adafruit learning system TIMESQUARE User manual
TIMESQUARE Watch Kit
Created by Ladyada
Last updated on 2014-03-16 12:15:15 AM EDT
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Guide Contents
Guide Contents
Overview
Tools List
Tutorials
Tools
Parts List
Kit Assembly
ADJUSTING FIT
OTHER TWEAKS
Setting the Time
Tap ® or ← tap
Hold ®← 2 sec
Tap ® = Next digit ← Tap = Current digit +1
Tap ® = Y®Y®M®M®D®D®H®H®M®M®12/24
Hold ®← 2 sec
Time Display Modes
Tap ® or ← tap
Hold ® 2 sec or ← hold 2 sec
Marquee«Binary«Moon Phase«Battery Gauge
Marquee mode
Binary mode
Moon Phase mode
Battery Gauge
Uploading New Firmware
Downloads
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Industries http://learn.adafruit.com/timesquare-watch-kit Page 2 of 32
Overview
Show up stylish AND on time to any event with this awesome looking DIY watch. We have a few
watch kits here at Adafruit but we finally have one that looks good and fits well, even for ladies
and kids and others with smaller wrists and hands. Its got a 8x8 bit matrix display and a
repurposed silicone watch band for a professional look.
64 LEDs light up to tell you the time in a variety of ways. Built into the kit are 3 different watch
'faces' - a scrolling marquee with time and date, a binary watch display (for geeks, robots and
binary fans), and a moon phase display (for beach-combers, werewolves). There's also a built
in battery meter so you can check your battery life. Want to make your own watch? Easy! The
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microcontroller is an Arduino-compatible, all you need is an FTDI Friend and the Arduino IDE and
you can design your own watch faces and upload them to the
TIMESQUARE. (http://adafru.it/aT9)
Engineered for greatness by PaintYourDragon, this watch squeezes over 1000 full time displays
out of a coin battery, and a 1+ year 'resting' lifetime, so you can use this as a day-to-day time
keeper.
This watch comes with a ultra bright red LED matrix and a black silicone watch band that fits all
wrists from children to adult.
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This is a DIY kit, and requires some basic soldering/assembly to put together. It is a beginner
kit, so this is a fine project to use in learning how to solder. Tools are not included, you'll need a
soldering iron, solder and diagonal cutters as a minimum. Check the tutorial page for details on
what tools and steps are required to assemble. (http://adafru.it/aTa) Take about 1-2 hours to
put together. Build it in the afternoon and you'll be done in time to hit the clubs in the evening.
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Tools List
Tutorials
Learn how to solder with tons of tutorials! (http://adafru.it/aTk)
(http://adafru.it/aOm)
Don't forget to learn how to use your multimeter too! (http://adafru.it/aOy)
Tools
There are a few tools that are required for assembly. None of these tools are included. If you
don't have them, now would be a good time to borrow or purchase them. They are very very
handy whenever assembling/fixing/modifying electronic devices! I provide links to buy them,
but of course, you should get them where ever is most convenient/inexpensive. Many of these
parts are available in a place like Radio Shack or other (higher quality) DIY electronics stores.
Soldering iron
Any entry level 'all-in-one' soldering iron
that you might find at your local hardware
store should work. As with most things in
life, you get what you pay for.
Upgrading to a higher end soldering iron
setup, like the Hakko FX-888 that we
stock in our store (http://adafru.it/180),
will make soldering fun and easy.
Do not use a "ColdHeat" soldering iron!
They are not suitable for delicate
electronics work and can damage the kit
(see here (http://adafru.it/aOo)).
Click here to buy our entry
level adjustable 30W 110V soldering
iron. (http://adafru.it/180)
Click here to upgrade to a Genuine
Hakko FX-888 adjustable temperature
soldering iron. (http://adafru.it/303)
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Solder
You will want rosin core, 60/40 solder.
Good solder is a good thing. Bad solder
leads to bridging and cold solder joints
which can be tough to find.
Click here to buy a spool of leaded
solder (recommended for
beginners). (http://adafru.it/145)
Click here to buy a spool of lead-free
solder. (http://adafru.it/734)
Multimeter
You will need a good quality basic
multimeter that can measure voltage and
continuity.
Click here to buy a basic
multimeter. (http://adafru.it/71)
Click here to buy a top of the line
multimeter. (http://adafru.it/308)
Click here to buy a pocket
multimeter. (http://adafru.it/850)
Flush Diagonal Cutters
You will need flush diagonal cutters to
trim the wires and leads off of
components once you have soldered
them in place.
Click here to buy our favorite
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cutters. (http://adafru.it/152)
Solder Sucker
Strangely enough, that's the technical
term for this desoldering vacuum tool.
Useful in cleaning up mistakes, every
electrical engineer has one of these on
their desk.
Click here to buy a
one. (http://adafru.it/148)
Helping Third Hand With Magnifier
Not absolutely necessary but will make
things go much much faster, and it will
make soldering much easier.
Pick one up here. (http://adafru.it/291)
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Parts List
TIMESQUARE PCB - half thickness black PCB
ATMEGA328P - preprogrammed microcontroller
DS1337 - 8 pin real time clock chip
32.768KHz Crystal - thin silver cylinder
Right angle buttons - two for either side
20mm coin battery holder
0.1uF ceramic capacitor - yellow blobby
1 x 10K resistor - brown black orange gold
8 x 47 ohm resistor - yellow violet black gold
1.5" 8x8 matrix (not shown)
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Silicone rubber watch band
Clear plastic cutout back
CR2032 Coin cell battery
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Kit Assembly
First up, check that you have all the
electronic parts laid out on your table and
ready for soldering!
Start by placing the PCB in a vise to keep
it steady. We'll be soldering parts on
TOP, where the silkscreen shows the
component placing. The first part we'll
place is the 10K resistor. This resistor is
marked brown black orange gold.
(It's also the only single resistor of that
color)
Bend the resistor into a staple and slip
the wire leads into the two holes so that
the resistor covers the outline labeled
R10 in the bottom right corner shown
here
Bend the wire leads out so the resistor
sits flat against the PCB. Then you can flip
it over and it wont fall out!
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With your soldering iron heated up and
ready, solder in both leads of the
resistor. To do this, heat up the round
ring pad and the wire lead at the same
time for 2 or 3 seconds, then dip the end
of the solder into the heated joint to melt
it in.
Then remove the solder and the
soldering iron.
Once the soldering is complete, we can
clean up by clipping the leads of the
resistor. This keeps them from shorting
to something else. Use diagonal or flush
cutters to clip the wires right above
where the solder joint ends.
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Next we'll solder in the yellow blobby
0.1uF capacitor. This capacitor is part of
the reset circuitry as well, and is used to
help reset the chip when we want to
reprogram it.
Ceramic capacitors, like resistors, are not
directional. So put it in any way it fits,
next to the R10 resistor, so its
surrounded by the C1 outline
Then bend the leads and flip over the
board.
Solder in the capacitor's two legs just like
you did with the resistor
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You did great with the first two parts, now
we will solder in the remaining resistors
R1-R8 . These resistors are the LED
'choke' resistors - they keep the LED
matrix's light even and avoids having too
much current draw that would kill the
battery off!
All the resistors are the same 47 ohm
value - Yellow Violet Black Go ld
Here we placed and soldered all 8 at
once but you can go one at a time if you
want to take it a little slower!
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Next clip all the leads!
Next up we will put in the first chip. This
chip has 8 legs and has the label
DS1337 on top. Make sure you've got
the right label on the chip.
This chip is the "real time clock" - the
timekeeper. It is a ultra-lo-power circuit,
whose only task is to keep track of the
time, so its pretty good at it. It's possible
to have the main microcontroller chip (the
next one we'll do) keep track of the time,
but its not as good at it (both in terms of
power and precision) so we splurged on
having a seperate RTC
The important thing about chips is that
they are not like resistors and capacitors
in that they can't be placed 'either way'.
It must be placed the right way or the
chip wont work. Look for the end of the
chip with a notch and a dot. These must
match up the silkscreened image on the
PCB so make sure the notches line up.
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Solder all eight pins of the RTC
No need to clip them after they're done
Next we'll do the big microcontroller chip.
This chip is the brains, it does all of the
displaying and button handling. Most of
the time its 'sleeping' and when you
press a button it wakes up and shows
the time. It has a lot of pins because the
matrix requires 16 pins to draw, and then
you need some more pins for buttons,
the RTC chip, reprogramming, etc.
The chip is an ATMEGA328P that has
been pre-programmed at the Adafruit
factory to have an Arduino-compatible
bootloader and our default watch display
code.
To begin, flatten the pins to make them
more parallel || shaped intsead of A
shaped. Hold the chip in your hand and
press all the pins one side at a time
against a flat table.
Then when you press it into the holes,
make sure each pin has made it into a
matching hole, and its sitting flat against
the PCB
Like the RTC, this chip must be put in
the right way. The notch on the chip must
go on the left side as in these photos.
Check twice to make sure you have the
chip in right!
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Solder all 28 pins!
No need to clip them after they're done
Next we'll place both the battery holder,
and the timing crystal. The battery of
course is how we power the watch, and
this holder keeps it in place. The timing
crystal is the "Quartz Crystal" in watches,
that keeps time by resonating
The battery holder does have a special
way it must go, make sure you can slide
the battery in by having the open side
facing out
The crystal can go in either way, its
symmetric, like the resistors
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The battery holder will slip out if you flip
over the board, so before flipping the
board, solder one leg side from the top.
The holder is a great heatsink so it may
take a little longer than usual to solder in
Flip it over and solder in the other battery
pin, then go back and do the first one.
Also, solder and clip the two crystal pins
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Lastly, place the two interface buttons.
You'll use these to set the time, display
the time, and change watch faces.
Both go on either side of the board, and
they'll snap in.
Then flip the board over and solder in all
4 pins of each
Finally, the fun part! The matrix!
The LED matrix is what you'll be looking at
- 64 individual LEDs in a plastic case.
The Matrix is not symetric, it must go in
the right way on the right side.
Look for the writing on the side of the
matrix, this side must go on the side of
the PCB with a dot as you see here. Also
the matrix goes on the OPPOSITE side of
the other parts!
Check that the 28-pin microcontroller
pins aren't in the way of the matrix, it
should sit nice and flat
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