With Maker Brett Oliver’s new Master Clock MK2, you will never doubt the correct time again. This clock was built to do one thing, display the precise time — no matter the conditions!
Oliver’s clock is timed off of the DCF77 atomic clock in Germany, located in Mainflingen near Frankfurt. An ATmega328 processor interacts with Udo Klein’s new DCF77 library that insures incredibly exact time.
The Maker selected the Atmel ATmega328 because “it seemed tailor made for my basic programming skills as most of the complicated work is done by the people who design and then share the libraries.” He further noted, “Arduino is very well supported hardware-wise and many complete parts can be purchased ready built as building block for projects.” No doubt, Brett!
Using an antique oak casing and a simple green LED screen, the Master Clock was assembled. Wait, there’s more! Brett even built in a fail safe to his device. In the event that a signal to the Atomic Clock is lost, the DCF77 library “auto tunes the quartz crystal so in the rare event the signal can’t be decoded the clock remains accurate within 1 sec over a number of days.” Talk about precision!
To save battery life, a passive infrared sensor was also installed to only display the time when someone enters the Master Clock MK2’s domain. This clock really is capable of doing it all, whether you want it to drive other slave clocks or chime whenever you please, trust us, it can do it!
For an expansive overview of the Master Clock MK2, it’s time to head on over to the project’s official page.
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