7 Segment Digital Clock Print
Wednesday, 17 October 2007 01:17

This is my first non-nixie clock.  Built using the schematic and code provided by José Pino .

7 Segment Clock

José has provided pre-compiled HEX code suitable for the PIC16F628 (I'm using a PIC16F628A without any problems) Code is also supplied for the PIC16F84. The layout is very simple and keeps good time - gaining only a few seconds after a couple of weeks running.  The first photo shows the complete clock (two surface mount capacitors are mounted under the board, as well as the two 10k pull-down resistors from pins 6 & 7). 


7 Segment Clock
 
The second photo shows the wire-wrap wire links that sit under the 7-segment displays.  The first two displays are mounted with the decimal point at the bottom, the second two with the decimal point at the top - this is done on purpose as when the clock is running the two inner-most decimal points blink to provide a colon separator. Power is provided by a 5v DC wallwart.
 
7 Segment Clock 
 
I created a PCB based upon José's schematic.  Keeping things neat was a challenge, with the jumpers under the individual displays being the most elegant solution I could come up with.  The board was created using the toner transfer method and hand-drilled.
 
This was a great project and everything worked out well :) 
 
José has some great PIC projects on his site, well worth a look!