Binary clock

[bee]

Something caught my eye the other day while searching through the waste land of electronic gizmos,, It was Roman Blacks Binary clock ,, And iam impressed i like this thing its got geek written all over it ,,And it makes your brain work
So guess what ,i am going to make up one ,, I already have the pic programmed and running on my dev board
Anyway my question is what can i use for a fascia ,, And has anyone else made one on here and what did they use

Is there help for someone wanting to build such a thing

Bernie

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

What is it you need to find out?

 

[LTX71CM]

You can use fiberboard, acrylic, or anything you think looks nice. It's just a preference.

My preference would be acrylic. Found at a local hardware store, some will even cut it for you. Drilling for the LEDs is probably up to you.

 

[bee]

I was trying to get some ideas on what to use for a face,, But i have thought of something going to mill the segments out of clear perspex or polycarb, Then sink the leds in from behind that way they will only light up each segment,, especially if i block off the slot with something else like black silicon or rubber strip,,
I have in my shed some old alarm clocks that came of a station ,,To wake up the shearers ,, I am thinking of putting it in one,, Would look good the contrast between old and new

Thanks for replies
Bernie

 

[Mr RB]

Hi. An easy way to make the face is with clear acrylic, and paint the BACK with black paint to leave the segments as windows with black surrounds. That leaves a nice gloss black finish. Then put a diffuser behind that which can be as simple as tracing paper, and the LEDs further behind, maybe an inch or more so they don't make dots but instead light up the whole segment.

You are right about blocking off the segments, the easiest way is probably black cardboard cut into thin strips and bent (like a tube) around each segment and can be glued to the back of the face. The whole thing can be made with as little as clear acrylic, black paint, black carboard and some hot melt glue. Of course of you have milling facilities then even better.

 

[bee]

Mr RB

I have found a suitable old alarm clock in the shed ,, The type with bells on top and iam going to do the fitment in it
I will post up some pics when i get time to do the milling

This clock has wound me up pardon the pun ,Now my daughter wants one,Good project for the pic
I have one ticking away on my desktop now,,
Did you get rid of all the pcbs from the clock , Would have though there was more interest in this
Thanks for the code from your site

Bernie

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

There is an even wierder clock out there. It uses a string of 4 LEDS and you have to move your head from side to side to make out the digits in BCD. It may have been a single digit. Just don't remember or remember where I saw it.