PIC Nixie Clock project

[Heckler]

MrTeaTime,

Do you have the same nixie clock as shown in the original post in this thread?
If so then it is an easy conversion.

So the boards are available to order on OSHPARK here...
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/7fvrYPyd

you would only need a few extra parts to complete the project.

what can I help you with?

dwight

[CuriousOne]

Thanks for reply.

There issues are as follows - I'm not a stellar in programing, all what I know is 80s style BASIC and unfortunately have no time or type of mind to learn C++ or some other things. Regarding the ESPbasic, I downloaded it, but was not able to run even a line of code, because it does nothing in browser.

Regarding hooking the ESP to picbasic, in my clock code I have routine getting time from DS3231. So if anyone can help with same routine but for ESP, that would be cool. Also, by my understanding, ESP is not just plug and go type thing. I mean, if I even add it to my code, say I gave complete clock to friend, he'll need to connect to ESP wifi, to make it work with his access point, manually assign NNTP server and so on. Right? From my point of understanding, GPS or DCF77 looks maybe more complicated, but much more straightforward and easy to use.

[Ioannis]

Well, GPS needs clear sky and DCF77 is not available everywhere. I am in Greece and do not receive it or at least not all hours of a day. Maybe if I relocate to a more open area with big antenna... That is not practical...

I am very interested in ways to use ESP to PBP projects. Have never used that little modules and am a bit afraid to touch them without a step-by-step tutorial. Especially on uploading new firmware and connecting to router and internet.

Ioannis

[richard]

I am very interested in ways to use ESP to PBP projects.

get a few wemos d1 minis, a copy of arduino ide
start here
https://tttapa.github.io/ESP8266/Cha...20ESP8266.html

you may never use a pic again

[Ioannis]

Incredible link Richard! Thanks a ton for that link. Exactly what a beginner needs.

Currently I have a couple of the attached modules. Are these any good for experimenting?



Ioannis

[richard]

yes , the software is the same for any of them ,inc esp8285
you just need to chk the pinouts

[Ioannis]

Nice. Have homework to do...!

Thanks again,
Ioannis

[richard]

once you go nuts putting web interfaces on your projects you look at a lcd or a tft screen and

say why bother with that limited old junk, all this on one nodemu 12f

[MrTeaTime]

MrTeaTime,

Do you have the same nixie clock as shown in the original post in this thread?
If so then it is an easy conversion.

So the boards are available to order on OSHPARK here...
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/7fvrYPyd

you would only need a few extra parts to complete the project.

what can I help you with?

dwight

Thanks for the response and the link to the board.

Just to give you the background, I'm completely new to this, so please forgive the very newbie questions that are bound to come.

I got the clock from RobG pre-assembled when I was last over in the states about 1.5 years ago, and would certainly class myself as a novice at electronics and I've never touched anything related to espbasic. Saying that, I do come from a software background so am more than happy to give this mod a go

Having done some research on programming PIC devices, I've been looking at PICKit which I think I'll need to get the chip flashed? In terms of the other components that are required to complete the build, I'd really appreciate if you could list out what they are? I know you included you schematic digram in the original posts, but like I said, I'm very new to this so would appreicate the basics.

Also, in regards to the wifi chip (ESP01), was there anything that needed to be done to that? I see they come prebuilt, but do they just work?

Looking forward to getting my head into this some more!

Thanks in advance

[CuriousOne]

All that is of course somehow good, but not exactly what is needed for PIC Nixie clock. It's like someone was asking about how to use transistor, but he'd being taught first what is Epitaxy, Czochralski method or Gallium nitride doping. We don't need that.

All what we need for clock is something like this:

1. flash this firmware.hex into ESP
2. Connect it's pin #4 (or whatever), to your PIC port X
3. Use SERIN X,Y,Z statement to get the current time


That's all.

[Ioannis]

I am afraid it is not that simple. You have to write that firmware.hex and then upload it to the ESP.

In what IDE you will do this? In Arduino C or Annex Basic?

If it is going to be #4 or #7 it is up to you. I mean what you did in the previous step.

The serin is the easy part...

Ioannis

[richard]

if you need an esp8266 time server
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?t...004#msg4276004

could not get much easier , dst timezone the lot. with serial output in various formats
with explanations

tz explained here

https://github.com/G6EJD/ESP32-Time-...ster/README.md

[CuriousOne]

Yes, need firmware which just delivers time.

[Heckler]

Hi CuriousOne,
So to help you get a simple time server up and running on an ESP8266 I have a few questions...

What are your size constraints?
Do you have 3.3v available or just 5v?
If you would be willing to use a larger module like one of these...
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale...=lolin+esp8266.

my favorite is this one...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3272...archweb201603_

But it really does not matter too much which module you choose.

You also note that you have experience with old school BASIC.
I will tell you it is trivial to flash ANNEX RDS onto one of these modules and then code development is drop dead simple.
The IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is hosted right on the module.
You only need a micro USB cable to flash ANNEX and then you simply log onto the webpage of the module and you are in the IDE.

If you get this far I'd be happy to help you get the few (and I do mean few like <20) lines of code up and running.
Annex makes it very easy to set your time zone and it handles DST/ST for you.
You would be able to have the module send you serial time out to one of the pins and have your PIC recieve that time.

It really is that simple!

Now there are certainly other ways of doing this (like the arduino environment and C-like code) but this Annex is amazing and very easy!
Oh yeah... and it is very similar to PIC basic and old school basic from the 80's
But do not think for a moment it is not powerful.

It is actively developed and very powerful.

So do you have any ESP8266 modules on hand??

If you need the small size of the ESP-01 module then it is just a bit more complex.
Where the other modules have an onboard USB serial channel for flashing, the ESP-01 does not.
Therefore you would need an USB-serial cable to flash Annex (or any other OS like Arduino).
Also the ESP-01 does not have an 5v to 3.3 regulator so you have to feed it with 3.3.
So if you have a bit more room the larger modules are the way to go.

Let me know what you have or need.
Join the discussion over on the ANNEX RDS home page and forum.

Dwight