PIC Nixie Clock project

[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

[Heckler]

To anyone who wants to try ANNEX there are several tutorials over on the home page here...
https://sites.google.com/site/annexwifi/home

Id be more than happy to get on a SKYPE to help you get familiar with how to flash annex or understand the features of the IDE.
Just drop me a direct message through the forum.

dwight

[CuriousOne]

For the ESP, I bought them all - big, small, nodemcu or whatever are available.
I even flashed some wifi clock project, but using LED matrix displays and it works fine, but that does not helps me.
I can get 3.3 or 5 volt or whatever is needed, that is not a problem.