I figured out a way to make the time start at 0h 0m 0s, but it displays the millis on the next line. which is not ideal. I also put an alarm that goes off after 30 minutes, which is what i need for my project, but I wonder if there is a way to make it count down from 30 minutes instead though?
const int TxPin = 6;
#define CLEAR 12
#define BACKLIGHTON 17
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
SoftwareSerial mySerial = SoftwareSerial(255, TxPin);
void setup()
{
pinMode(TxPin, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(TxPin, HIGH);
mySerial.begin(9600);
delay(100);
mySerial.write(CLEAR );
mySerial.write(BACKLIGHTON );
delay(5); // Required delay
mySerial.print("BEGIN TEST"); // First line
delay(1000);
mySerial.write(CLEAR );
}
void loop()
{
//float hours, minutes, seconds;
unsigned long now = millis(); // internal clock since startup
unsigned long ts = now/1000; // convert milliseconds to (temporary) seconds
int hours = ts /3600; // calculate the hours in ts
ts = ts - hours * 3600; // subtract the hours from ts leaving minutes and seconds
int minutes = ts /60; // calculate the minutes in ts
ts = ts - minutes * 60; // subtract the minutes from ts leaving seconds
int seconds = ts /1;
ts = ts - seconds * 1;
mySerial.write(CLEAR);
delay(5);
mySerial.print(hours);
mySerial.print("h ");
mySerial.print(minutes);
mySerial.print("m ");
mySerial.print(seconds);
mySerial.print("s ");
mySerial.write(148); //carraige return
mySerial.print(now); //display current millis, otherwise the time starts at 1m6s?!
delay(1000);
if(minutes == 30)
{
mySerial.write(220);
mySerial.write("BOOM");
}
}