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Clock display

3

3ee Dee

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 31, 2004
Messages
201
This is kind of hard to explain but here it goes....
Is it possible to wire a digital clock (or anything that displays time) so that it is in-synch with the computer's clock and can remain on after the computer is shutdown? Basically I want my case to display time.
 
3ee Dee said:
This is kind of hard to explain but here it goes....
Is it possible to wire a digital clock (or anything that displays time) so that it is in-synch with the computer's clock and can remain on after the computer is shutdown? Basically I want my case to display time.
Click to expand...

you could wire up an hd44780 lcd in a bay and display the time.. i dont know about synchronizing.. good luck with that. :eek:
 
This could turn into a fun project!
You can use a basic stamp controller: http://www.parallax.com/html_pages/products/basicstamps/basic_stamps.asp
Hook it to a CF card, a time display, and a simple NIC (all which have been done already before), boot CE (or some other tiny OS) on it, and have it do a net /time command to your main system. There's lots of forums out on the 'net to put these little critters to use for just this kind of stuff!
 
That's an incredible source of information on building some pretty sweet clocks...but after just skimming it, I can't find where they cover syncing it with a PC. Do you have a specific post number?
 
Post #27 explains a few synchronization options. Does it really have to sync with the CPU specifically?
 
Actually you'd think if the PC syncs itself over the 'net, using one of the atomic time servers, and one of the cheap clocks that sync to the same signal but over the air was mounted in the computer case, they should be so close nobody would ever guess they weren't hooked together.
 
Thanks for all the info, but I think synchronizing might be too complicated for me. The only reason I was heading in that direction is so I wouldn't have to leave the buttons to set the clock everytime the power went out. I guess I can deal with setting it though...how would I go about just wiring the clock to the pc so it's constantly on?
 
you know alarm clocks have a little slot for a battery, so they don't lose the time when the power goes out.................................

3ee Dee said:
Thanks for all the info, but I think synchronizing might be too complicated for me. The only reason I was heading in that direction is so I wouldn't have to leave the buttons to set the clock everytime the power went out. I guess I can deal with setting it though...how would I go about just wiring the clock to the pc so it's constantly on?
Click to expand...
 
HTPC Rookie said:
This could turn into a fun project!
You can use a basic stamp controller: http://www.parallax.com/html_pages/products/basicstamps/basic_stamps.asp
Hook it to a CF card, a time display, and a simple NIC (all which have been done already before), boot CE (or some other tiny OS) on it, and have it do a net /time command to your main system. There's lots of forums out on the 'net to put these little critters to use for just this kind of stuff!
Click to expand...
That's a laughably bad plan.

What I'd probabaly do is use some sort of microcontroller (I'm partial to AVRs myself, though PICs are also a good option) and connect it to a HD44780 LCD, a real time clock module, and a serial line level converter (ie max232) connected to a serial port on your pc. When the computer was on you'd just have a small little program running in the background occasionally sending the correct time to the microcontroller. The microcontroller would then use that as an offset to the signal coming from the real time clock chip/module, and would constantly refresh the lcd with the correct time. You could power the whole thing from the atx standby pin (pin 9 on the atx connector).
 
i was rather suspicious of the basic stamp being capable of even having the processing power for CE, much less all the I/O hardware and instruction set difference. Basic stamps are not very powerful.

NleahciM said:
That's a laughably bad plan.
Click to expand...
 
NleahciM said:
That's a laughably bad plan.
LOL now that I read what I wrote, yeah it sure is! I should have written "boot CE and PROGRAM IT (the stamp) with CE".

My mind was going 200MPH already thinking of how to do it...wasn't thinking about what I was typing! Had about a dozen URLs open already putting it altogether. The CF card part came from my having an Aria case with a CF slot on it, and me owning about a dozen cards. And I'm already working on how to boot my machine on CE loaded on a CF card.

Against the wall with a blindfold and cigarette in my mouth...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
here's how i'd envision doing it, with a little hint of practical. Sorry guys, that compactflash idea was way out there...

- Use a PIC, AVR, basic stamp or something similar which is programmed as a clock.
- Wire four or six, 7-segment LED displays to it to provide your clock face... you can either multiplex-drive the display yourself, or use a MAX6958 type of chip to drive the display for you.
- Add a RS232 interface so that you can send "new" time to it over the serial port, to keep it synchronized with your computer if it's off. You'll have to write your own software for this.
- Power the whole works off your computer's +5VSB. You can get this from a wake-on-lan or wake-on-ring header inside your computer, or you can splice into the ATX power cord.
 
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