Saturday, January 16, 2010

Complete "Wise Clock 2" kit for sale


Updated May 5, 2011
The "Complete Wise Clock 2 kit" is DISCONTINUED due to the lack of displays from Sure Electronics. If you have your own 2416 display, you can still buy the Duino644 board to make the Wise Clock 2.




Updated Jan 27, 2011
"Wise Clock 2 complete kit" is back in stock. The Duino644 board is re-designed, with the following changes for revision 2.1:
  • the real time clock can be either DS1307 (and crystal) or DS3231;
  • the on-board EEPROM (which was not used by the software) was eliminated;
  • the voltage dividers with resistors were replaced with 74125 gates;
The price remains the same (US$88 with free shipping, see below) for the DS1307 version. The version with DS3231 is $5 more.
Read more about Duino644 revision 2.1 here.


Updated Jan 1/2011
"Wise Clock 2 complete kit" is currently out of stock. It will be available again around the end of January 2011.


Updated June 17/2010
Starting today, "Wise Clock 2 complete kit" has the ATmega644P microcontroller loaded with the latest version of the "Wise Clock 2" software (this is on top of the bootloader, of course). This means that after assembling it, there is no need for ATmega644P chip to be programmed anymore; this eliminates the need for FTDI cable, Arduino IDE, code download, compilation, upload, and greatly simplifies the construction of the clock. (Obviously, the software can be changed/upgraded any time through the FTDI connector).

I recently received a batch of laser-cut acrylic covers designed as enclosures for the Wise Clock 2.
I decided to offer for sale a few complete Wise Clock 2 kits, which include:
  1. microcontroller board: Duino644 kit;
  2. display: red 16x24 LED matrix, from Sure Electronics;
  3. enclosure: 2 laser-cut acrylic plates, plus the auxiliary hardware (spacers, nuts, screws).
You can buy them for US$84, shipped free to any destination in North America.


 (US$88, free shipping to North America; I only ship to North America)

The assembled Wise Clock 2 should look pretty close to this one:


Note: Wise4Sure is the obsolete name for the Duino644 board. Duino644 can be used independently of the display from Sure Electronics, for example as the base for uzebox game console.


The photo below shows the content of the kit.




Assembling instructions are provided in this step-by-step "instructable".


In summary, Wise Clock 2 can currently (with the latest software release) do the following:
  • display current time;
  • read a user-editable file from SD card and display its content as quotations (hence the name "Wise Clock");
  • display current date;
  • set/trigger/sound/enable/disable alarm;
  • controllable from a Sony TV remote control;
  • user-selectable brightness for the high visibility display;
  • user-selectable speed for the scrolling text.

16 comments:

  1. Pretty cool. Have you ever considered using colored acrylic on the front to increase the contrast of the display?

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  2. Thanks David.
    No, I did not, but that's a good idea, I will consider it.

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  3. Cool clock! Couple of questions:
    1. Are those wise phrases hardcoded into the chip?
    2. Can I reprogram it to have my own set of phrases? (I have already FTDI and Arduino IDE).
    Thanks!

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  4. Pavel, thanks.
    Here are the answers:
    1. The phrases are read from the SD card.
    2. You can edit the text file on the SD card to display anything you want. You don't need re re-program the chip (no IDE, no FTDI) for that.

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  5. In the $88, do you include the laser-cut acrylic cover? Can you upload a picture? I'd love to get one.

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  6. mike,
    Yes, as shown in the photo (right under the video), wrapped in paper to avoid scratching.

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  7. That's a great picture with all the components (can't wait for the juicy feeling of putting them all together), but I was looking for a picture of the finished box as well, if you had one.

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  8. It is not really a box, but rather 2 plates sandwiching the electronics (display + Duino644 board). Thus, it is open on 3 sides, allowing access to the 3 buttons (plus a forth for reset), SD card, FTDI connector (for programming), USB miniB connector and the infrared receiver.
    Please watch the above video carefully and you will notice the details.

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  9. All good, but one suggestion: background music was terrieble.

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  10. Hardmouse,
    As the Latins would say, "De gustibus non disputandum est".

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  11. I was wondering on these displays from sure, they have 2 sizes, a 3mm and a 5mm version. Which are you showing in the project?
    thanks

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  12. tom, I only have (and used) the 3mm version. The 5mm should work the same, according to the datasheet.

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  13. Awesome. I would like to get the wiseclock 2. Does it come with green instead of red? and what power's it beside hooking it up to the pc usb? I am having trouble finding a power supply.
    Thanks

    tom

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  14. Tom, I actually have only one left, and it is green. Sure Electronics does not make the 2416 displays anymore. After I sell the last one, I will discontinue it. This would be a first for me :)
    You can power it from an USB power adapter, like those used to recharge iPods. I could sell you one really cheaply.

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  15. No more wise clock 2. That hurtz. I think even with the invention of the wiseclock 3, 2 is still a neat clock. I just checked ebay and there are still some 2416 brds. I have the 5mm in my watch box but I wanted to check you first. I would like to make the wise clock 2 for work. can I buy the kit from you minus the display and plastic since I am using the 5mm version. And can I get a price for the power adapter you mentioned.
    please email me
    tomjkwiz@gmail.com, thanks
    Tom

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  16. Sure actually does still sell the 2416 displays, but they are the new style with the electronics on the back. The connectors are also closer together. Only minor modifications to the code are required. They aren't as bright either.

    Kenny

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