6. WORKING OF DIGITAL CLOCK
• A DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK IS A VERY USEFUL DEVICE AS IT CAN DISPLAY THE CURRENT TIME AS WELL AS
FUNCTION AS AN ALARMING DEVICE. THE CIRCUIT SHOWN ABOVE CAN ACT AS A SIMPLE DIGITAL ALARM
CLOCK WITHOUT REQUIREMENT OF ANY PROGRAMMING.
• THE COMPONENTS REQUIRED AND THE COMPLEXITY OF THE CIRCUIT ARE LESS. THE WORKING OF THE
ABOVE SHOWN DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK IS AS FOLLOWS.
• AS EXPLAINED IN THE COMPONENT DESCRIPTION, THE HEART OF THE DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK CIRCUIT IS
THE DIGITAL CLOCK IC LM8560. THE INPUT FROM THE MAINS IS GIVEN TO THE TRANSFORMER WHICH
CONVERTS THE INPUT VOLTAGE TO 12V AC.
• A DIODE (D1) AND A CAPACITOR (C1) ARE USED TO CONVERT THIS AC VOLTAGE TO DC AND SUPPLIED
TO THE VDD (PIN 20) OF THE IC1. IC1 (LM8560) WORKS AT A FREQUENCY OF 50/60 HZ. THIS
SIGNAL CAN BE SUPPLIED FROM THE MAINS SUPPLY USING THE RESISTOR R1 TO THE PIN 25 OF THE
IC1.
7. • IN RELATION TO THE INPUT OF THE IC1, CORRESPONDING INPUTS TO THE CATHODE OF THE DISPLAY
ARE GIVEN THROUGH THE DIODES (D2 AND D3). AFTER SWITCHING ON THE POWER, WE NEED TO SET
THE TIME. THIS IS THE CURRENT TIME TO BE DISPLAYED. IN ORDER TO SET THE CURRENT TIME, WE
USE THE SWITCHES S1 AND S2.
• SWITCH S1 IS USED TO SET HOURS AND S2 IS USED TO SET MINUTES. LM8560 AUTOMATICALLY
TRIGGERS THE DISPLAY CONNECTED TO IT AND THE TIME WILL BE DISPLAYED ON THE DUPLEX LED
DISPLAY.
• THE DUPLEX DISPLAY IS A 4-BIT SEVEN SEGMENT LED DISPLAY, WHERE TWO BITS ARE FOR
DISPLAYING THE HOURS AND TWO BITS ARE FOR DISPLAYING MINUTES AND THE HOUR AND MINUTE
BITS ARE SEPARATED BY A COLON.
• ONCE THE TIME IS SET, WE CAN SET THE ALARM USING THE SWITCHES S1, S2 AND S3. IN ORDER TO
DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE SETTING OF CURRENT TIME AND ALARM TIME IN THE DIGITAL ALARM
CLOCK, WE USE THE SWITCH S3 WHICH INTERNALLY TRIGGERS THE ALARM DISPLAY OF THE LM8560.
CONTINUED…
8. CONTINUED…
• IN ORDER TO SET THE ALARM, WE NEED TO HOLD THE SWITCH S3 AND SET THE HOUR AND MINUTES
OF THE ALARM TIME BY USING SWITCHES S1 AND S2 RESPECTIVELY. ONCE THE ALARM IS SET
SUCCESSFULLY, THE DIGITAL CLOCK IC WAITS FOR THE ALARM TIME AND ONCE THE ALARM TIME IS
REACHED, AN ALARM OUTPUT AT THE PIN 3 IS GENERATED.
• THIS CAN BE CONNECTED TO A SMALL BUZZER DIRECTLY FOR ALARM OUTPUT. BUT IN ORDER TO GET
SPECIAL ALARM TONES FROM THE DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK, WE CAN USE SPECIAL ALARM SIGNALS. BUT
TO DRIVE THESE SPECIAL BUZZERS, WE NEED AN AUDIO POWER AMPLIFIER. HENCE, THE IC LM386,
WHICH IS A POWER AUDIO AMPLIFIER, IS USED IN THE DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK CIRCUIT.
• THE ALARM OUTPUT OF THE IC1 (LM8560) IS GIVEN TO THE INPUT (PIN 3) OF THE IC2 (LM386)
THROUGH A POTENTIOMETER P1. THE POTENTIOMETER IS USED TO CONTROL THE VOLUME AND
PRESSURE OF THE ALARM SIGNAL FROM THE BUZZER.
• ONCE, THE DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK STARTS THE ALARM SIGNAL, WE NEED TO STOP THIS ALARM. FOR
THIS, WE USE THE SWITCH S4. THE SWITCH S4 CAN ALSO BE USED TO CANCEL THE ALARM ANY TIME
BEFORE TRIGGERING.
10. USES OF DIGITAL CIRCUIT
• DIGITAL CLOCK IS USED IN DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEVICES
SUCH AS CARS, RADIOS, TELEVISIONS, MICROWAVE, OVENS,
COMPUTER AND CELL PHONES
• THERE ARE MANY APPLICATIONS OF CLOCK IN REAL LIFE
SUCH AS DIGITAL WATCHES, ALARM WATCHES, ETC
11. SO THAT’S ALL ABOUT DIGITAL ALARM
CLOCK
CONCLUSION
WE SAW ALL ABOUT DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK AND ITS DETAILS…