MonKlock

Started to redesign the code using some of the lessons learned on the #Paganini Clock , specially the button de-bouncing and the state machine.

The single sided board present a problem to solder the display pins, as the solder side is under the display. That can be worked around with extra pads to solder bare wires that can be wrapped in the display pins.

Nevertheless I planned to order the boards from a PCB shop then I have added a second possibility for assembling an ATMega328 directly on the PCB, instead of an Arduino nano, on the TOP layer. 

The boards arrived recently

Working on buffered display to boost the light level and allow the Monklock to be read comfortably under brighter environment. Also added an LDR to allow automatic brightness control.

PCB is still single sided.

I woke up early today., 07:07 AM. One of the best features of this clock is that I can read the time on the other side of my bedroom without having to wear glasses.

The multiplexing scheme used lits 1 led at a time. It is not appropriate for direct sunlight reading, but is perfectly adequate for interior lighting and glows awesomely when the lights are off.

I have failed miserably to render a pair of images to represent the daylight readability, but I liked the result anyway, here you are!

Made a wooden base using dense wood upcycled from a scrapped bed.

A hole and a groove were carved to provide enough room for the USB cable to bend. The hole is slightly out of center. Next time I should drill a guide hole first.

The PCBs acquired on a local manufacturer have arrived.

The ground needed to be change to hatch and the layer Tdocu was unfortunately silk screened on the board which required me to scratch the paint over some pads on the RTC chip and resistors.

B
I have tried out the components on the top layer, and they are ok.

Can not say the same about the RTC library. That's one lesson we have to learn again and again: never trust 3rd party libraries - do a tryout first. At least it was possible to mount the module on the board despite the slant mounting headers.

Rear view of the board

A short video demonstrating the setup mode.

First complete working version, can show the time, day, month and year.

It can detect when the RTC is not preset or not responding (SDA was disconnected to take the picture)