The ArduClock continues (albeit very slowly)..I have fitted a Dark background LCD display (from eBay) – I think it looks better: still haven’t put it into a box yet.
new LCD Display
I am working on another clock/counter with 7 segment LEDs (HDSP-7503) High Efficiency Red – 7.5mm (0.4 inch) Char Height.
(I bought a lot of them recently) plus some huge 16 segment LEDS – see pic below..
LED size comparison
some changes have been made; the Arduino NG has been replaced by a BBB Rev D (atMEGA168); the LM75A by a DS18B20 and the display is now a 4×20 LCD unit. The Code needs some more work before posting…I now need a bigger box to put it into! I have a nice wooden box that used to contain code wheels, but it’s not quite big enough for the LCD display..
ArduinoClock - version 2!
Just using some bits and pieces, to prototype a desk clock/calendar with thermometer. So far we have an Arduino NG with a DS1307 RTC and a LM75A thermo sensor chip. The Clock/Calendar is working…
the proto layout...
Note that the “Temp:” has no value yet. I may rearrange the display to fit a 16×2 display better. Nearly all the bits are from eBay…
As ThinkPads go, the A31 
is a big machine – but I really like it. It was only replaced because of the (well-known) video chip issues – BGA device comes unsoldered, joints unreliable and cause intermittent video problems. ThinkWiki covers this issue in some detail. I tried the aluminium foil mask and heat gun approach but it didn’t make a lot of difference. These days, I find that two or three power cycles, gently thumping the bottom of the A31 about where the CPU and graphics card are, and on occasions removing the battery, will get the machine to start up in correct video mode and stay there all day. Good motherboards for A31s are rare and pricey (even on eBay).
At long last, the more elegant programmer has been completed in a little box (pic to come..). It works well with the ICD2 clone PIC programmer. I have had to reburn the code in the 16F4550 on the programmer twice – XP got the hump and refused to recognise the ICD2 device as a legit. USB device! so the 16F4550 was plugged into a little JDM burner and hooked up serially to WinPic800 which put the right software back..
Now for some 16F877 PLCC hacking!
