DS1302 Rotating LED Clock Module Housing (Modular... Sort of!)

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Note: If you choose to make one for yourself, then make sure you buy the three-button, SMD LED type. Otherwise, it probably won't fit the case!

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I picked up a pre-assembled DS1302 (or, "DS just after lunch" as I call it!) clock module from eBay for a trivial sum. I chose this specific version because it used tiny SMD LEDs, which I felt were less clunky-looking than the traditional type.

I know it's cheating, but I went for the pre-assembled unit because, between my aging eyesight and my slightly shaky fingers, I couldn't see me soldering the various SMD components (including the LEDs) successfully.

My first case designs were derivative of many already on Thingiverse and, whilst they worked fine, didn't exactly overwhelm in the style stakes. They were square (in both senses), and looked like every other design I'd seen. So I decided that I wanted my case to be reminiscent of the old wind-up Smiths clock that my Dad had when I was a nipper - I even designed a non-functioning bell assembly to grace the top, but decided against it as it was hardly likely to win the Nobel prize ("no bell", geddit? See what I did, there?!)

Once I designed the main case, I came to the conclusion that it looked too bland. My first embellishment was to create an infill piece to cover most of the central circuit board. I did it in black at first, but this made the whole thing a little too dark and monolithic in nature.

Reprinting the infill piece in white improved things; it now resembled an old 45 record. I loved this, but I still felt it was a little dark for my taste. So I reprinted the back in white too - although in practice this made little difference to the front view. To soften it further I thought a nice bezel would make all the difference, and to break the monopoly of black on the face even more, I decided to mark the quarters of the face with single bars.

I played with the idea of adding the numerals, 12, 3, 6, and 9, but then I realised that the only rotating indication of time was the "seconds" LED setting, and I didn't fancy having the quadrant marked in units of 15. So plain bars it was.

You will have to file out the PCB locating holes. This is because, when I did my first, rectangular, design I made a boo-boo: The locating pins for the PCB didn't line up! Oops, measure twice, print once! At the time, I cured it by simply enlarging the holes with a needle file. But this meant that when I came to do this design I had no idea where the original holes would have been.

The rear of the case has positions for two screws to hold the back piece on. But I managed to get the tolerance so that it's a nice friction fit. I hope it works that way for you. The hole for the Mini USB plug is a little tight. It works on ONE of my leads, but I had to relieve it to fit all my other ones. So keep your needle files handy for that!

If you choose to use the bezel, it is a nice friction fit at the bottom of the face, but it can show a tendency to sit away at the top. So I would recommend superglueing to keep it there.

Since I published this, I found an old, see-through, red document wallet. After cutting and trimming a few pieces of this, I found that three layers were just right for making the digital read out dark enough so that the unlit segments are hardly visible, without dimming the illuminated ones. Nice result as it saved me having to buy a proper display lens.

I apologise for the lousy pictures. It was a really gloomy winter morning, and I wanted to avoid using the flash (not Barry Allen) because it would have drowned out the LEDs, and spoiled the effect of the illumination they provide. The room light helped, but they still aren't the best pics!

So it's now in my living room and, while it may not be much of a design, I still reckon it'll give any guests something to tock about!

Category: Hobby