I'm currently making something similar but using a BKA30D-R5 (a dual stepper motor used in car dashboards) and a hall sensor to zero the hands.
Yes, this project screams for some kind of sensor to detect when the hands reach some known position.
Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
21–30 of 202 posts
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#22I want to see someone convert one of those cheap projection clocks like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/La-Crosse-Technology-5-in-Color-... The red projection is just the right brightness (at night) but it sucks that it's not wifi-enabled so you can't just get it to NTP sync (or hook up a GPS receiver). The projector part of the clock is a separate device that's attached to it via a ribbon cable. I would reverse en…
+1 I have a couple of digital.clocks from Temu. They look nice but cannot keep the correct time. They slowly edge ahead and in a month they are about a minute ahead. It is annoying having to correct the clock and would be great if they time from WiFi connected source.
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#23I'm currently making something similar but using a BKA30D-R5 (a dual stepper motor used in car dashboards) and a hall sensor to zero the hands.
Yes, this project screams for some kind of sensor to detect when the hands reach some known position.
Yeah, it's super quick to start with a MK I eyeball to set them, but having a sensor just avoids any drift. I got away with using one by taking a reading and moving the other hand to check they weren't on top of each other already, and then doing a full rotation between readings.
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#24If 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.
> Early clock - keeps time anywhere between 0 and 10 minutes fast. For those who like to set their watch ahead to avoid being late. This clock keeps you from trying to "compensate," because you never know how early it is at the moment.
That's pretty genius for many ADHD-type folks. Only problem is a modern household has many clocks in view, so you'd need to commit to just not setting them.
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#25I want to see someone convert one of those cheap projection clocks like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/La-Crosse-Technology-5-in-Color-... The red projection is just the right brightness (at night) but it sucks that it's not wifi-enabled so you can't just get it to NTP sync (or hook up a GPS receiver). The projector part of the clock is a separate device that's attached to it via a ribbon cable. I would reverse en…
If you're looking for something low brightness, I made one: https://www.stavros.io/posts/i-made-another-little-bedside-c...
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#26Cool 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.
I'm not sure if this is the same technology, but regardless it's also cool: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1897
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#27Of 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…
These clocks are irritating because they show up in the results when searching for “radio atomic clock” and similar, and it can be very hard to figure out if they actually use the WWVB radio signal. I’ve concluded that none of them do, because WWVB is only reliable in (most parts) of the US, and companies only want to make things that appeal to a global audience now. La Crosse seems to be the only one that makes them…
It's like they hired a design firm in the early 00's and decided that design language is the peak of human horology... I wish they'd make a couple new designs.
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#28makes 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?
You often have a radio clock source like DCF77 that all those radio controlled clocks use
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#29Some years ago I made a ESP-based clock that used 60 LEDs in a circle that project RGB shadows via a cone at the center. I used the same WeMos D1 Mini board. https://github.com/dheera/shadow-clock/
I remember seeing this on Hackaday. Very clever idea!
Re: Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock
#30Cute, but the original clock used to run on AA battery that needs a replacement every two years or so, and now it needs a power supply. Or some big battery recharge/replacement every few hours maybe days.