Star Trek-Themed Binary Clock with Scrap PCB

David Marion found a flat screen TV next to a dumpster, and rather than ignoring this potential treasure trove of electronics bits, or perhaps even trying to fix it, he instead decided to salvage the unit’s PCB and turn it into a clock. As seen in his project write-up, this particular TV featured a rather massive circuit board behind the screen, adorned with various ICs and AV jacks.

While no longer used to transfer electrons, this populated PCB forms the backing for his new binary clock, which uses four LEDs to indicate the hour, and six LEDs for minutes. These are laid out on perfboard, along with two clear LEDs that blink in the middle to signify the passage of seconds. A speaker module is also mounted, and both units feature their own 3D-printed housing.

An Arduino Nano is used to control the device, which is hidden behind the PCB in a wooden frame. A DFPlayer MP3 playback module is also implemented in order to pipe Star Trek sounds through the speaker every quarter of an hour. The final touch (frontier?) for this clock is a number of Star Trek memorabilia items scattered over the unit’s face, complimenting the other technological items already on the PCB.

Arduino code, STLs for 3D-printed pieces, and even sound clips are available on the writeup. On the other hand, you might choose to use this as inspiration, subbing in your own science fiction flair and media as you so desire!