is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

For RTC breakouts, etc., use the Other Products from Adafruit forum

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
khoyt
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:30 am

is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by khoyt »

Has anyone published the steps for hooking up the ultimate gps to the ice clock?

I'd much rather follow some nice pictures than risk ruining both!!

Any help would be appreciated :-)

User avatar
jarchie
 
Posts: 615
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by jarchie »

I don't think the default Adafruit firmware supports this out-of-the-box, so you need an AVR programmer. If you don't have experience with AVR programming it would good to have an extra ATmega128 or (preferably) an ATmega328p lying around.

If you have a programmer and ATmega328p, I am willing to write some instructions with photos. The GPS hack is fairly straightforward.

khoyt
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:30 am

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by khoyt »

I have updated the firmware for the clock, been a while, but giving it another shot is part of the fun!

No rush... don't even have the GPS yet...

User avatar
jarchie
 
Posts: 615
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by jarchie »

Installing the Ultimate GPS is not too different from the procedure described in the Adafruit Learning System, so that documentation should still be helpful. But here is a description of the process for the Ultimate GPS breakout.

On the software side, you'll need to choose a firmware, and the required hacking/configuration will depend on the particular firmware you choose. I am aware of three firmware projects which support GPS.

The Adafruit GPS firmware will run on the ATMEGA168V that comes with the Ice Tube Clock but the code requires modification to compile under recent versions of GCC. Also the Ultimate GPS runs at 9600 baud, but the Adafruit code expects to connect at 4800 baud. Therefore, the line in iv.c that reads "uart_init(BRRL_4800);" must be changed to "uart_init(BRRL_9600);".

Two alternative firmwares support the Ultimate GPS Breakout and compile without modification, but both require an ATMEGA328P-PU. An ATMEGA328P-PU costs around $10 from Digi-Key or Mouser ($3 + $7 shipping). In my opinion, the additional features provided by these firmwares far outweigh the cost and inconvenience of replacing the microcontroller.

The first of these alternatives is my xmas-icetube firmware, which supports the Ultimate GPS baud rate by default. Follow the instructions in the README file and be sure to uncomment the GPS_TIMEKEEPING macro in config.h. Please let me know if you have any difficulty. (Note that the xmas-icetube firmware is so named because I received the Ice Tube Clock as a Christmas gift. The firmware works perfectly well at other times of the year.)

The second alternative is William Phelps' firmware, which also supports the Ultimate GPS out-of-the-box. If I remember correctly, the GPS option must must be toggled from "gps off" to "gps on96". William is a regular on these forms and would probably be willing to help if you have difficulty.

On the hardware side, there are many ways to install the Ultimate GPS, but the following describes my method.

The Ultimate GPS is small enough to fit inside the acrylic case, so I chose that option. To install the module, I soldered wires to the GPS's VIN, GND, and TX pins and glued the assembly on the upper left corner of the rear acrylic piece. For glue, I like marine silicon which is overkill, but always seems to work well.
Image

To run the wires, I cut a small notch in the clock's PCB board.
Image

To connect the GPS, I used the ground and power directly from the voltage regulator, and the GPS's TX line was connected to the ATMEGA's RX pin. Drawing GPS power before D2, means that GPS power is cut when the clock loses external power, which saves the clock's internal battery. The battery is still useful because the GPS needs a minute to acquire satellites after external power is restored; without the battery backup, time will be incorrect immediately after a power outage. And on the xmas-icetube firmware, enabled alarms will sound during power outages if the backup battery is good. (On the photo below, ignore the red and yellow wires which do not loop around the PCB; they are for the extended battery hack.)
Image

The last steps were assembling the case and setting the timezone. On my firmware the timezone does not incorporate daylight saving time and is specified relative to GMT/UTC under "cfg regn"/"set zone" in the menus. So the zone would be "-05h 00m" for New York and "00h 00m" for Lon-don. Daylight savings time may be specified under "cfg regn"/"set dst" and has four settings: "dst on", "dst off", "dst usa", and "dst eu". The first two provide manual DST control; the last two automatically toggle DST in accordance with US or EU rules.
Image

Hope that helps. Good luck and happy hacking!

(edited post; originally posted on 08 Feb 2013 02:43)
Last edited by jarchie on Mon Oct 28, 2013 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

srdevil
 
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:20 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by srdevil »

I've reading this post abouth the "Ultimate GPS Breakout", but I was wondering why u didn't fit the GPS under the main PCB. It would be less visable, the only negative point might be that it's not in the case anymore.

If I measure the bottom of my Acryle case it should be 26 [mm] wide and according to the specs of the GPS it says:
•Dimensions (not including coin cell or holder): 25.5mm x 35mm x 6.5mm / 1.0" x
If u glue the PCB under the acryle bottom and keep the wires long enough it should be possible to remove the main PCB from the acryle bottom if u need to edit the bottom of the board. Also I suppose that u didn't install the coincell/holder?

User avatar
jarchie
 
Posts: 615
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by jarchie »

srdevil wrote:I've reading this post abouth the "Ultimate GPS Breakout", but I was wondering why u didn't fit the GPS under the main PCB. It would be less visable, the only negative point might be that it's not in the case anymore.
I just wanted to keep the GPS inside the case. Mounting it under the case might work also, but I never tested that configuration. Reception might not be as good when mounting the GPS under the PCB due to interference from the copper traces and electronic components. Reception might also suffer if you mount the unit upside down.
srdevil wrote:Also I suppose that u didn't install the coincell/holder?
Correct.

User avatar
jarchie
 
Posts: 615
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by jarchie »

jarchie wrote:Mounting it under the case might work also, but I never tested that configuration. Reception might not be as good when mounting the GPS under the PCB due to interference from the copper traces and electronic components. Reception might also suffer if you mount the unit upside down.
It looks like my concerns were unjustified here. Forum user rcb mounted the Ultimate GPS upside-down under the case and that configuration seems to work rather well.

User avatar
srgny
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 4:09 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by srgny »

I just finished building the Ice Tube Clock. Very nice! I would like to add the GPS mod but I have no idea how to flash the chip with the new firmware. Could someone please give a step by step guide on how to do this? I would be eternally grateful.
Thanks!

User avatar
jarchie
 
Posts: 615
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by jarchie »

On the hardware side, you'll need a programmer (like Adafruit's USBtinyISP). If you're opting for my xmas firmware, you'll also need a blank ATmega328p to program (available from DigiKey or Mouser). I wrote two tutorials describing the process for Windows and Mac OS X; either is suitable for a beginner.

https://github.com/johngarchie/xmas-ice ... n-Tutorial
https://github.com/johngarchie/xmas-ice ... n-Tutorial

Hope that helps. Good luck and happy hacking!

User avatar
srgny
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 4:09 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by srgny »

Thanks for the prompt reply. From surfing these boards I see that you are really a master when it comes to these clocks. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post.
I have ordered the USBTinyISP and the Ultimate GPS from Adafruit (haven't come yet). I have also ordered 5 of the ATMEGA328P-PU from Newark Electronics (also not here yet). I have downloaded all the relevant software.
As you say in the tutorial, "Installation requires GNU Make, avr-libc, avr-gcc, and avrdude; the instructions below presume proficiency with these tools". My problem is I have never even heard of these tools much less gained proficiency in their use. I was hoping for a "learn as you go" kind of approach. It this completely unrealistic? Where can I find some literature on how to use these programs? I really don't want to blow up (?magic smoke) my clock.
Thanks for your time, I am very grateful

User avatar
jarchie
 
Posts: 615
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by jarchie »

Thank you for the kind words!

I believe the sentence you quoted is from the firmware/README. You are correct that this document can be challenging for novices.

Instead, I was referring to the Wiki tutorials for Windows or Mac OS X. I wrote those with the beginner in mind. :-)

User avatar
srgny
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 4:09 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by srgny »

You really are very kind to take me through this.
So I finally got Cygwin to work (sort of). When I direct it to the "xmas-icetube-master/firmware" directory and type in "make" it returns errors in just about everything (TIME_DEFAULT_AUTODST, TIME_DEFAULT_YEAR, TIME_DEFAULT_MONTH, TIME_DEFAULT_MDAY, TIME_DEFAULT_HOUR, TIME_DEFAULT_MINUTE, TIME_DEFAULT_SECOND)saying "undeclared here (not in a function)". Last line: "make: *** [time.o] Error 123". By the way, I don't have the USBtinyISP installed or connected (if that makes a difference).
Help--I'm lost

User avatar
jarchie
 
Posts: 615
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by jarchie »

I'm glad to be able to help.

The error you mention indicates the Makefile is having trouble finding Perl. When installing Cygwin, did you check the option to install the Perl packages? Try reinstalling Cygwin and Perl and then rebooting the computer.

User avatar
srgny
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 4:09 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by srgny »

I don't recall a Perl option when installing Cygwin. I will try again.

User avatar
srgny
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 4:09 pm

Re: is there a tutorial for the ICE CLOCK and ULTIMATE GPS

Post by srgny »

Re-installed Cygwin-no perl option. Same errors on make.

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “Clock Kits (discontinued)”