Scrapped DVD player turns into a full featured clock

scrapping-a-dvd-player-for-a-vfd-clock

[Dmitry] really went the distance with this project. It started as a broken DVD player scrapped for parts, and turned into this clock with way too many features. That link is a pretty a dry technical collection of the work. You'll definitely want to have a look at it, but we'd suggest first watching the demo video after the break which is initially much more exciting. The donor DVD hardware … [Read more...]

QR clock is unreadable by humans and computers alike

QR

The clock is a perfect technology. For just a few dollars, you can buy a digital wristwatch and chronometer able to keep extremely accurate time for years without winding a spring or replacing a battery. Anything 'improvement' on the design of a clock only makes it harder to read, a feature exploited by the very 1337 binary clocks we see from time to time. [Ch00f] decided it was time to give way … [Read more...]

An ice tube clock for the TI Launchpad

iceman

Because Nixies, Decatrons, and VFD tubes really are that cool, [cubeberg] over on the 43oh forums designed an IV-18 clock for the TI Launchpad. Like adafruit's Ice Tube clock, [cubeberg]'s project uses a surplus Russian IV-18 VFD tube conveniently sourced on eBay. On the board, there are three buttons for changing the time and setting the alarm along with a MAX6921 VFD tube driver and a … [Read more...]

Volt meter clock also displays the temperature

volt

[IronJungle] got around to putting together every tinkerers favorite project: a clock with a strange way of displaying the time. For his clock, [Jungle] took a trio of voltmeters and turned them into a clock that displays the current hour, minute, and second on custom paper dials. [IronJungle] connected a PIC 14M2 microcontroller to a DS1307 real time clock to keep track of the current time. … [Read more...]

Network time clock for a home media center

clock

[Derek] wanted a clock for his media center. A simple wish, but he had a few requirements: he didn't need an alarm, wanted it to automatically set its time after a power outage, needed a big display, and also wanted it to look good. After shopping around [Derek] couldn't find a clock that would fit his requirements so he decided to build one. [Derek]'s project is called the SNTP clock. As you … [Read more...]

Lite Brites fade, but LED clocks are forever

litebrite-clock

Ahh, the Lite Brite. What could be more fun than pushing dozens of little plastic pegs through a piece of black paper in order to create a pixelated, though colorful image? Well, I can think of quite a few things more engaging than that, and luckily so can [Lonnie Honeycutt] over at MeanPC. While contemplating what to build with a pile of LEDs, his daughter came into the room with her … [Read more...]

How’s the 60Hz coming from your wall?

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If you've ever wondered why NTSC video is 30 frames and 60 fields a second, it's because the earliest televisions didn't have fancy crystal oscillators. The refresh rate of these TVs was controlled by the frequency of the power coming out of the wall. This is the same reason the PAL video standard exists for countries with 50Hz mains power, and considering how inexpensive this method of … [Read more...]