Wednesday, February 23, 2022

The I Don't Need A Clock Project Where I Build A Clock

I swear I don't need a clock.

Where I sit, I can spot at least six of the things.  If you are of voting age, and live on your own, I'm sure you have too many of them as well.

But they do entertain me.  I have always liked to have more than one around and I do watch to keep them as close to accurate as possible.

For a while I was getting them in Mystery Boxes and I think that is where I decided to simply throw my hands up and put batteries in all of them all at once.

There is no such thing as a quiet moment here.

Tick.
Tick.
Tick.

But the conversation was ringing in my ears about a skill I felt needed sharpening.

I needed to practice my soldering, and I got online and was shopping.

Dangerous thing to do I know.

I searched for the simplest electronics kit I could find that would do something useful.

Radios were another thing I have too many of and they were a bit complex.
Nobody needs a Tesla Coil.
I didn't want a model car or something like that.

I kept coming across these LED clocks.  Throwing my hands in the air I found a two-fer clock that had only about ten different components.

Oh why not, lets do it.  Two for the price of $7.

You do get what you pay for, this one is only 24 hour display and only 4 digits.  I'd have liked a seconds display and in the US, it's pretty much strictly a 12 hour AM/PM world.

Don't get me started about Metric vs Imperial, I switch back and forth, and both have their uses.  Nutrition it is easier to estimate calories my multiplying ounces by 1.1.  Try that with grams.

 
At any rate, Saturday I got all the bits and pieces together, sat down and started.   It only took me about 90 minutes to build this little thing.  Once I settled in and shook off the "Suggestions" that were coming from someone else in the house about needing to solder things, that is.

One is done, I still have another.

So why did I get a two pack?  I have never finished a soldering project on an actual printed circuit board that was successful.  It's a rite of passage.  Me against the electronic world.

Now, if I could find a really cool circuit to build, maybe a shortwave radio?  Vacuum Tubes?  I know, I don't need one of those either but if I am going to do it, oh never mind!

No comments:

Post a Comment