Accurate time is all around us. Streaming down from satellites thousands of miles in space, UTC time information is at all of our fingertips. You just have to know how to reach out and grab it. [hkdcsf] not only knows how to do this, he does it in style.
Tipping his hat into The Hackaday Prize contest, [hkdcsf]’s atomic clock is masterfully crafted. Not only does it get time information from GPS satellites, it also has the ability to grab the infomation from the DCF77 transmitter. And if ever it’s in a position where neither signal can be found, an RTC crystal keeps the time and date accurate.
His design is based on a PIC18F25K20, and bristles with so many features that it might make you dizzy. So be warned – you might want to be in a seated position before taking a look at this project. [hkdcsf] does a great job at detailing exactly how his clock works, and his efforts to provide this level of detail will surely help other hackers to add similar features to their future projects.
The project featured in this post is an entry in The Hackaday Prize. Build something awesome and win a trip to space or hundreds of other prizes.
I see this and I can only think: “Meh. The chinese have done thousans of clocks like that”. Still a cool project.
It’s a nice simple build for the competition, but nothing that can’t be don’t with linux pps kernel module, ntp/chrony and a GPS receiver.
I wonder what the judges will be looking for.
Nice build. I like the fact that the PCB is the front face of the enclosure. Simple, but I wouldn’t have considered it!
It needs an option to use the North american time broadcast WWVB.
Pretty neat (and nicely built) but needs a wifi module and a ntpd server so that other devices can use it to get the time from.
I have a hell of a time detecting weak signals through the sheet metal of my roofing. Perhaps if I can sit it in a window.
Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?