Word Clock PIC Controller PCB Construction Notes

A fun clock to build

Rev4b (updated)
Doug Jackson VK1ZDJ Jan 2011

Licence
The Word Clock Design, PCB layout, Manual, and Firmware is Copyright 2009-2011, by Douglas Jackson, VK1ZDJ. This Design, PCB layout, Manual and Firmware is licenced under the TAPR Open Hardware Licence (Non-Commercial). www.tapr.org/NCL. Permission is granted for anybody to: Modify the documentation and make products based upon it, provided you do not make more than ten units in any twelve month period. Use the products for any legal purpose without limitation. Distribute unmodified documentation, but you must include the complete package as you received it. Distribute only on a non-profit basis, charging no more than the actual cost of parts, assembly, and shipping. Distribute products you make to third parties, if you either include the documentation on which the product is based, or make it available without charge for at least three years to anyone who requests it. Distribute modified documentation or products based on it, if you license your modifications under the OHL.

CAUTION
CAUTION
This project is designed to run of either 9V AC or 12V DC IT IS NOT DESIGNED FOR DIRECT MAINS CONNECTION Any attempt to connect the device to line mains (without a transformer) will cause the immediate destruction of the project, and present a serious electrocution hazard.

Welcome
Thanks for deciding to make this great little clock project. You will find that this simple clock will be a centre piece for many discussions into the future, as well as providing a great way to tell the time. Because there are so many ways to construct the clock, I have broken assembly down into various documents this document details the construction of the microchip PIC Controller board. You will find that construction of this clock is very simple. If you are methodical with your construction practices, and careful with you soldering, you will find that the clock almost assembles itself.

Parts List
The first thing you need to do is to verify that you have all of the necessary components required to assemble your clock. Here is the complete parts list. Feel free to check off each component as you verify it is present. Capacitors 10uF 0.1uF Resistors 270R 4k7 1 4 470R 100K 1 1 1 1 100uF 1

Semiconductors PIC 16F877A 78L05 ULN2803 Driver IC 4Mhz resonator DS1302 RTC IC 18 Pin IC Socket 5mm LED Connectors 40 Pin IC Socket 1 3 way screw connector Inter Board connectors 1 3 1 1 3 1N4148 or 3 1N914 Diode Bridge Rectifier 1

Zener 1 between 5v1 7v6 32768 Khz crystal 8 Pin IC Socket 40 Pin IC Socket 1 1 1

1 1 3 1

2 way screw 2 connector

Component Layout
Use the following diagram to assist you in locating components on the PIC Controller PCB:

9V AC or 12V DC Input

- Optional

Battery + Backup

Forward Time set Backwards

Construction
Assembling the controller board is fairly simple. Start by examining the copper side of the PCB for any manufacturing defects I check each board before it is sent, but a second check never goes astray. Make sure that all tracks are complete, and not shorted to adjoining tracks. If there are any small shorts, remove them gently using a sharp blade. You may find that the protective coating that has been applied to the hand made PCB (to prevent oxidation) requires additional time to allow a proper solder bond. This is normal. Start assembly by installing the jumpers as per the below photo.

The next step is to insert and solder the IC sockets and resistors.

Continue assembly by installing the 78L05 Voltage regulator, Bridge Rectifier, capacitors and Diodes . Be carefull when soldering the diodes to seperate the 5.3 volt zener for location D3. The Bridge Rectifier also needs to be oriented correctly Make sure that the (+) pin (The long one) is inserted into the square hole, and finally, the capacitors need to be oriented correctly (with the -ve leas towards the bottom of the board). The following photo may be of assistance. Be very careful to ensure that the voltage regulator is oriented correctly. Diode Bridge Voltage Regulator - 78L05 C1 100uF, C2 - 10uF D2 1N914, D3 - 5v1 Zener R32 100K

R31 470R D5, D6 1N914 C3 0.1uF R28, R29 4K7 R33, R27 - 4K7

This photo shows the orientation of the 78L05 voltage regulator.

Next, install the crystal, resonator, minutes LED connector and wire connector blocks.

32768 Khz Crystal

270R resistor 4Mhz resonator

LED

Note the the new REV 4B board has provision for a LED and 270R resistor to be installed between the 40 PIN IC socket, and the 40 pin socket this LED flashes to indicate that the seconds are elapsing When installing the LED, place the short led (Cathode) into the square pin (towards the botton of the PCB.

Finally, install the Interconnect Sockets. Note that the interconnect sockets are installed on the BACK SIDE of the PCB, so that they can connect to the LED display board. Mount them just proud, about 1.5mm above the board, so that the soldering iron is able to get to the pin under the socket as per the below picture.

Start by tinning the connections to make soldering easier Note that the flux is normal:

Next, Solder the two end pins Make sure that the socket is proud of the PBC.

Soldering is done carefully feeding solder in one side of the joint while heating the other.

The completed result. You should be able to examine both sides of the joint, verifying that there are no solder shorts.

Complete assembly by inserting the microcontroller, drivers, and RTC chip into their sockets. Again, ensure that pin 1 is located in the correct pin Identified by the square pin on the PCB pad. NOTE All chips have pin 1 pointing down.

That completes assembly!

Optional Minute LED Support

The revision 4 microcontroller code includes support for driving corner LEDs to allow the time to be displayed to within one minute Each corner LED is illuminated for an additional minute if one corner LED is illuminated, then one minute is aded to the time shown (ie Five is read as Six). If 3 corner LEDs are illuminated, then 3 minutes are added to the time shown (ie Five is read as Eight). Adding these LEDs is entirely optional the clock will operate beautifully with the LEDS uninstalled. If you install the LEDs, then you will need to remove R30, as it is no longer required. If you elect to install the LEDs, then they need to be connected between the following header pins and ground; Ground LED 2 LED 4 Pin 1 Pin 3 Pin 5 LED1 LED3 PIN 2 Pin 4

When installing the LEDs, simply connect some 5 conductor ribon cable to the pins of a header connector as shown above. Solder a 270 Ohm dropping resistor to the Cathode of each LED and Ground, and connect the various LED conductors to the Anode of the LEDs as shown. Mount the LEDs in the stencil using some hot melt glue. When the clock is turned on the self test will cycle through all of the LEDs to re-assure you that you have connected them correctly. Mount the LEDs in the corner of the PCB face, having soldered the 270 ohm resistor to the cathode (The short LED leg)

This diagram shows the wiring connected to the LEDs In this case, the blue cable was the ground, the green LED1, and Yellow LED2 I drilled a small hole in the display PCB to allow the cables to pass through.

And finally the working front face! The time below shows that it is eleven minutes past eleven. I used Red LEDs, but you can use whatever color you like.

Testing
The board is able to be tested by connecting a 9V AC or 12V DC supply to the power input (Header beside the Bridge Rectifier), polarity is unimportant, and plugging the board onto the LED display board, and attaching the board with the supplied metal standoffs.

CAUTION
This project is designed to run of either 9V AC or 12V DC IT IS NOT DESIGNED FOR DIRECT MAINS CONNECTION Any attempt to connect the device to line mains (without a transformer) will cause the immediate destruction of the project, and present a serious electrocution hazard. As soon as power is applied, the matrix should go through a full self test. Every led should illuminate in blocks of words. If it does not, verify that the supply polarity is correct, and that the 78L05 has been installed correctly. There should be over 12V on the input of the 78L05, and +5V on the output.

Time set input

The 3 pin wire connector on the board is designed to be connected to two normally open push buttons for setting the time. The centre pin is common, and the outside pins are to be connected to each time set pushbutton. One time set button increments the time, and the other decrements the time.

Programming
The Microprocessor supplied with the board has been pre-programmed before it has been sent out. If you wish, the PIC microprocessor is able to be re-programmed using any standard PIC programmer. Just remember to remove the programming jumpers alternately, the micro can be removed from the socket, and installed into a programmer for programming. Source code is available from the instructables.com project website. Have fun, and I hope that you enjoy your clock as much as I do!!. Doug Jackson