Making time for your loved ones

“Talk is cheap. Show me the code.” 

Linus Torvalds

We've been making electronic clocks for a year or so now.  Some recipients and other casual bystanders have asked where they can purchase them. Well, you can't buy them because they are made from scratch!

The first iteration was horrible and looked like a bomb, but slowly we have been able to iron out the bugs and now can put one together in about three to four hours without burning our fingers too much with stray solder.

Call Homeland Security, quick!

It all starts with the following components:

Just add wires!

The ATMEGA328P-PU is the same chip that can be found on the Arduino and in fact with a bit of electrickery the chip can be programmed by the Arduino itself. The chips arrive from the manufacturer for about $1.75 each, but often are missing the bootloader and/or the fuses have been set strangely.  Then, after making the chips receptive to programming, writing the code for the operation of the clock was quite difficult and took many months to get right, containing such gems as:

   if (minset.isPressed()){
      myminute = (myminute + 1) % 60;
      rtc.setTime(myhour, myminute, 0);
      tm1637.printTime(myhour,myminute, true);
      delay(50);     
      mytime = rtc.getTimeStr();
      myhour = mytime.substring(0,2).toInt();
      myminute = mytime.substring(3,5).toInt();
    }

Yup, that'd do ya head in!  Then the wiring commences - and that's damn difficult because of the size of the project and the complexity of the connections.

Looks neat on a diagram!

Looks like the London Underground in real life...

Finally there are two sets of batteries to plug in, one for the RTC and one for the remainder of the components including the microcontroller.  So enjoy the result and don't look for a version in your shop real soon.  If you want to start down this path and just like the idea of building a clock from scratch, we recommend you buy a kit first to get an idea of what a project like this entails...

Of course, some of us hate electronics and just like to curl up with our favourite oversized dog!

The nightly ritual includes a final cuddle before bed

Shhhh! It's pretty nice in Tassie...

To experience sublime natural beauty is to confront the total inadequacy of language to describe what you see. Words cannot convey the scale of a view that is so stunning it is felt.

Eleanor Catton

What horrible places we have found in Tasmania!  Awful place...stay away...

And there's fish among them thar rocks! 

The RAV4 continues to fill the Musso's shoes (not a hugely difficult prospect), and the cars go hither and yon as we become de facto taxis.  And we signed up for this...what the hell!

Have a great week and don't forget to thank the Big Fella for a pretty good job on some of the finer points on the planet.

Room with a view

“Let me, O let me bathe my soul in colours; let me swallow the sunset and drink the rainbow.” 

Kahlil Gibran

Our weekends are a bit different now with lots of running around for appointments and shopping and football and all that good stuff(!).  But you still can't beat opening the curtains to see this...

Autumn magic

We hope your autumn colours are as deep and varied - enjoy!  Winter is coming...

Smelly Kelly with the big fat Belly

“Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are God. Owners of cats are compelled to realise that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are Gods.” 

Christopher Hitchens

The holidaze whizzed past with kiddie things foremost, but we did get a brief respite when we took the opportunity to have our Gordon Setter spayed, and also went car shopping to replace the Maddeningly Moribund Musso.  A 2nd hand RAV4 sits in the driveway now - let's hope it lasts more than 12 months!

Kelly (full name Smelly Kelly with the big fat Belly) is now only female in the outside bits department, and fortunately both Jess and Oskar have decided that she's OK now that she doesn't smell so weird.

Sleeping with stolen goods...

The cats are growing in size with the glut of mice seeking warmer climes - even Marvin seems to be capable of catching them.  The weather is decidedly chillier, and in fact the Sleeping Beauty has had a nice light dusting of snow most mornings over the last week.  The fire roars, the soup is hearty and the nights are ripe for cuddling - what more does one need?

Reverse profile of the sleeping beauty...