Category Archives: Uncategorized

Done!

So I finished my clock today. I was thinking I’d have to wait for the clock module to arrive from the far east, but an amazing bloke from the cambridge makespace gave me a DS1307 this evening, and it didn’t … Continue reading

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Getting rid of the voltage supervisor (for the wrong reasons)

One thing I neglected to mention is that I followed the instructions here: http://blog.psten.de/post/fuel-for-the-stellaris-rocket to stop the launchpad resetting when the 5v supply dropped. This was because when I was experimenting with a large duty cycle for the SMPS the current … Continue reading

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Wrestling with interrupts

I’ve put all my code so far on github (https://github.com/JamesGlanville/project0). Part of the reason for choosing to use the launchpad was to experiment with it – my thoughts are that it is a very nice board, but the documentation is … Continue reading

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Mini switch mode power supply

So I got the inductors in the post today, and had to work out how to fit all the boost circuitry into as little space as possible. I decided to make a little cylinder of parts, and heatshrink the lot, … Continue reading

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Clock #2

So I finished my first VFD clock, and wanted another. I found a great deal on some single-digit IV-3 tubes on ebay (24 for less than £10), so I decided to make a similar clock but with these tubes. Once again, … Continue reading

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Finished :)

I’ve finished the clock now, I mounted it to a wooden base with copper loops, secured from underneath with hot glue. I opted in the end for a DS1307 powered clock, hence the little button battery held cunningly to the … Continue reading

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SMPS boost converter complete

I finally got around to rewinding an old inductor, to get a 1.7mH inductor. I used the same schematic as the mintyboost more or less, though I used a STP55NF06 mosfet (had one lying around). I also had to pull down … Continue reading

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Mostly done

I’ve almost finished the clock now, it keeps time to a few minutes a day using the cheap 8mhz oscillator I have attached to the atmega168, but I haven’t yet decided which of these to do: Add real time clock (Have … Continue reading

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Designing a free-form VFD IV-18 clock

I thought this was really cool: (via http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/10/10/freeform-nixie-clock/) I therefore needed to build my own, but wanted a more practical clock (you have to wait for the nixie to flash out all the numbers on this one). I’m therefore going for … Continue reading

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