Hello! I hope this is the proper place to ask and I haven't missed any of the advice in the sticky threads.
I am trying to build a clock with a couple of extra features. I have an HD-1688FMRCSD from an "old" radio controlled clock and I'm trying to find a way to connect it to my Arduino Nano. Unfortunately the Distributor was no help at all and the maker from Hong Kong is not replying to my Emails.
The clock has these 8 very nice looking contacts (at the bottom of the attached image) that are not covered by the case. That is pretty much everything I know about it.
I know I could buy other parts with proper documentation, but since I already have this one, here are my questions:
How do I get the time into my Arduino? I don't really expect anyone to have the answer ready, but it felt wrong not to ask.
How would I go about trying to find out what the contacts are used for? While VDD, GND and LED make some sense to me, the others don't and I couldn't find any naming conventions that included these labels.
What other steps would I have to take to find out how to read data from (one/some) of the contacts, if it's possible at all?
Sorry, I have no idea what an HD-1688FM is, and also assume that’s a photo of some old radio.
If you know what the clock module is, or have more data on the radio, we may start somewhere...
Do you want to use the clock, control the radio, or something else ?
P.S. you can post the pictures inline if you read the forum guidelines.
The picture I attached is of a radio controlled clockwork (I hope that's the correct term) that I removed from a clock I had lying around. It receives the current time via radio signal from the DCF77 transmitter in Frankfurt, Germany and moves the hands of a clock accordingly. It was made by Sheng Bang and the only technical information I could find (besides a manual that tells you how to insert the battery, etc.) is listed here http://www.shengbang.com/rc3-show-474.html.
What I'm trying to do is get the current time from this module into my Arduino Nano. In the end I'm planning on lighting up LEDs and playing sounds based on the time, but I have that part covered. What I lack is the ability to access the current time in my sketch. As I said, I could just buy other parts, but I'd rather use what I already have.
It would be much easier if you just attached a real-time clock (RTC) to your arduino to keep the time. Something like a DS3231 and you would not have to reverse engineer that board.
Or, for a clock you never have to set use a cellular modem or GPS chipset to get the date & time.
I prefer cellular, because it automatically bumps daylight saving etc for the local time zone.
I gather from your replies that it would be too much work to figure out how to retrieve the time from this module and just buy different parts. I guess that answers my questions. Thank you all very much.
