Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Illusionary LED clock

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the persistence-of-vision dept.

Graah writes: "A pretty interesting clock which uses a spinning set of diodes to create an illusionary LCD clock. This page includes everything you need to build your own, except the hardware of course. =)" Note that one item on the list of things you'll need is "[a] programmer that will program a PIC16C84 or 16F84 microprocessor." Often you can find these inside broken VCRs.

4 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah right by Breace · · Score: 5

    Note that one item on the list of things you'll need is "[a] programmer that will program a PIC16C84 or 16F84 microprocessor." Often you can find these inside broken VCRs.

    I'm sure not the programmer but the PIC16C84 itself, right?

  2. Nope, it was right the first time. by NoWhere+Man · · Score: 5

    Mini Programmers save space and hardware. They feed off the dust inside VCRs and TVs. Unfortunately the heat eventually makes them pass out. Which is why electronics stop working for no reason and then start back up again after you shake them, you just woke him back up.

    --

    "Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality." -Jules de Gautier
  3. I built a simpler one with a BASIC STAMP... by Speare · · Score: 5

    In 1995 or so, I built a simpler model using a Parallax, Inc. v1 BASIC Stamp circuit.

    (For those of you who haven't toyed with a BASIC Stamp, it's a 14 pin SIPP circuit board (1.4" x 0.5") with a 5-12V DC voltage regulator, clock, 8 programmable I/O pins, 256 bytes EEPROM memory, and TTL/RS232 control lines. You download programs that are tokenized BASIC, and the program is run whenever power is available.)

    My clock and silent-radio didn't have a spatial sync, but did drive five LEDs to scroll through a message. I trickle-charged a small 1 Farad capacitor to power the circuit for about ten minutes, and spun the whole apparatus around on the end of a pencil to read the display.

    I recommend the BASIC Stamps (v1 or the more capable v2s) for anyone who wants to play with digital programmable circuits for the first time.

    My other 1.0-Farad-powered project was a small sound-effects generator that rode inside a slotcar racer. It used four tilted mercury switches as a crude accelerometer, to provide screech and revving sounds for my racecar.

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
  4. Alarm Clock? by pmcneill · · Score: 5

    Would definitely wake me up...

    /me reaches over

    *whap* *whap* *whap*

    /me awakens quickly