A Mod for, not to, my Escape.

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

I thought Myron's response would be a photo of one of those.

Great project for the techno minded.

Ron

Since Myron didn't, how about one of these. They produce a sound that is difficult to find as a sound effect, and very distinctive. I did a show a few years back (before the internet) and had a heck of a time finding one to mount in the front door of a stage set.

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

ne·ces·si·ty, nəˈsesədē/, noun.
1. the fact of being required or indispensable.

Ok, not a necessity... But I really needed this for our Escape.
What is it? Its an alarm clock I built to my (unusual) sense of needs and desires.

I required an alarm clock that would:
a. Run on 12 volts.
b. Be easy to use. (No buttons)
c. Have an external antenna connection for camping in the boondocks.
d. Fit on the narrow shelf at the front of our '21.
e. Play my MP3 music, and when available, connect to WiFi for streaming my NPR station.

Since I could find nothing that fit the above, I decided to try to roll my own. Being a recently retired software engineer I figured a cheap computer could be the heart of the project. A quick google search and an application of credit card magic brought a Raspberry Pi and touch screen to my door.

A Raspberry Pi is a palm size wonder. 4 cores, wifi, usb, sdhc slot, gpio pins, 1 Gb ram, bluetooth, I2C - all for under $40. The 7" touch screen unfortunately was double that, but was the only solution to a no-button design. And I hate the tiny buttons on our bedroom alarm clock that lock the controls to "play" if you hit the wrong one at 5 am in the dark.

The "problem" quickly became bells-and-whistle-itis. To the requirement list I added goodies like:
battery backup, light sensor for automatic dimming, temperature sensor to see if I should stay under the covers, 7 day alarm for each day of the week, SDR radio so I could listen to ham radio if I got tired of NPR, adjustable volume ramping so as to not shock my delicate ears at 5 am, backlight ramping to match the volume ramping, quick timezone set for those east/west trips. And the list could be endless since its all software! Fortunately Susannah put her foot down and vetoed the built in GPS, barometer, video playback, maps, etc. Maybe in version II?

The first batch of photos show the innards. More to follow...

wow...for a few minutes this trailer forum felt like the warm and fuzzy of an engineering forum!...for an alarm clock for this camper ,the only thing that might be missing was the smell of good old leaded solder in the morning!

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Marry

I keep on dreaming about my vintage bell alarm that only worked after winding it up.

You mean like one of these? When my son first saw it in the trailer, he said he couldn't believe I still had this clock. It must be over forty years old and hasn't missed a beat.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by freespirit

felt like the warm and fuzzy of an engineering forum!...for an alarm clock for this camper ,the only thing that might be missing was the smell of good old leaded solder in the morning!

You used "warm and fuzzy" and engineering in the same sentence. Get a bunch of engineers sitting around a table problem solving and warm and fuzzy doesn't come to mind.

I think the thing that's missing for some is the ability to turn the coffee maker on so it's ready when they get out of bed. Not thinking of anyone specifically.

Ron

[cpaharley2008]

Karen,
I like you small window shelf, looks great.

[Marry]

Or this one.
Doesn't that ring a bell for many of us?
Good old days...

[skiman]

Another low tech solution:

It runs on three AA batteries. Has dimmable LED backlight so you can dim it down at night. The dial is big enough to see without my glasses in the middle of the night. I don't use the alarm so I can't speak for that. No tick tock either. Works for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Timelink-8865...htness+Control

[Mike Lewis]

Alan-

How do you tune the SDR? With the touchpad? And what do you plan to use for an antenna?

[Jim Bennett]

I am sorta bewildered at this whole alarm clock thing. I have used one maybe a dozen times in the last 20 years when it was imperative that I be somewhere, and always was up before it went off anyway. We don't even have one in our bedroom anymore.

I like my internal one, that goes off usually between 4 and 5 in the morning. The perfect time to get up.

I must say though, I am quite impressed with what all you did with your build there, Alan. You obviously have some good techy smarts. I know this is one of my week areas.

[tdf-texas]

My cellphone has replaced my camera, video recorder, music player, maps, gps, laptop, and alarm clock. No need for separate devices.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

My cellphone has replaced my camera, video recorder, maps, gps, laptop, and alarm clock. No need for separate devices.

Ain't that the trufe. Even as challenged as I am, I use my phone as a timer when I'm bar b que ing or checking the progress in my Dutch Oven. Timbales
Dave

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

How do you tune the SDR? With the touchpad? And what do you plan to use for an antenna?

There is a direct frequency input key pad to the right of the music selector. Using the keypad data input I put together a linux command string. Here is a sample that I was using on my Mac: rtl_fm -g 30 -f 91500000 -M fm -s 170k -A fast -r 32k -l 0 -E deemp.

Note, the alarm clock uses linux and I have already put the clock in storage so I can't confirm that the command is the same. I'll provide an update next time I fire it up.

Since the SDR has a coax input I will probably fabricate a 3 element beam once I determine if the radio is 50 or 70 ohms.

Clearly there will be enough work to keep me off the streets this winter.

--
Alan

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

My cellphone has replaced my camera, video recorder, music player, maps, gps, laptop, and alarm clock. No need for separate devices.

My cell phone is invaluable for work, and sure does me good for personal use too (I am on it now).

As good as the camera is, there is no way I would rely on it only for photos.

I do use it a lot for music, and have about 8,000 songs on it, but still do lots of CD's and radio.

The GPS and maps are great, but data (especially roaming) is very pricey.

No way would I ever do without a larger screen on a computer for many uses, but boy is it ever way handier.

As valuable as a phone can be, it certainly lacks in many areas, but you will rarely see me without mine.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

My cellphone has replaced my camera, video recorder, music player, maps, gps, laptop, and alarm clock. No need for separate devices.

Yes, it can replace many things. For me though, I use the GPS that came with my tow vehicle, a digital camera that takes better pictures than my phone (that is, when I want a better quality shot), a laptop (no way my phone can do what my laptop does), and I still prefer paper maps (actually an oversized Atlas) when planning a trip.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

rtl_fm -g 30 -f 91500000 -M fm -s 170k -A fast -r 32k -l 0 -E deemp.
--
Alan

The lengths that some people will take to listen to NPR. :-)

Your next step: Include a Bluetooth interface so you can control it from a cellphone.

Thanks for the info.

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

My cellphone has replaced my camera, video recorder, music player, maps, gps, laptop, and alarm clock. No need for separate devices.

Until your cellphone slips out of your fish-slimed hands while trying to take a photo of that huge Rainbow Trout you just caught, and you watch it sink to the bottom of that crystal-clear deep mountain lake. In that split second, you suddenly realize that you just lost your camera, video recorder, music player, maps, gps, laptop and alarm clock - oh, and phone, too. Or so I've heard...

[War Eagle]

Full disclosure - I do have a cell phone, an old pre-pay flip phone, rarely use it, and never lost it in a lake. The previous post was just an attempt at humor. But I did have a former student who bought an expensive smartphone with a high-dollar plan, without telling her parents, who then lost it down an ice-fishing hole within a week. Not sure how she explained all that to her parents when her credit card bill arrived at home.

[cpaharley2008]

There is an old saying, the more complicated your plumbing, the easier to clog it up. All in one items are great but so is the lost component. Alan has some great skills and being able to demonstrate applying them is commendable and I'm sure gratifying.

[tdf-texas]

Don't get me wrong. I love building stuff with PIC microcontrollers myself but it is more of a hobby than anything else. The stuff I design is neat to play with but could never sell commercially as the cost would be too high.

For example, take a look at the Amazon echo. It takes voice commands that can set up an alarm clock, turn devices one/off, play music, answers questions, reads audiobooks and the news, reports traffic and weather, gives info on local businesses, provides sports scores and schedules, controls lights, switches, and thermostats with compatible WeMo, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Wink, Insteon, Nest, and ecobee smart home devices.

Given enough time and money, Alan could design most of these functions in his device - but not at the price Amazon charges for the Echo.

So building this stuff is a hobby that's fun but not economically practical. I understand why Alan is building the alarm clock - it's something fun to do.

[rbrandenstein]

Excellent project! I'm sure you are already designing Clock 2.0.
You should download the Eagle software and design a PCB to contain all the bits and pieces. I see lots of connections that could vibrate loose after a few hundred miles on the road.