Needing ESP8266 help for a wifi clock build.

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dacflyer
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Needing ESP8266 help for a wifi clock build.

Post by dacflyer »

i have built a few GPS clocks over the last few years with help. i still can't make heads or tails of the code yet, i do not know why i can't grasp it.
anyway, here is the question, i seen a few videos on "Youtube university"..lol it looks like they can build a clock that runs directly off of a
ESP8266 module..i have seen different kinds of displays, and very few 7 segment displays.
i am wanting to know if the module can run 4 to 6 digits that use the TPIC6B595 serial driver.
(will use it for large digits i recycled and modified to use the driver ) i have arduino mini modules if need be,
i'd like to also use a RTC module also. so at start up the time will show, until esp connects to the net.
the digits i have are about 8 to 10" tall, and NEON red in color.
i just want basic time and date for now, maybe temp later on.
may be too much for the ESP module, but can use the arduino if need be.
Maybe us brains can make this a project on here and post it.. i already have the leds mocked up on the back board i plan to use, and i'll use finish the enclosure for it , once the clock is up and working.
or if someone helps me, i'll even share of of the displays i have. i have about 2 different style.
if interested, i can post pix of the displays later on..
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dacflyer
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Re: Needing ESP8266 help for a wifi clock build.

Post by dacflyer »

can't believe no replies yet on this... Hmmm
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CeaSaR
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Re: Needing ESP8266 help for a wifi clock build.

Post by CeaSaR »

Dac,
I'm a little old in the programming department, with most of it being DOS based BASIC and the highest I ever went was some VB4. I might be able to follow it if there was some code to look at. Whatcha got? Don't forget to use the CODE tag at the top.
Hey, what do I know?
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haklesup
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Re: Needing ESP8266 help for a wifi clock build.

Post by haklesup »

Looking for info online, I can see modules are either configured in a larger DIP with 30 pins and a smaller board with 8 pin header likely strictly serial. Can I assume you are using the lower pin count version and are planning to interface to a decoder directly using serial methods. I think the hookup could be straightforward but I would think that you either need built in code (like a clock mode enabled externally) or need to load something into program memory that will bootstrap when it is powered on. At a minimum you need to set the serial mode

It is uController based and has onboard flash but I just scanned the technical documentation. I don't know what videos you saw but it seems like a module like this would need some custom code loaded if it were to run on its own. If you're lucky, someone has the firmware for download, Try here; https://www.esp8266.com/ and here https://github.com/esp8266/esp8266-wiki/wiki Sparkfun page had some good documentation links too. The link to the AT command set implies you can just connected to an RS232 port and talk to it with a modem program on COM1. If you had an old fashion VT220 terminal you could probably interface to it directly.

With the parallel version you could probably dive the digits directly if maybe still needing a buffer to get to higher current.
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dacflyer
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Re: Needing ESP8266 help for a wifi clock build.

Post by dacflyer »

i think i found someone to help me.. he suggested to use the ESP32-WROOM module, it has more memory and built in Wifi and BT.
with this, i'd only need to add in the RTC module for times when the net is down, and at boot up, before it has a connection.
as for my display. the led drivers are TPIC6C596 8 bit serial / buffers. so no problem, my displays require 12v.
i'll keep you all posted..he is working on the code for me,,
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dacflyer
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Re: Needing ESP8266 help for a wifi clock build.

Post by dacflyer »

update, might be going with a better Uc to use.. friend suggested using a ESP32-WROOM
he's working on the code for me, I already got the display finished, all i need to do is install the ESP32-WROOM when it gets in, and then later we'll start testing the code,
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