BINARY CLOCK would MAKE DOC brown proud
[Brett] was searching for a way to enhance on an old binary clock job from 1996. His original clock used eco-friendly LEDs to denote between a one or a zero. If the LED was lit up, that indicated a one. The issue was that the LEDs were too dim to be able to checked out them accurately from afar. He’s been wanting to enhance on his job using seven section displays, however until just recently it has been expense prohibitive.
[Brett] wanted his new job to use 24 seven section displays. three rows of eight displays. To develop something like this from fundamental components would need the capability to switch many different LEDs for each of the seven section displays. [Brett] instead chose to make things simpler by using seven section screen modules offered from Tindie. These modules each contain eight displays as well as are controllable through a single serial line.
The clock’s brain is an ATmega328 running Arduino. The controller keeps accurate time using a DCF77 receiver module as well as a DCF77 Arduino library. The clock comes with three screen modes. [Brett] didn’t want as well as physical buttons on his gorgeous new clock, so he opted to use remote control instead. The Arduino is connected to a 433MHz receiver, which came paired with a little remote. now [Brett] can modification screen modes using a remote control.
A secondary monochrome LCD screen is used to screen debugging information. It displays the time as well as date in a more quickly readable format, as well as time sync information, signal quality, as well as other helpful information. The whole thing is housed in a sleek black case, giving it a expert look.