Quick And Easy NTP Clock

[Danman] got an ESP32 with built-in OLED display, and in the process of getting a clock up and running and trying to get a couple of NodeMCU binaries installed on it, thought he’d try rolling his own.

[Danman] used PlatformIO to write the code to his ESP. PlatformIO allowed [Danman] to browse for a NTP library and load it into his project. After finding the NTP library, [Danman] wrote a bit of code and was able to upload it to the ESP. When that was uploaded [Danman] noticed that nothing was being displayed on the OLED, but that was just a simple matter of tracking down the right address to use when setting up the library for his OLED. Lastly, [Danman] created a large font to display the time with and his mini-clock was done!

It’s always nice to see someone be able to go from buying a board to having a demo put together, and it’s getting easier and easier. Check out this OLED watch, and this pocket watch doesn’t use OLEDs, but it still looks pretty cool.

15 thoughts on “Quick And Easy NTP Clock

  1. Wow! with an OLED this is gobs of hackable capability in a small low power package!
    We are clearly in a pretty cool future timeline with all of this cheap, awesome, & w/free shipping stuff like this, I wonder what those who didn’t jump from the Bearenstein timeline have?

  2. “It’s always nice to see someone be able to go from buying a board to having a demo put together, and it’s getting easier and easier. ”

    Bring such ease of use to biology.

  3. I love the project but I always cringe just a little to see such a capable device being used for such a trivial application– please don’t take that as a slam. It’s just that I’m an old guy and my neurons have a hard time taking in the fact that we live in an age where massive throwaway (dual-core no less!) CPU cycles are pennies on the dollar. ;-)

    1. It’s a good expandable base to grow a hacker. Clock projects are a good choice as useful and many expansions possible.

      Put a battery backed precision clock chip in it and update time once a week or so, add SNTP to serve your entire home network the time as oft as wished. Expand the display to huge digits making wall alarm clock in the bedroom so can read it without glasses, use truck horn. X-10 (or newer tech) for AC control to switch lights, use an old tv remote to set alarms. Battery power backup to keep whole thing running if power out.

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