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New version of the clock forthcoming?
error1 Posted: 17 Oct 2023, 11:39 AM
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Would it be possible to add a digit to have full millisecond display and not just hundredths of a second on the new one? You mentioned the GPS receiver should be good for millisecond accuracy...

Phone cameras are already able to record at several hundred fps so it would be nice to have the additional accuracy when using the clock to time stuff :)

My old kit is still ticking away faithfully, love that thing!

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mit Posted: 17 Oct 2023, 12:22 PM
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QUOTE (error1)
Would it be possible to add a digit to have full millisecond display and not just hundredths of a second on the new one? You mentioned the GPS receiver should be good for millisecond accuracy...

Phone cameras are already able to record at several hundred fps so it would be nice to have the additional accuracy when using the clock to time stuff :)

My old kit is still ticking away faithfully, love that thing!

The new version displays to the millisecond by default. And yes, the accuracy of the GPS module is to within about 50ns, which is another five digits beyond that.

I have tested the millisecond display of the new clock by filming it at 25,000FPS, and it is rock solid, perfectly visible without flickering.

I'm afraid I've made little progress on bringing it to release, hopefully it will happen before Christmas. I've also (stupidly) started working on its successor which will display time to the microsecond...

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elorgus Posted: 30 Jan 2024, 03:58 PM
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This is exciting news! The improvements of MK IV sound great (especially easy update/modification of the firmware) and I'm more than happy to wait for its final release. So no pressure from my side, only (pleasant) anticipation :)

For me personally millisecond precision is all I ever needed and more than I'm able to see anyways.

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Zman350x Posted: 14 Jun 2024, 04:17 PM
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We're now at June of '24. Any update?

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mit Posted: 19 Jun 2024, 10:35 AM
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No progress lately, sorry. It has been a very busy few months. I shall try and release the new clock as soon as I can.

I did give a talk at EMF a couple weeks ago about the new clock and there was plenty of interest, so I definitely do want to see this through, I just have so many things on at once that it's difficult to make time for it.

Inventing things is the fun part, commercialising them is the really boring bit.

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rolex Posted: 4 Nov 2024, 05:41 AM
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We're interested here in New Zealand too !

Fingers crossed for the updated clock :)

Awesome work please keep it up.

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'Inventing things is the fun part, commercialising them is the really boring bit.' - mit
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mit Posted: 6 Nov 2024, 12:03 PM
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Gosh it's embarrassing I still haven't put them up for sale.

I've yet to write the instructions for the new kit, or film a video about it, but I do have a small number of assembled, or partially assembled MkIV clocks here. I have informally sold a few of them to people who were very keen on the millisecond precision. If anyone really wants one, send me an email and we can figure something out.

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rolex Posted: 21 Nov 2024, 06:25 AM
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Fantastic news - sent you a PM a day or so ago - stoked to hear this mit

Hoping soon there will be some MkIV MITXELA Precision Clock's in Aotearoa

- - - - - - - - - -

Gosh it's embarrassing I still haven't put them up for sale.

I've yet to write the instructions for the new kit, or film a video about it, but I do have a small number of assembled, or partially assembled MkIV clocks here. I have informally sold a few of them to people who were very keen on the millisecond precision. If anyone really wants one, send me an email and we can figure something out.



(User posted image)

(Pic. courtesy aaronfranke - reddit)

Last edit by rolex at 21 Nov 2024, 06:27 AM

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lexrolexro
Timekeeper Watch Club
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'Inventing things is the fun part, commercialising them is the really boring bit.' - mit
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maczrool Posted: 29 Nov 2024, 02:55 PM
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I am wondering what display options will be offered. I know others have requested a 12 hour mode. Would there be any options for date format or position? Like MM.DD.YYYY? Time to the left of date?

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SolidElectronics Posted: 15 Mar 2025, 09:49 AM
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I came across this project recently (/r/iso8601) and I'm experimenting with making some new board designs. Still a work in progress, but I've made a version that uses the more common 0.56" segments as a prototype, and ultimately I'd like to make one that has the date above the time for a more compact footprint. As for the code, I do have are a very particular set of skills. Namely AVR assembly for the ATTiny family, so this is very much in my lane. I've been reading through it and adding comments to understand how it works, and I'll likely be able to add additional features like a 12-hour mode at some point. Just wanted to put this out there in case anyone was interested, and I'll share the Git repo when it's in a usable state.

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mit Posted: 17 Mar 2025, 11:46 AM
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QUOTE (SolidElectronics)
I came across this project recently (/r/iso8601) and I'm experimenting with making some new board designs. Still a work in progress, but I've made a version that uses the more common 0.56" segments as a prototype, and ultimately I'd like to make one that has the date above the time for a more compact footprint. As for the code, I do have are a very particular set of skills. Namely AVR assembly for the ATTiny family, so this is very much in my lane. I've been reading through it and adding comments to understand how it works, and I'll likely be able to add additional features like a 12-hour mode at some point. Just wanted to put this out there in case anyone was interested, and I'll share the Git repo when it's in a usable state.
Cool - good luck! Not sure if I already mentioned but one of the main "improvements" to the MkIV clock is that it's written in C, which means it's a lot easier for people to modify.

If I were to make another clock using an ATtiny, the most important improvement would be to fit a crystal, so the internal oscillator doesn't need to be calibrated to decode the UART. I would also switch to using a double-buffered display (which is how the MkIV does it).

For ages I've been mentally planning a Mk V, which would read out to the microsecond (another three digits!). I promised myself I'd release the MkIV before I start working on it though...

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SolidElectronics Posted: 27 Apr 2025, 09:07 PM
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I finally got it into a usable state. This is the firmware with that has some new features including a 12-hour mode, the original circuit scaled down to 0.56" segments, and a brand new board version with date above time.

https://github.com/SolidElectronics/PrecisionClock-Hardware
https://github.com/SolidElectronics/PrecisionClockMkII

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mit Posted: 28 Apr 2025, 10:13 AM
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Wow, well done! I am a bit embarrassed about the incomprehensibility of the source code, but I didn't really expect anyone else to try to understand it.

I don't really approve of 12 hour mode but I absolutely respect that you implemented it!

Curious as to why the brightness circuit didn't work for you, it's one of the most pleasing aspects of the clock (when it works).

I notice the lookup tables are no longer page-aligned, have you fully tested this? A common thing that I do is to align it to a 256 byte boundary, so the low byte is zero. It saves having to worry about overflow and carrying. For instance the month lookup could probably just have been

	ldi ZH, high(monthLookup*2)
mov ZL, fullMonths
lpm daysInMonth,Z

Obviously this makes it trickier to shuffle code around it. Alternatively just double check all the places the lookup tables are used and make sure to carry to the high byte wherever it matters. Total length of the lookup tables is 97 so it's probably fine so long as the low byte of the address is less than 158...

I had a quick look at the PCB, very cute. I like the idea of having two USB ports to choose the best orientation. Also delighted to see the logo and the screw-mount holes are still there.

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