YAP - ScopeClock

[packetbob]

YAP = Yet Another Project

So I figured with the new year and all that I should start a new project…
Actually completing something already started seemed so… so… last year…
Stumbled on this page over the holidays (think it was posted in one of the EEV forums)

GitHub - maurohh/ESP32_OscilloscopeClock: ESP32 Oscilloscope clock using...

This looked like a great little project that wouldn’t need much in parts or wiring…
And I had a ESP32 module kicking around…

Well so I thought… Couldn’t find it so went out to Lee’s (https://leeselectronic.com) and picked up what I needed. Found some nice PCB mount BNC jacks.

Drill some larger holes for the BNC connectors and mounting screws

Used some header socket strip to mount the ESP32 module and soldered it all up. Only a few connections so it went pretty quickly

And it was done.

The code was a bit more work…

I had to install the ESP32 board support into my Arduino IDE but that went quickly with the linked video on the GitHub project page. I found one bug in the NTP library as it would not compile without complaining of a missing 8266WiFi.h file. The main code referenced a WiFi.h file (installed with the ESP32 board support) so I changed the code in the NTP library and it worked fine.

I then had an issue with getting the right timezone displayed. The NTP library seems to allow for various time zones but I couldn’t get the change to work. Gave up after a few minutes and just added 3 to the hour value returned in the code before it runs through the display portion. Works so I’ll be good till the time changes in the Spring.

The ESP32 board I got may be a bit wiggy as getting it into the mode to load the flash seems to require some black magic in the timing of resetting it and hitting the boot and en buttons. But it works… Connects via my Wi-Fi and gets accurate NTP time…

The display does look a bit ragged on my old digital scope but should look fine on an analog scope… Perhaps it will make a nice display in the front windows at the new Space!!!

I will mount it on a hunk of plywood for a base and just use a old Blackberry plug to power it…

Here is a quick video:

esp32_scope_clock

So if you got a ESP32 module and a oscilloscope (that supports XY input) kicking around give it a go…

[rsim]

For what it’s worth. for setting the timezone this is what I use in the new door system on an ESP32 (not using Arduino though, if that matters):

setenv("TZ", "PST8PDT,M3.2.0,M11.1.0", 1);
tzset();
...
time_t    now      = 0;
struct tm timeinfo = {};
time(&now);
localtime_r(&now, &timeinfo);

The clock looks great though!