The Atomic Clock Project






I always wanted to have a large old fashioned looking clock on the side of my house. While the extension was being built I came across a few parts that I could use to build a clock, not just any clock but an atomic clock! it seemed like a pretty cool idea to have an old fashioned looking clock that was in fact somewhat more technically advanced. The look I'm aiming for is something like the clock shown below, I want to make my own because I also want to have a matching thermometer which I'll cover in another article.

street clock

The electronics for this is being built around a Rubidium Frequency Source, these were used in huge quantites in telecoms equipment and can be picked up quite cheaply from surplus stores. The frequency source will then be used as an input to a PIC processor which will drive a stepper motor to turn the hands on the clock, the stepper motor came from a scrap printer. The controller will be based around one of the many PIC processors that I have lying around.


Atomic Fequency Source


Stepper Motor Controller