Topic: DIY Bitcoin Blockclock (Read 577 times)

Did you even read what I wrote or you just decided to write something randomly?  
And why would you use smartphone when you have old dumb phones works fine, and you should not use flat screens when old black&white tv and FM radio is working fine?  

Preev is only showing bitcoin price and you need browser to open the page.
BTClock is working independent and it shows much more information ( Block height, Sats per Dollar, Price, Time, Halving Countdown), all that in cool retro design.

You have a point, but it's worth noting that they're not limited to showing only the price ^{[you can display other Bitcoin-related stats, and some of them even allow you to display custom data that has nothing to do with Bitcoin]} and IMO, it improves almost any kind of setup ^{[design-wise]}.

Why go through all that trouble, if you can just re-purpose a old used cellphone?

I took a old used cellphone and fired up the browser and opened https://preev.pro or Preev.com and placed it on my desk.

I can easily check the price of Bitcoin and some other Alt coins, just by clicking on the drop down button. (It auto updates)

Not sure how large the original was but its quite large with multiple lines. The one that the btclock is modeled after appears to look almost identical with most of the same visuals. It was 400 so still nearly twice the price as btcclock

I hope you know your way around soldering  
Better first to read instructions and watch few videos before you start making your own DIY device.

Than how big was nkv's coinkite clock in full size?

That would be nice.
I think BTClock have big advantage that you can customize and change it however you want.
Developer is constantly updating it and adding new versions.

the one that is the same size as the BTClock is roughly $400

I have the coinkite one and have also ordered the BTClock one from @btc_hardware on twitter.

I should have that one next week - They look similar and have a lot of the same display features from what I have seen in videos/pictures.

I can share some opinions once I have both.

This is a really nice machine. You need to buy the eInk displays and and a board but they are stupidly cheap on Ali.

I think I will get the DIY package and let you know how the build went.

Thanks for sharing this.

All pictures are from official website, so it's not mine.
Don't even try building BTClock yourself if you don't know soldering and making your own stuff.
Like I said, there is assembled BTClock you can purchase from website.

And that is mini, not full size version.
I could only imagine how much he would charge for regular big version, probably over $1000  

Indeed, it is ^{[a blockclock mini alternative for the price of a blockclock micro is an absolute steal]} and we can save almost €100 more ^{[minus shipping]} if we go with the DIY route.
^{- Nice catch}

Hey! Is this "BTClock" in the picture built by you? I'd like to get one but I'm really bad building stuff

Few days ago I found a perfect open source alternative for expensive overpriced blockclock by coinkite(coldcard.
I am already boycotting all NVK-coldcard products and I hope he won't be angry and pissed (again) because someone made cheaper and better product (again) and made it open source.

Let me present you BTClock , made by Djuri B. from Netherlands.
Open-source block-shaped clock that is showing Bitcoin related information including Block height, Moscow Time (Sats per Dollar), Price, Time, Halving Countdown.

You can currently purchase BTClock fully assembled and tested for €190, or you can purchase individual parts and build it yourself.
It is using genius design with multiple small eInk displays mounted on top of PCB.
Compared to $400 for nvk-mini, this is a bargain!

 

Build instructions:
https://github.com/btclock/btclock_v2/wiki

Source code: https://github.com/btclock

Official website: https://btclock.store/

It's looking very nice!
Are there any easy DIY tutorial how we can do it ourselves, and it is complicated or not?
I prefer smaller compact size of Blockclock Mini, but current market crash would only hurt more whenever I would look at it 
I guess I could just switch to mempool and transaction fees if that was possible.
Perfect device for me would be multipurpose device that could show both regular time, bitcoin info or any other info.

I've modified nixie clock from aliexpress to countdown bitcoin price. And glow red/green depending on the market.
Cannot release the firmware/source yet because my wifi credentials are built in, need to code some kind-of UI to add wifi.


Here's how it looks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdwItoQubqM

https://i.imgur.com/Y7j3lsS.jpg

AT $150 it's a little expensive but not out of hand. For whatever reason they are not using off the shelf parts so there is a much larger cost then just using a stock RPi zero and an off the shelf display. The rest of it does not look that bad in terms of cost. Now, why they went non 'standard' components instead of something that can be bought everywhere is a valid question. But to design & test & build what is probably going to be a limited production run item does have a cost behind it. And they are building it domestically not in China / someplace cheap so a bit more cost there too.

Kind of like the voltage goat nixie price tickers. The standard parts that make them up are not that much, the custom built items like they do...that will cost you.
Separate non BTC nixie thing but political, if you want a nixie clock order one from here: https://nixieshop.com/store.html

-Dave

Nice catch! I didn't saw they added it in Coinkite store already.
Nah I won't spend that much money plus shipping fees for Blockclock Micro, even if I like it, but I think that Coinkite/Coldcard is ripping people off... and I understand they are trying to make a living from this.

Based on the description part of the product in question, they should be the same:

• Quote from: dkbit98 on June 04, 2022, 03:13:23 AM
  I don't know how much they will charge for this product, but it should be much cheaper than Blockclock Mini and I would probably buy it if it was below $100.
  
  I hate to break it to you, but currently, they're asking for "$149" to reserve it ^{[I guess the price could only grow in the future]}.

I always like Blockclock Mini that is mady by Coinkite aka Coldcard, but I wanted something even smaller so I investigated all possible DIY solutions.
According to recent news and NVK tweet, Coinkite is working on releasing their newest device called Blockclock Micro that looks just about perfect for my taste.
We can see this new device is showing market price for Bitcoin, but I don't know how much it is different from older models, and what options it has.
I don't know how much they will charge for this product, but it should be much cheaper than Blockclock Mini and I would probably buy it if it was below $100.


https://twitter.com/nvk/status/1532785626944311296

The screen is what actually concerned me, but I left it as a general question.
In theory it should not matter, however I have had a few RPi projects that specified non touch screens that got a bit off when you used touch ones.
Mostly because they did not expect the input. I know enough about RPi / linux to disable the touch part and they were better. But I don't know crap about the this unit or how to disable the touch screen input.

With that being said I ordered the Amazon one you linked above.

-Dave

It should work just fine and I don't see any big difference in those two devices.
They are both ESP32 based and if you check parameters on both pages you will see that they are almost identical, same display, same processor, same SRAM,
and only difference I noticed is touch screen on device you want to purchase and better 390mAh battery.

EDIT:
This is even better option M5Stack Core2 ESP32 AWS (has ATECC608 secure element)

I just opened an issue on github, but figured I would post here if anyone else knows

The linked m5stack is EOL: https://shop.m5stack.com/products/basic-core-iot-development-kit?variant=16804801937498
Will the clock work with the replacement?
https://shop.m5stack.com/collections/stack-series/products/m5stack-core2-esp32-iot-development-kit

I was going to get myself an early Christmas present but since that one is not around I'll go for the pyblockmicro that dkbit98 posted.

-Dave

This is not the topic about Blockclock device so I don't really care what are they going to do with 6th digit.
I was searching for cheaper DIY alternatives for this project, just like the topic and content suggest after reading.

what would the display look like for a 6-digit Bitcoin price?
then most likely the display of the respective currency would be removed or what do you think?

Hi ! I'm looking to build this type of nixie ticker, but only to count the mined blocks. Do you know where I can find an info of doing it ? I need only to showing the blocks, nothing else. What parts does I need, and do I need to code something, or just to connect the device to the network ?
Huge thank you, if somebody can help me with this !!!

Depending on where you are in the world the https://m5stack.com/products/basic-core-iot-development-kit may be cheaper at other places.

Check out https://www.adafruit.com/ you can put together a setup that you may like better (screen, case, etc)
They are a good business to support for all these kinds of things: https://www.adafruit.com/about

I get most of my RPi and other stuff from them.

Off to go spend some money on something else I don't need. Bitcoin @ $60k nah, that's cheap, all the collectables and other BTC related stuff, that's expensive...

-Dave

Here is released github code v0.5 with instructions for creating your won BlockClock Micro device that is ten times cheaper than original BlockClock Mini.
In theory this should even work on cheaper esp32 devices but I didn't test it myself so I can't confirm it.

https://github.com/kkdao/micro-blockclock

One guy made his own DIY version of Blockclock with M5Stack ESP32 device (~$30) and called it Blockclock-Micro, however code is not yet released for public but it should be open source and open for contribution.
It looks almost identical with like original Blockclock-Mini but in smaller package and this means that any ESP32 device with LCD screen could be used for making something like this, and devices like this could have multiple use cases.
Topic will be updated later with more information and links so stay tuned if you are interested.

100 % stable. Never had any issue that was not caused by an outside problem. (Wi-Fi, bad power)

There are a lot of stl files out there that you can use to make your own 3d printed case. But, if you are not going to be doing a lot of things, as @dkbit98 said, it's probably better to get someone to do it for you.

-Dave

Or you can create local 3d printing service for other people and you can also charge in Bitcoin for that service
I have several local guys who own one of this printers and I pay them to print everything I need, but I was also thinking of purchasing one for myself, and last time I checked printers can be found starting from hundred dollars.

I've got a few old screens knocking about waiting for a project to be pop up. I quite like the Blockclock aesthetic so will be using that as inspiration in my personal project I think. If you've used that script how reliable for you has it been?

I've been meaning to get a 3D printer so I can print a few things for projects like these. Although, I've never been able to cough up the money considering they are so expensive, and it would only be used for hobbyist things like this. So its kind of a dead investment.

Honestly its my first time seeing this product and I admit I wanted to create my own version of this. It is also cool to make this as a real product once there would be a clean build with strong components like acrylic casing and metal stand. Will note this one to be part of my future projects and hopefully be a product.

Some features that popped out of my mind:

• Instead of using a screen, it is way cheaper to use LED lighted digits so the brightness can be seen without glares.
• Since it uses free APIs, I guess it is also cool to have multiple coins supported.
• The block number isn't really necessary, but I guess whale alerts would be a good addition.

No but I am not from Russia either, and 'Moscow Time' is related with Jack Dorsey who had Blockclock Mini during his call that showed sats per USD value ($1 could buy 1952 sats)
and that happened to be similar with the time in Moscow at that time, creating some funny and wild theories on internet and twitter.
There is even tradingview chart comparing Moscow Time and Bitcoin.





Thanks but I have many local sellers selling cheap Pi's, and I would only need to wait for WaveShare ink screen to arrive from other country.

I'm guessing then you are not US based. I was cleaning and just found a box of old RPi stuff that I was going to put up for sale. Probably not worth shipping 5000 miles.

Also, if you are not looking for DIY but open box & plug in don't forget about the nixie stuff https://www.voltagegoat.com/shop/tickers/ sells.
If i was not actively trying to shrink down a lot of BTC / crypto / electronic stuff in general I have around, one of these would be sitting on my shelf.

-Dave

Thanks for posting screenshot, and I also found interesting project called pyblockmicro that created open source Blockclock clone code that can show everything the same like Blockclock including Moscow time .
According to my calculations total price of this device would be around $80 and most expensive item here is optional PiSugar2 battery, but I guess it can also work just fine with power from regular USB cable and it would cost below $40.

- Raspberry Pi Zero W ($10)
- WaveShare 2.13 ink screen V2 ($18)
- 16 GB microSD Card ($10)
- PiSugar2 battery ($40) *Optional

Might be a good idea for me to order one more Pi for playing with this, and you can see the screenshot how it looks like in real life (this might need some nice 3d printed case):

No, it's just pulling data from Coinbase / Kraken / Betstamp and displaying the price.
You just get that if the last trade was up or down and 24h Volume.

If you take a look at: https://github.com/taoteh1221/Slideshow_Crypto_Ticker/blob/main/config.js
You can see the few things you can change.



This one is also open source with the 3d printer files and parts list:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/wts-paperledger-open-source-custom-made-crypto-price-ticker-with-alarms-5113453
https://github.com/AIFanatic/PaperLedger


-Dave

That looks interesting and I will check it out, thank you for suggestion.
Is this showing only Bitcoin prices, can it be modified to show also sats per USD and Bitcoin blocks, and do you have any screenshots to show me how it looks in real life?

I do love retro style of Blockclock Mini and that is something I am trying to achieve in my diy project.
Strange that Chinese so far didn't clone this already and made their own version like they are doing with everything else 

I have a local guy who was doing some 3d printing for me before so that would not be an issue at all.

Done with a RPi and a screen:
https://github.com/taoteh1221/Slideshow_Crypto_Ticker
I have put together a few of them and can look fairly good depending on the case you put it in.
You can use the cheapest plastic case found on eBay or get nicer one from some places or even have one 3d printed to your specifications.

I have a thread someplace where I was going to build a bunch of different open source ones and see how they turned out. Never went anywhere due to lack of time.

-Dave

Hardware wallet manufacturer Coinkite created BlockClock Mini some time ago, and we saw that even twitter CEO Jack Dorsey owns one himself.
This is lovely device that can show Bitcoin price, sats per USD and current Bitcoin block, but one thing I don't like is the price of $399 plus shipping, so I am looking for some help in making my own DIY version.

I found some alternatives like Cryptoclock without any information about price, Bitcoin Price Ticker from bitcoinmerch.com that costs around $40 but can only show Bitcoin price.

I also found open source code for Bitcoin Clock of Blocks for ink screen, and for that we need Raspberry Pi Zero, WaveShare ink screen, PiSugar battery and microSD Card.

I saw there are other diy bitcoin price tickers based on Raspberry Pi but I am looking to make as close as possible clone of Blockclock Mini and I would appreciate if you can help me with more information and suggestions.


https://blockclockmini.com/

2024 UPDATE:

Few days ago I found a perfect open source alternative for expensive overpriced blockclock by coinkite/coldcard.
I am already boycotting all NVK-coldcard products and I hope he won't be angry and pissed (again) because someone made cheaper and better product (again) and made it open source.

Let me present you BTClock , made by Djuri B. from Netherlands.
Open-source block-shaped clock that is showing Bitcoin related information including Block height, Moscow Time (Sats per Dollar), Price, Time, Halving Countdown.

You can currently purchase BTClock fully assembled and tested for €190, or you can purchase individual parts and build it yourself.
It is using genius design with multiple small eInk displays mounted on top of PCB.
Compared to $400 for nvk-mini, this is a bargain!



Build instructions:
https://github.com/btclock/btclock_v2/wiki

Source code: https://github.com/btclock

Official website: https://btclock.store/