Xronos Update: Audio Integration and RF

I just finished huge redesign of the Xronos PCB. Something I wanted to do for a long time but was scared to do is addition of the modified “Wave Shield” on the same PCB.  I went thru it’s schematic again and again until I understood most of the components and added them to my schematic.  Main modification to the original “WaveShield” is that I replaced SD card with microSD, got rid of headphone jack and replaced fancy pot with simple trim-pot.

There was something was bugging me from the day I started to work on my clock and it was outside temperature sensor. I really wanted to have one and see how cold/hot it’s outside as soon as I wake up.  But I couldn’t find inexpensive wireless solution, until tomorrow I stumbled upon RFM12B!  It’s SPI based wireless module that’s crazy cheap, small and many people are using it with Arduino!
What’s even more awesome is that I found something called Moteino. It’s tiny, low power arduino clone with RFM12B integrated. And it’s very low power device. Can be powered by a coin cell!  It’s perfect for outside sensor!  I also ordered RFM12B board and already integrated it into my schematic.  I’ll do some breadboard testing first, and if everything works, I’ll order new PCBs.

Most likely I won’t integrated it into every Xronos Clock I’m going to make, but rather make a Xronos Pro. It probably will need more RAM so I’ll need to use ATMega1284p MCU.

Tags: xronos clock