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Evil Mad Science Alpha Clock Five Assembly And Usage Manual

Alphanumeric led alarm clock soldering kits
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An open-source hardware+software project. For design files, source code, &
additional documentation, please visit: http://wiki.evilmadscience.com/alpha
Support: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/forum/
Distributed by
Kit version 1.0
Evil Mad Science LLC
Manual v. 1.0b
http://evilmadscience.com/

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Summary of Contents for Evil Mad Science Alpha Clock Five

  • Page 1 An open-source hardware+software project. For design files, source code, & additional documentation, please visit: http://wiki.evilmadscience.com/alpha Support: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/forum/ Distributed by Kit version 1.0 Evil Mad Science LLC Manual v. 1.0b http://evilmadscience.com/...
  • Page 2 Assembly Step 1 – Tool Checklist Alpha Clock Five is a soldering kit. You’ll need certain tools and supplies to build it. Four Essential tools: Needed to build the kit: 4. Screwdriver Phillips-head screwdriver, medium size. (#1 is ideal.) 1. Soldering iron A basic soldering iron meant for electronics, with a reasonably fine point tip.
  • Page 3 Note that this guide covers both the full and “Basic” Buzzer, Magnetic Digi-Key 102-1153-ND IC, microcontroller, ATmega644A Digi-Key ATMEGA644A-PU-ND editions of Alpha Clock Five. (The difference between IC, LED Driver, type MBI5026 Macroblock MBI5026GN IC, LED Driver, type MBI5168 Macroblock MBI5168GN...
  • Page 4 R5 and R9 on the circuit board. Locate these two locations on your circuit board, as shown highlighted here. The Alpha Clock Five printed circuit board (PCB), the “Five Letter Word,” #1 on your bill of materials. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 5 Ohm resistors. Identify them by their the tape straight off to remove it. color code: Brown-Black-Brown-Gold Insert it at location R9 And press it flush to the board Next up: Soldering tips! (the orientation does not matter) [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 6 If not, let it cool and try again. (4). If the component has long and/or or flexible leads, clip off the extra length, close to the board. (But not so close that you’re clipping the board itself.) To be continued... [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 7 Clip the excess leads short. Inspect the solder joints. Make sure that they look shiny, wet, and clean, to ensure a good connection. And finally, repeat this procedure, to install the other #2 resistor at location R5. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 8 Assembly Step 7 – Install Resistor #3 Next, solder parts #3, two 10 k resistors, into locations R3 and R4. Parts identification: Up close, the color stripes are #3 is the one smaller size resistor. brown-black-orange-gold. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 9 Assembly Step 8 – Install Resistors #4 Part #4 is a 681 ohm resistor. Solder seven of these, in locations R2 and RB1-RB6. The color code on these resistors is blue-gray-brown-black-brown [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 10 Assembly Step 9 – Install Resistor #5 Part #5 is a 340 ohm resistor. Install just one of these, at location R1. The color code on this resistor is orange-yellow-black-black-brown [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [10]...
  • Page 11 Flip the circuit board over, while keeping To ensure good positioning, rest the The socket pins will protrude (but only the socket in place. circuit board flat on top of the socket. very slightly) through the circuit board [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [11]...
  • Page 12 Note that each has a notch at one method. Take care to match the notches (And, do not insert any of the chips end to mark the polarity. to those on the circuit board. just yet– we’ll do that later.) [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [12]...
  • Page 13 Then, solder the other five pins. flush to the circuit board. If not, flip it back over, and melt the joint while pressing down on the circuit board, to snap the header into place. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [13]...
  • Page 14 In this step, we add the sockets that allow Alpha Clock Five to Assembly Step 13 – RTC Sockets be connected to a real-time clock module (e.g., Chronodot) Parts #10 are two 4-pin female There are actually two locations at M1.
  • Page 15 fill the holes all the way with solder. Solder one pin of the connector– the side pin –to hold it in place. The larger metal here can take a while to heat, up to about 8 s. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 16 There are two similar types of ceramic capacitors in the kit, so these ones are marked with a black stripe. Solder these two capacitors on the board at locations C5 and C6. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [16]...
  • Page 17 Assembly Step 16 – 0.1 uF capacitors Parts #13 are similar looking 0.1 uF ceramic capacitors, but there are six of them, and without the black stripe. Install them in the following locations: C1, C2, C3, C7, C8 and C10. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [17]...
  • Page 18 Assembly Step 17 – Quar tz Cr ystal Install part #14, a 16 MHz quartz crystal. Its two pins go in the outer two holes of the location marked “XTL.” Solder both pins in place, much like a resistor. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [18]...
  • Page 19 Set the header in place, and tack it there Then, on the bottom side, by soldering one of the pins on the top solder all six pins in place. side of the board. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [19]...
  • Page 20 Install the LED in location D2, near the top- middle of the board. Orientation matters: The long lead of the LED goes into the square hole of location D2. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [20]...
  • Page 21 Note that each transistor has one flat face. Note that the transistors do not seat fully flush to the circuit board, but rather slightly above it like so. Do not force them down further. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [21]...
  • Page 22 Make sure that the “–” side of the capacitor pins. It is not important whether or not it faces the “–” stripe on the circuit board. sits all the way flush to the board. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [22]...
  • Page 23 Assembly Step 22 – Button switches Here is what one of the button locations looks like: Parts #19 are right-angle tactile button switches. “Snap” the button into the location, and make Repeat for each of the switch locations, S1-S5. sure that it sits fully flush to the board. Solder all four pins in place.
  • Page 24 Install the speaker at location L1. Make sure that Press the speaker flush to the the “+” pin goes into the matching “+” hole on the board and solder it in place. circuit board. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [24]...
  • Page 25 Do not bend them by hand; bend all pins on one side at the same time, by pushing them against a hard flat surface. View from end of chip: YES! [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [25]...
  • Page 26 The displays will block access to the back side of the circuit board, so this would be a great time to double check and make sure that you’ve got everything installed on the top side. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [26]...
  • Page 27 Parts #25 are matching Phillips-head screws. Loosely thread each screw into an angle bracket on the other side of the board. (Do not tighten them yet.) [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [27]...
  • Page 28 It may be helpful to hold the assembly against a hard, flat surface while you do so. Tighten the screws– very securely –to lock the angle brackets in place. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [28]...
  • Page 29 Each display has two rows of ten pins each on the back side. Check these pins carefully, to make sure that they are straight, vertical, and parallel, on each display. If necessary, gently bend them into place. Good! Bad! Also bad! [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [29]...
  • Page 30 Slide one of the 10-position sockets onto the ten pins on one side of an LED display. Make sure that Repeat for both strips of each LED display. it seats all the way down, as shown previously. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [30]...
  • Page 31 If the displays do not sit neatly, go back and make sure that (1) The LED pins are straight and vertical (Step 28) and (2) The sockets are fully seated (Step 29). [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [31]...
  • Page 32 We’ll add the displays sequentially. Start with the middle display. As with earlier sockets, initially solder Double-check that the socket is properly seated, just the two opposite corner pins. and then solder the remaining socket pins in place. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [32]...
  • Page 33 Assembly Step 32 – Add remaining alphanumeric displays Install the next two LED displays –at LD2 and LD4 –the same way. Finally, install the outer two alphanumeric LED displays, at locations LD1 and LD5. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [33]...
  • Page 34 Assembly Step 33 – Light it up! Connect the 5 V power supply, and apply power to your clock. If all goes well, it will say “HELLO WORLD” in a few seconds. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [34]...
  • Page 35 “Time” and “Alarm” buttons for 4 seconds to enter the LED Test mode. This will generate a slowly changing LED test pattern that will light up every LED on the front face, to help highlight any assembly issues. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [35]...
  • Page 36 (Examples: Black conductive foam, silver anti-static bags, steel countertop, etc.) Similarly, once the battery is installed on the module, do not set the module on a conductive surface. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [36]...
  • Page 37 Seat the Chronodot on top of the headers, chip side up. The header pins should protrude through slightly through the top side of the Chronodot. Solder all eight pins in place. Then, (temporarily) remove the Chronodot to install the battery. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [37]...
  • Page 38 Solder the two tabs All done. Install the Chronodot on the clock, in the sockets at location M1. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [38]...
  • Page 39 The case consists of four laser-cut acrylic pieces. Washers Hex Nut Acrylic is brittle, so take care in the following (4-40) #34 steps not to over-tighten the fasteners that hold the case together. 6-32 screws [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide] [39]...
  • Page 40 Orient the case bottom as shown, up against the bottom of the circuit board, Thread the screw into the corresponding angle with the back (tabbed) side facing up. bracket but leave it very loose for the moment. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 41 Add the second 6-32 screw through the bottom side. Add the washer, and then thread it into the second angle bracket. Then, tighten the two 6-32 screws from the bottom side, firmly, but not overly tight. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 42 –over the tabs on the case bottom. While supporting its weight, insert three of the black 4-40 screws through the top and into the nuts. Tighten them just until they support the weight of the case back. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 43 T-slots, and end, and slide the top fix it in place with a black 4-40 screw. into place. As before, keep it loose: Only tighten the screws enough to roughly hold the nuts in place. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 44 Hold the hex nuts flush against the LED displays while you tighten the screws. And, on this side, tighten the three screws firmly. Add three hex nuts to the T-slots along the front-bottom of the clock. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 45 4-40 screws. If you have trouble getting the case front to reach the case top, the screws on the back side are probably too tight; try loosening them a bit. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 46 If not– if the top piece is too high or too low –you may need to slightly loosen one or more of the front-top screws to move the case top where it needs to go. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 47 Also, you may notice that the circuit board and LED displays do not sit completely vertical in the case, but lean back at a slight angle. This is normal and expected. [Alpha Clock Five Assembly Guide]...
  • Page 48 This completes the assembly of Alpha Clock Five. Please see the User Interface Guide (on the following page) to learn how to operate your clock. Please visit our wiki site, http://wiki.evilmadscience.com/alpha for much more additional documentation For technical support, please visit our Clock support forum, http://www.evilmadscientist.com/forum/...

  • Page 49: Set Alarm

    Values: Select with + and – Time Format AM/PM, 24 Hr Night Light None, LED Low, LED High SNOOZE ALARM Alarm Tone Low, Medium, High, Siren Test Sound Use +/- to preview alarm tone [Alpha Clock Five Usage Notes] http://evilmadscience.com/...
  • Page 50 Any time that you connect the computer to the clock, the clock is likely to restart. However, you can use the computer to set the time on Alpha Clock Five, or to display text on the alphanumeric display. See the Alpha Clock Five documentation wiki for more information about the serial protocol.