DigitalClockwithTimerandSolarPanelRegulator

Thisisacombinationdigitalclocktimerandsolarpanelchargecontrollerusedtomaintaina
deepcyclebatteryfromasolarpanel.Thetimeroutputisusedtocontrola12voltloadfora
32minutetimeintervaleachday.Starttimeissetusing9dipswitchesandends32minutes
later.The32minutedurationissetbyselectingthe5thbit(2^5=32)ofa4040binary
counter(pin2).Thetimeralsohasamanualtoggleswitchsotheloadcanbemanually
switchedonoroffandautomaticallyshutsoffafter32minutes.Thetimedurationcanbe
longerorshorter(8,16,32,64,128,256minutesetc.)byselectingtheappropriatebitofthe
counter.Thetimercircuitisshowninthelowerschematicjustabovetheregulator.
Thebasicclockcircuit(topschematicbelow)issimilartothebinaryclock(onanotherpage)
anduses7ICstoproducethe20digitalbitsfor12hourtime,plusAMandPM.Astandard
watchcrystaloscillator(32,768)isusedasthetimebaseandisdivideddownto1/2half
secondbythe4020binarycounter.Onehalfofa4013datalatchisusedtodividethe1/2
secondsignalby2andproduceaonesecondpulsethatdrivesthesecondscounter
(74HC390coloredpurple).Theminutesareadvancedbydecoding60seconds(40+20)and
thenresettingthesecondscounterto0andatthesametimeadvancingtheminutescounter.
Thesameprocedureisusedtoadvancethehours.Thesecondhalfofthe4013latchisused
toindicateAMorPMandistoggledbydecoding13hoursandresettingthehoursto0and
thenadvancingthehoursto"one".
Theclockdisplaycircuitisshownintheseconddrawingbelowanduses6moreICsto
decodethebinarydataanddrivefoursevensegmentLEDdisplays.The10sofhoursdigitis
drivenwithasingle3904transistor.Twomultiplexercircuits(4053)areusedtomanually
selecteitherminutesorsecondsfortherighttwodisplaydigits.Thetwoswitchesshown
betweenthe4053sandbelowtheleft4053arebothpartofoneDPDTswitchwhichselects
eithersecondsorminutesforthe1Xand10Xdigits.Thisswitchisshownintheseconds
positionandthehoursdigitsareblankedwithalowsignalonpin4ofthe4511.Thedisplay
canalsobetoggledonandoff(totallyblank)usingaset/resetlatchmadefromacouple
74HC00NANDgates.AmomentaryDPDTswitchisusedtocontrolthelatchandtogglethe
displayonoroff.Thesecondpoleofthisswitchisusedontheupperdrawing(connectedto
therun/stopswitch)tosetthehoursandminutes.Thusthissameswitchperformsboth
functionsofblankingthedisplayandsettingthetime.Therun/stopswitchisshowninthe
normalrunningmodeandsuppliesalowsignaltoaNANDgatewhichpreventsaccidental
settingthetimewhiletheclockisrunning.Therun/stopswitchalsoturnsonthedisplay
(throughthediodeD2)wheninthestopposition.Theprocedureforsettingtheclockwould
betosetthe(run/stop)switchthestoppositionandthe(seconds/minutes)switchtothe
minutesposition.Thentogglethemomentaryswitchtosetminutesandhoursofthecurrent
timeplusoneminute.Theclockcanthenbestartedwiththerun/stopswitchatpreciselythe
righttime(+/0.5seconds).
Thevoltageregulatorinthelowerdrawingmaintainsthebatteryat13.6voltsandalso
suppliestheclockandtimercircuitswith4.3volts.ThechargeLEDindicatoronlycomeson
whentheregulatorissupplyingmaxchargetothebattery.Whenthebatteryvoltagereaches
13.6theregulatorreducesthecurrenttowhateverisnecessarytomaintainthevoltageand
thechargeindicatorwillturnoff.TheunitIbuiltalsoincludedabatteryconditionindicator
(voltmeterusing4LEDs)toindicatethebatteryconditionsothatafailureoftheregulator
wouldbeindicatedbythechargeindicatorLEDturnedoffandlessthan4LEDslitonthe
voltmeter.The4LEDbatteryconditionindicatorisshownonanotherpage.

BasicClockCircuit

ClockDisplayCircuit

ClockTimerCircuit

VoltageRegulator(13.6volts)

Menu