WiFi disciplined timekeeping and is also Open Design and Open Source in its philosophy to boot!
What’s Included in the Box?
- A Harwell Dekatron clock, with 7 NOS (New Old Stock) and tested Dekatrons (can be supplied with either British GC10B’s and a GC12/4B or US style 6802 tubes) and either a GPS or WiFi module (both come with external antennae, depending on your order)
- A pre-built 2A power supply and IEC mains cable.
- A custom programmer used to update the clock firmware and act as a serial console connection (also compatible with the Fortress E1T clock).
- An Infrared remote.
Costs for a complete clock are $1250 + S/H (buyer pays actual costs). Any questions or if you want to see more pictures, then please contact me. For details on the electronics kit please see the Harwell section on the Sgitheach website.
