Noob needs a bit of help

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Frequently-Asked Questions
1

I am somewhat new to the Arduino, I have been using it for some timelapse shooting. My issue now is how to get a DS1307 RTC running and program the Arduino to turn pins on and off, I am starting and stopping cameras at defined times. The hardware will be some relays and opto-couplers. I am located in Los Angeles, CA and wondering if there is anyone who could help close by or anywhere actually.

Is there a group of enthusiasts in LA by chance I could contact?

Thanks for any help.
Robert C. Fisher

2

Not quite near the LA area, but wrt your question: the Time Library supports an RTC, search for RTC on the lib main page:
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Code/Time

Enough to get started with some code tonight :slight_smile:

3

OK so I downloaded the Time libraries and got them loaded into the Arduino software. My main issue is now what do I do with them, how do I use them. I did say I was a noob. What I want to do is to build a arduino with 4 lines controlling opto-couplers and 1 controlling a relay. I don't need a display just be able to turn things on and off. Something like this, at 15:30 wake up camera using the focus, wait 40 seconds then trigger another opto-coupler to start recording and 10 minutes later turn recording off (to start/stop just hold line closed for about 1 sec). This all seems pretty simple but not having programmed this stuff before.

4

did you look into the example's you wil just need to modifiy the existing code by adding some if else 0r while do conditions
see here http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Else
http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/DoWhile

5

As Newbie said have a good look at teh examples of the time library so you understand how timekeeping kan be done. To learn this an LCD is usefull so you can follow what the program does (As it is a write -only device it can be removed when everything works.)

For the pins you have to use PinMode() and DigitalWrite() , see for examples : http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/pinMode

As you are new to Arduino it is good to go through the tutorials http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage and reference pages http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/HomePage and try to understand the examples. Yes, it will take some time and your Arduino knowledge will grow step by step and will have a solid base