A single 5V supply runs the light show. It is regulated to 3.3V for the Z8 and temperature controlled crystal oscillator. The 5V input is also monitored by an input on the CPU, triggering a low power mode if the 5V source is lost. The backup power could be a coin cell or super-capacitor. A charging source for the backup, if needed, is left for the builder to add.

Most of the LEDs are switched by MOSFETs, again the exception being the blue element of the 10 hour LED. That element is used to sense light levels in order to trigger the menu display.

The SPI I/O pins are available to send and receive data, though you have to add some programming. Another option is to choose which I/O pin is used for your purposes. One of the pins is tied to the internal ADC, and either of the two pins can be configured as logic-level I/O.

At the moment, the code is not complete. Time-keeping is working, but only if you start running the clock at noon or midnight. The menu function and set-time function needs work. Finally, a few of the optional items are not yet implemented.