Alpha Clock Five 3.3v source

[revnull]

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!

[Windell Oskay]

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.

[revnull]

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?

[Windell Oskay]

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

[revnull]

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

[revnull]

Got it working! :)

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

Double sided tape to hold it in place:

Reassembled:

[revnull]

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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