Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
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Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#2Of note, having recently shopped at Walmart for a self-setting alarm clock (what I once knew to be “atomic”):
Apparently the entity today known as Sharp sells “AccuSet(tm)” branded clocks that “automatically set time”… but they’re just factory pre-set with a button cell and they include a slider on the bottom to set a timezone offset (only for US timezones). If you’re lucky, the clock’s battery is still good and the clock “set itself” out of the box several minutes late.
If you’re unlucky - surprise, you get to manually set the time anyways.
https://www.amazon.com/Sharp-Digital-Alarm-AccuSet-Automatic...
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#3makes me wonder what if I just wanted to sync with nfc every once in a while. wifi seems overkill for this. maybe it could be done much cheaper with nfc sync witha phone twice a year?
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#4Great idea!
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#5Cool project!
The most interesting part, IMO, is the "SRAM with EEPROM backup" chip. It allows you to persistently save the clock hands' positions every time they're moved, without burning through the limited write endurance of a plain old EEPROM. And it costs less than $1 in single quantities. That's a useful product to know about.
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#6See also the "Ventinari clock":
https://github.com/iracigt/ventinari-clock
https://www.akafugu.jp/posts/products/vetinariclock/
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#7makes me wonder what if I just wanted to sync with nfc every once in a while. wifi seems overkill for this. maybe it could be done much cheaper with nfc sync witha phone twice a year?
ESPs are so cheap that you couldn't possibly save very much money, and the way economies of scale work it may or may not be cheaper to use NFC anyways.
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#8makes me wonder what if I just wanted to sync with nfc every once in a while. wifi seems overkill for this. maybe it could be done much cheaper with nfc sync witha phone twice a year?
An ESP32-C3 Super Mini can be found for below 3$ (cheapest I had was 1.58€). Since the original clock is 3.88$, it can't be that much cheaper.
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#9If you like this but don't want to get your hands as dirty, have a look at the Crazy Clock: https://www.tindie.com/products/nsayer/crazy-clock/
I got one for my daughter. The erratic ticking eventually became a distraction when she was studying, so we have retired it for now. But we got a lot of amusement out of it.
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#10If you want a pure software solution get yourself an old atomic clock and https://github.com/jj1bdx/WWV play some tunes to set the time.