gaming around the world clock

[MaxOC]

my brother does a lot of online gaming, with a lot of people, in a lot of places. hes always trying to keep track of timezones. so i figured id make things easier for him for xmas. im going to find 6 digital clocks, mount them all in a bracket, wire them all together, put a cover on it, and mount it to his bed frame.(behind his computer)
so far i have everything in my head. pretty simple. find 6 clocks, get dimensions. make the cad. buy wood. cut wood. sand wood. paint wood. mount everything.
im leaving for california probably on the 22nd. i want to have this done by then. luckily i have little to no school after tuesday next week. im also building a computer for my mom then, so ima need to work fast.

so far the only part i've caded is the front panel. simple. black panel with holes for the displays to shine through.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/retaining1.jpg
what im having issues with, is finding just a plain old digital clock. no boombox attached, no radio, just a lil compact clock. ima end up taking it apart anyway, so i dont want to have to remove half of the electronics per clock. only restrictions for clock size is display cant be bigger than 8" long.

any help is appreciated. im hoping to also wire all the power cables together and have them go to one outlet.

ill probably have a thread in here about my moms computer as well.

[xRyokenx]

I believe that the wiki and/or a thread somewhere in the forums has a list of places to get parts from, and failing that, there is always Google. ;)

I like this idea, I'll have to look into finding a program that could do it for me.

[MaxOC]

yeah, i tried a few of them. but i couldnt find what i wanted for under 10$(6 clocks, + wood= lots of money) so im just going to take generic desk clocks, and make a really long box, and strew the components along that and mount it differently.

[xRyokenx]

Ahh yeah. To make something under 8" long I think you'd have to get some LCD displays like a digital watch or like those in regular calculators, and it would most likely not be under $10.

Make sure to post pics of how you make this, I like seeing how things are made and whatnot.

[MaxOC]

actually, i meant that EACH display cant be longer than 8". totaling more than 6 ft with all the displays and spacing.
so it cant be taller than 3 inches either. but has damn near indefinite depth. i think ima take advantage of that.
cant do any shopping today tommorow or sunday, gunna try to get out monday or tuesday to find the clocks, take them apart that day and make the cad. wednesday get all the wood and cut it/sand it, thursday mount everything and do electronics. then have friday free.

this works out just fantastic, considering i also have to build an entire computer from that same wednesday till that same friday.

[xRyokenx]

Ohhhhh, hahaha. I see what you're saying now. Yeah, it should be easy to find some relatively inexpensive digital clocks.

[Twigsoffury]

try Westclox.

[MaxOC]

FINALLY. done with finals. computer pats come tinight. wanna get this clock setup done today.
like i said, i want this all to go to 1 outlet. im hoping to do it via wiring, and not a surge blocker. this is whats inside these things
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/002-14.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/003-22.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/004-18.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/006-11.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/007-11.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/009-10.jpg

luckily, looks like i can compact it down to a 6x3x3 area for each clock easy.
now, in those last pictures you see the converter from wall to power. says they only need 5 watts a piece. now, i dont know whether i can put poer to one converter, and have that one converter output 4 wires to every clock, or if i can just connect power to one power cable, and have 2 wires from that one cable going to every converter(preferred)

anyone know which of these is a better idea? i dont deal with anything over 12v in any of my mods, so i figured id ask first. also, all this will be in wood, so itll be a grounded surface. nothing to worry about on that.

[nevermind1534]

just find the voltages, and use a crappy computer power supply.

[Matthew]

Wire each to one input from the wall. Each clock would have it's own inverter. That's the safest and easiest way.

[xmastree]

I can't help thinking that it would be easier and nicer using analogue clocks (http://www.electronicsnmore.com/product_info.php/products_id/842).
Then you just have to drill six holes. Although it might create some am/pm confusion.

Or even 500 clocks (http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2008/12/01/oclock/) :think:

[Matthew]

How'd this mod ever turn out? Where you able to finish it before Christmas?