The Alpha Clock Five from Evil Mad Scientist Labs is an impressive alarm clock soldering kit featuring five ultra-bright 2.3" (5.8cm) white alphanumeric LED displays. Each display contains 54 LED elements across 18 segments, driven by a pre-programmed ATmega644A microcontroller — all housed in a handsome laser-cut acrylic case.

Beyond being a fully featured alarm clock, the Alpha Clock Five is designed to be hacker-friendly with open source hardware and software, upgradeable firmware, and broken-out I/O pins for your own projects.

Key Features

• Five 2.3" Alphanumeric LED Displays – Ultra-bright white 18-segment displays, easy to read even without glasses
• Wide Brightness Range – From very dim (for dark bedrooms) to annoyingly bright
• ChronoDot RTC Included – TCXO-based real-time clock with battery backup (estimated 7-year battery life)
• 12/24 Hour Modes – Switch between AM/PM and 24-hour display
• Alarm with Snooze – Four alarm tones with on/off indicator and snooze function
• Rear Panel Nightlight – White LED nightlight, toggled from the options menu
• Universal Power Supply – Included plug-in supply works with worldwide voltages (US-type plug)
• Laser-Cut Acrylic Case – Transparent rear panel shows off your soldering work

Hacker-Friendly Design

• Open Source – Both hardware and software designs are open source
• ATmega644A Microcontroller – 64 KB flash with Sanguino bootloader, programmable via Arduino IDE
• 6-Pin TTL Serial Connector – Display data or sync time from a computer (optional FTDI USB-TTL cable required)
• Broken-Out I/O Pins – 1 ADC and 5+ GPIO pins available for expansion
• Upgradeable Firmware – Reflash via the Arduino IDE with extensions

Specifications

• PCB Size: 9.43 × 2.74" (0.094" thick, black soldermask, gold-plated finish)
• Assembled Size: 9.44" wide × 3.78" tall × 2.80" deep
• Power: Regulated 5V DC, 1A (universal-input supply included)
• Display Colour: Ultra-bright white

Package Contents

• 1× Alpha Clock Five circuit board
• 5× 2.3" alphanumeric white LED displays with machine pin sockets
• 1× Pre-programmed ATmega644A microcontroller (Sanguino bootloader)
• 1× ChronoDot real-time clock module with backup battery
• 1× Laser-cut acrylic case with stainless mounting hardware
• 1× Universal-input plug-in power supply (US-type plug)
• 5× Tactile button switches
• 1× Alarm buzzer
• 1× 20 ppm quartz crystal
• All LED driver chips, transistors, resistors, capacitors, and other components