Alpha Clock Five 3.3v source

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  • October 14, 2021 at 10:04 pm #29531
    revnull
    Participant

    Hi, I have an Alpha Clock Five that I would live to mod with an ESP-01 (ESP8266) to use as an NTP client. I need a stable 3.3v source to power it keeping the footprint small. I see that there is a breakout for 5v, but didn’t so one for 3.3v. Any insight would be great! Thanks!

    October 14, 2021 at 11:40 pm #29532
    Windell Oskay
    Keymaster

    If it’s a 5 V (red) Alpha Clock Five, then there’s ample spare 5 V, and you’re welcome to tap some to power a linear regulator. If it’s a 9 V (blue or white) Alpha Clock Five, then there isn’t much spare 5 V available, and I’d recommend that you step down from the 9 V directly to make the 3.3 V that you need.

    I’d also advise caution interfacing the 5 V I/O from the Alpha Clock Five to the ESP.

    October 15, 2021 at 7:40 pm #29538
    revnull
    Participant

    Yeah, this is a 9v white. I was hoping to avoid an additional regulator since I had the ESP-01s just laying around. I ordered some Wemos D1 Mini clones with a 5v regulator. A little bigger, but maybe a drop in depending on the built-in regulator. Looks like I may also need logic level shifters as well. :(
    How much overhead is left in the AC5 white’s 5v regulator?

    October 15, 2021 at 8:42 pm #29540
    Windell Oskay
    Keymaster

    I don’t recall what the current draw is; it’s only a 150 mA regulator. You *could* swap in a larger regulator.

    October 17, 2021 at 10:29 am #29539
    revnull
    Participant

    Looks like this may solve all of my concerns. 5-12v regulator and 5v to 3.3v logic shifter on the UART pins. :)

    October 25, 2021 at 10:06 am #29544
    revnull
    Participant

    Got it working! :)

    Attached to the 9vdc barrel jack directly to power the ESP8266:

    Double sided tape to hold it in place:

    Reassembled:

    March 27, 2023 at 12:56 pm #30631
    revnull
    Participant

    This has been running great for over a year. I finally got around to cleaning up the code a bit and posting it for those interested.

    https://github.com/revnull-src/AlphaClock-NTP-Client

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