| astrsk | Posted: 3 Oct 2026, 04:39 AM |
|---|---|
 Member Posts: 1 Joined: 3-October 26 |
I received my clock kit this week and put it together as soon as I could, I was so excited! I really love it, it’s exactly what I was hoping it would be and it works great. I just wanted to report a potential power issue or maybe grounding issue? I’m no EE or hardware person by any means so maybe I damaged my board, not sure. While it clock is powered up, placing a finger over the cluster of components on/around U10 will make the time digits glow very bright independent of the date digits, most noticeable when in lower light conditions. Additionally, lightly tapping the cluster of components around U11 will cause the date digits to flicker or completely go out temporarily. Obviously I shouldn’t be touching active circuitry like this so it’s not an issue with my unit that’s gonna affect the day to day use. I just wanted to bring it up in case this is a grounding issue or something that future revisions may want to take into account! Anyways, really enjoying the clock and it’s gotten wonderful reactions from coworkers when I put it on display at the office :) ------------- |
| [top] | |
| mit | Posted: 3 Oct 2026, 05:53 AM |
 yeah whatever Admin Posts: 699 Joined: 4-May 16 |
The circuit you're touching is the brightness circuit, which uses analog signals to bend the output voltage of the linear regulators. There's a description of it here: https://mitxela.com/projects/precision_clock_mk_iv#brightness-details The only way to avoid it flickering when you poke it would be to put a cover over the circuit, which wasn't really the aesthetic I was going for. Maybe clear conformal coating could have worked. In general it's reasonably safe to touch most of the circuit while it's working, the one part I would avoid touching is the antenna signal, that may not have ESD protection, so a static shock could kill the GPS receiver. Luckily the track for the antenna is very short and hard to reach, just between the SMA connector and the GPS module. ------------- |
| [top] | |
Sign in to post a reply.