Alright, so I had this idea kicking around in my head for a bit, “torchlight reveals the hour.” Sounds a bit dramatic, doesn’t it? But really, it was just me thinking about how handy it would be if my flashlight could also, you know, tell me the time without fumbling for my phone in the dark. Especially when I’m out in the shed late at night, or when the power goes out, which happens more often than I’d like around here.
Getting the Idea Off the Ground
So, the first thing was, how would this even work? I didn’t want anything too complicated. My first thought was maybe projecting the numbers onto a wall, like those fancy alarm clocks. But that seemed like it would need some serious lenses and alignment, and honestly, I wasn’t up for that level of fiddling. Too much like proper engineering, that is.
I figured, what if the light itself just… showed the time within its beam? Like, when you shine it, the numbers are right there in the circle of light. Seemed a bit more doable for a garage tinkerer like myself.
Scrounging for Bits and Pieces
Next up, I had to gather my supplies. I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to old electronics, so I knew I had some stuff lying around.
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Found an old, chunky flashlight. One of those metal ones. Perfect for gutting and stuffing new things into.
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Needed a brain for it. I had a few of those little ESP8266 chips. They can connect to Wi-Fi, so I figured it could grab the time online. Saves me setting a clock, right?
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For showing the time, I thought about a tiny little screen. Found a really small OLED display in my box of tricks. The kind that’s no bigger than your thumbnail.
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And then the usual suspects: wires, a small battery pack to power the new bits, my trusty soldering iron, and a bit of hot glue for good measure. Can’t do a project without hot glue.
The First Few Stumbles – It Wasn’t Pretty
Let me tell you, the first attempt was a bit of a dog’s breakfast. I got everything wired up, sort of, and it looked like a rat’s nest inside that poor flashlight. When I first turned it on, nothing. Of course. Checked my wiring, found a loose connection. Classic.
Then, when I did get something on the tiny screen, trying to get it to show up clearly in the flashlight beam was a real pain. My biggest headache was the focus. The light from the main bulb just washed out the little screen, or the numbers were all blurry. It was either too bright, too dim, or just a smudge. Frustrating, to say the least. Spent a good evening just muttering to myself.
Getting Stuck In with Code and Solder
The coding part for the ESP8266 wasn’t too bad, actually. I’ve mucked about with those before. Getting it to connect to my Wi-Fi and fetch the current time took a bit of trial and error, copying bits of code from old projects and online examples. You know how it is. It’s like digital plumbing; you just keep connecting pipes until water flows.
Soldering that tiny OLED screen, though, that was a test of patience. The solder pads are minuscule! Had to get out the magnifying glass and hold my breath for every joint. My hands aren’t as steady as they once were, and my eyesight definitely isn’t helping. There were a few choice words spoken, I won’t lie.
That “Aha!” Moment – It Actually Worked!
After a lot more fiddling, moving the little screen around, trying different ways to shield it a bit from the main flashlight bulb, I had a bit of a breakthrough. I ended up making a tiny shroud for the OLED screen out of some black plastic, and positioned it just so, slightly off-center from the main LED of the flashlight. Then I played with a small lens I salvaged from something else to help the numbers appear a bit clearer in the main beam.
And then, there it was. I shone the flashlight at the wall, and bam! Inside the circle of light, you could make out the time. It wasn’t super sharp, not like a laser projection or anything, but it was readable. That feeling when it finally, finally does what you want it to do? Priceless. I probably looked a right fool, grinning there in my dark workshop, shining a flashlight at the wall.
So, What’s the Verdict?
So, “torchlight reveals the hour.” It’s a bit of a gimmick, I suppose. Not going to change the world. But it was a satisfying little project to get working. It does what I set out for it to do, more or less.
I learned a bit, mainly that optics are harder than they look, even simple stuff. And it reinforced that sometimes the daftest ideas are the most fun to actually build. It’s good to make something tangible, something you can hold and say, “I made this mess, and it works!”
It’s certainly more rewarding than just buying something off the shelf. Plus, now I have a unique flashlight. Not that anyone else would probably want one, but hey, it’s mine.
