THANKS GUYSI got it to working pretty bright! dhenry, the "2 digits" remark got me thinking.
I rewrote the way it worked, so that you basicially call a function show_num(a,b,c,d) and then it will slowly build the segments to light up on pin 1 in an array and the same for one on pin 2..then at the end it displays each with a small delay in between! less delays, so more bright. video and code below
code available here: http://codeviewer.org/view/code:2dc5
@grumpy_mike,well im not entirely sure about the resistors because im just looking at the old alarmclock circuit board.. in theirs..they have ground to pin 1 and actually vcc to pin 2...and then 2 39ohm resistors, one between each ...the ground also has a diode on it...a little confusing for a newbie like me. below is an image
this is what im doing below..im still a bit confused on the transistor in terms of where it would go
