University of the East Caloocan

College of Engineering
Department of ECE

Finals Project
Digital Clock with Alarm Function

Members:
Perdio, Lejan Daniel I.
Pulayan, John Eric R.
Quitco, Kimberly F.

Date Submitted:

RATING

Materials
Dipswitch
Solid Wires
Breadboard
Seven Segment Display
Resistors
Capacitors
Voltage Regulator
NE 555 (PRECISION TIMERS)
IC 74LS90 (DECADE AND BINARY COUNTERS)
IC 74LS192 (PRESETTABLE BCD/DECADE UP/DOWN COUNTER)
IC 74LS47 (BCD TO 7-SEGMENT DECODER/DRIVER)
IC 74LS85 (4-BIT MAGNITUDE COMPARATORS)
IC 74LS08 (QUADRUPLE 2-INPUT POSITIVE-AND GATES)
IC 74LS32 (QUADRUPLE 2-INPUT POSITIVE-OR GATES)
IC 74LS08 (HEX INVERTERS)

Introduction
This project is a time keeping digital clock that displays time in hours,
minutes, and seconds. The goal of this project is to implement all of the
basic features that one would normally expect to find on a standard digital
clock. The features of this project include the standard twelve-hour time, an
alarm function, and a clock and alarm setting functionality.

Purpose and Discussion

The purpose of this project is for us to be acquainted with the
different operations of both combinational and sequential circuits by using
them in constructing a Digital Clock.
Our entire project has been divided into five parts. They are as
follows:
Clock Source Section: NE555 Timer was used for input source,
which is wired as an Astable Multivibrator. Astable Multivibrator is a
rectangular-wave generating circuit that we used as a clock pulse. The
frequency is variable controlled by the potentiometer.
Seconds Section: Using two counter Ics (IC 74LS90), in such a way
that this portion produces an output from 00 to 59. For the least significant
bit, we used IC 74LS90 as divide-by-10 counter to produce the numbers 0
to 9. And for the most significant bit, 74LS90 was also used as divide-by-6
counter to produce an output of 0-5. The two counter ICs where cascaded
by connecting the output of the first IC to the input of the second IC. To
drive the counters in a common anode seven segment display, we used a
driver IC 74LS47.
Minutes Section: Minutes section is similar to the seconds section
because it also needs an output from 00 to 59. By repeating the steps in
the seconds section, minutes section was implemented.
Hours Section: Hours section must be designed on displaying an
output of 01 to 12. For the least significant bit, we operated the IC 74LS192
because it has a preset input that we may use to obtain the preset value of

1 after the 12 states were finished. It provided an output count of

0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0,1,2,1. And for the most significant bit, 74LS90 was
also used as divide-by-6 counter to produce an output of 0-5. The two
counter ICs where cascaded by connecting the output of the first IC to the
input of the second IC. To drive the counters in a common anode seven
segment display, we used a driver IC 74LS47.
Alarm Section: The alarm time was set using the dipswitches. The
operation is that when the set alarm time was reached by the digital clock,
meaning that their minutes and hours values were equal, the buzzer will be
triggered producing an alarming sound. The alarm was set by the use of
dipswitches, using BCD equivalent for every value. For example, if I want to
set 4 oclock, the time set for hours section is 0100. Using IC 74LS85
(magnitude comparator), we were able to compare the BCD values of the
set time and the time of the clock.
The seconds section is the one capable of driving the minutes
section, and then the minutes section is the one which is driving the hours
section. They are cascaded, as the output of the previous section is
connected to the input of the next section. Each of the minute and second
section has been designed to give a count from 00 to 59 after which it
resets to 00, and the hour section to give a count from 00 to 12 hours after
which it resets to 01. For each cycle of 00 to 59 in second section the
minute section is incremented by 1. Similarly for each cycle of 00 to 59 in
the minute section increases its count by 1.

Time setting is also included in our circuit using tact switches,

incrementing the values of the least and most significant values of minutes,
and the value of hours for every time the switch was pressed.

Testing Results
For every part, there is a corresponding testing situation to know if
the circuit is in its proper condition. The results were as follows:
Source Section: The 555 Timer was used to produce signals for the
counters. A variable potentiometer was used to vary the frequency of the
clock pulse. To test the output, LED indicator was connected to the pin 3 of
the 555 timer which is the pin that produces the output. The blinking rate
varied according to the adjustment of the potentiometer.
Seconds Section: To test the seconds section, the clock source was
inputted at the pin 14 of the first IC 74LS90. The first IC was cascaded to
the second IC by connecting its output ( pin 11 ) to the input ( pin 14 ) of the
second one. For proper operation, it must count from 00 to 59.
Minutes Section: In testing the minutes section, we repeated the
procedures for testing the seconds section. The main problem that has
been encountered in this section is the incrementation when the push
button is pressed. We used additional logic gates to fix this issue

Hours Section: For the proper operation of this section, we must

consider the counting from 00 to 12, and then presets to 01. We used an IC
74LS192 to give the output for the least significant bit of hours. We
preferred this IC over the IC74LS90 because it has a preset operation.
Preset operation will enable us to have an output of 1 after resetting from
the value of 12.
Alarm Section: The testing of the proper operation of the alarm
function is simply producing an alarming sound the moment the set time is
equal to the present time of the clock. The alarm will stop to function if the
set time is not equal to the present time of the clock anymore. For example,
the alarm will function if the set time is 1:43 and the present time is also
1:43. But after 60 seconds, the present time will become 1:44 which do not
meet the required time to enable the alarm function, hence, stopping the
sound.
Logic gates were operated to provide the needed logic that will enter
to the input thus, incrementing the values. These logic gates will receive
the output of the switches that will drive a logic 1 just when the tact switch
is pressed. This is used for the clock setting of hours and minutes.

Conclusion
The circuit was purely designed with the basic knowledge on both
combinational and sequential circuit designing. Combinational Logic circuit
is a type of logical circuit where the output is a pure function of the present
input only, while sequential logic circuit depends not only on the present
input but also on the history of the output. CLCs used in this project are a
BCD to 7segment decoder, to display the output digitally, and comparators,
to differentiate the alarm set data to the present data of the clock. On the
other hand, counters, the most common type of a sequential digital logic
circuit, are used for recording the number of events occurring in a specified
interval of time.
The most significant error that needs to be highlighted is the
malfunctioning of the breadboard. Continuity test was made to ensure that
the connections were really connected.
The output shows that the Digital Clock behaved as expected. It was
however, noticed that there is sometimes a skipping situation in the
incrementation of minutes and hours. The connections have been
rechecked multiple times, but there was no error found. We want to
improve this part as we continue to do research about this project.

Breadboard Layout

Digital Clock (Hours,

Minutes, Seconds)

Alarm Clock Setting

Digital Clock with Alarm Function