Oscilloclocks keep time indefinitely, without needing any adjustment, by regularly synchronising time against an external source. The current standard options for synchronisation sources are GPS satellites (via onboard or external Garmin receivers), or NTP servers (network time protocol – over the Internet, via Wi-Fi).
The Oscilloclock Wave is the glorious device that allows your Oscilloclock to connect to a Wi-Fi router, pull in time from NTP servers, and do even more. It comes in different forms:
This page describes the setup and configuration process for your Oscilloclock Wave.
Requirements
Your Wi-Fi Router
The Oscilloclock Wave will connect to any Wi-Fi router that supports the 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n protocols. It will not connect over 5GHz 802.11 a/ac/x protocols.
Most modern Wi-Fi routers broadcast both 2G and 5G connections by default, but if your router broadcasts only a 5GHz connection, you may have to reconfigure the router to enable 2G as well.
Location
The Oscilloclock Wave should connect successfully to your router from any location where your mobile phone is able to connect.
The exception may be models having the Wave Onboard option and where the case is made of metal, such as the Kikusui 537 Oscilloclock shown at right.
If you have trouble making a connection, try moving the clock and/or the router, upgrade your router, or consider adding a Wi-Fi repeater to your network. You may also consider changing to the (external) Wave.
Installation
Firstly, unplug the clock from mains power.
If your clock shipped with the Wave Onboard option, no further installation is required.
If your clock shipped with a standard Wave (external), plug the connector into the matching port at the rear of your Oscilloclock.
If your clock shipped with a Wave Core module:
- Plug the module into the 8-pin 2-row socket at the end of the provided serial cable.
Align the module and the socket as shown at left, noting the orientation with respect to the red tape. (The module may be damaged if it is inserted the wrong way around.) - Plug the serial cable into the “GPS” socket on the Control Board.
Finally, plug your clock into mains power.
Setting up your Wave
To establish connectivity between the Oscilloclock Wave and your Wi-Fi router, you will first need to configure your router’s SSID and pass key into the Wave itself.
You configure the Wave by connecting from another device (a mobile phone, table, or PC) to the Wave itself, over Wi-Fi, by following the instructions below.
- Unplug your Oscilloclock from mains power for 10 seconds, and then plug it in again. (This resets the Wave, and allows it to broadcast an administration connection for a limited time.)
Note that the Oscilloclock can be either on (displaying images) or off at this point.
- Use another device to connect via Wi-Fi to the Oscilloclock Wave, as shown at right. The Wave’s SSID and passkey are as follows:
- SSID:
OSCILLOCLOCK-xxxxxx - Passkey:
oscilloclock
- SSID:
Note: To improve security against hackers, this administration connection, and the subsequent administration page, is available only within the first 5 minutes after plugging the unit into mains. If the connection does not appear for you, try unplugging the unit for 10 seconds and plugging back in.
- Once connected, point the browser on your device to the following URL.
- http://192.168.4.1
- The administration page should appear, as shown at right. For now, simply populate your Wi-Fi router’s SSID and passkey into the circled fields, and click Update.
- The unit will now restart and attempt to connect to your router.
- Refresh the administration page, and check the Status field. (You may find that the admin connection has dropped during the restart; in this case you may need to re-connect.)
CONNECTED– The connection has been establishedCONNECT_FAILED– The password is incorrectIDLE– Wi-Fi is in process of changing between statusesNO_SSID_AVAIL– The configured SSID cannot be reachedDISCONNECTED– An SSID has not yet been entered
After a successful connection
After a successful connection, the unit will attempt to synchronize time from the NTP server. The Sync Status should show OK and the Current Time field should be successfully populated, as shown at right. (You may need to refresh the page a few times.)
Note that 5 minutes after the last power-on, the clock will exit configuration mode and the administration connection will be lost. Be sure to complete all necessary setup during the 5 minutes timeframe.
Once the Sync Status shows OK as above, the module will start sending the latest time to the Oscilloclock at regular intervals (45 seconds by default).
Every interval, a circle indicator should appear at the top-right of the screen, for 3 seconds. See the example screen at right.
If the indicator does NOT appear every 45 seconds, check the settings via Config menu and Comms Setup, as shown below.
Ensure that Comms is “On”, Baud is 9600, and Terminal mode is “N”. Try turning Comms Off and On again if necessary.
If Wi-Fi is unavailable, or if you are unable to connect to an NTP server, you will need to set the time manually using the “Time & Date” menu. Refer to the operating instructions for your Oscilloclock.
Earthquake data (option)
As illustrated in Screens & Things, Oscilloclocks can be configured with optional screens that display earthquakes of varying intensities, in near real-time.
To display earthquakes on a clock with this option, you will need to enable your Wave to retrieve earthquake data from the US Geological Survey organisation’s public API.
- Access the Wave’s administration page, as shown in the previous section.
- Check the Send USGS quakes checkbox.
- Scroll down and click the Update button.
Astronomical Data (option)
Some clocks are configured to display sidereal time (LAST) on various screens.
To use this feature, you will need to enable your Wave to retrieve data from the USNO Astronomical Applications API.
- Access the Wave’s administration page, as shown in the previous section.
- Check the Send Astro data box.
- Enter the your location data into the Local longitude and Local latitude fields.
- Click the Update button.
You may need to wait up to 5 minutes (the default “Astro Poll Interval” value) for the clock to query the latest time.
LED status indicator
The latest revision Wave module has a blue LED to show the status of the connection and communication activity. Refer to the chart below.
| LED status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Constantly ON | The SSID and passkey have not yet been entered, so the Wave module cannot attempt a connection to the Wi-Fi router. | Go into the administration page and enter an SSID and passkey, as described earlier. |
| Rapid flash 3 times, repeated every second, for a maximum of 15 seconds | The Wave is attempting to connect to the Wi-Fi router. If the connection is unsuccessful for 15 seconds, the Wave will stop and wait 1 minute before trying again. | If this continues for more than 5 minutes, check that the SSID and passkey you entered are correct. |
| ON 1 second, then OFF | A device connected to the Wave over the administration connection has requested a refresh of the administration page. | Nothing – this is good. |
| ON 2-10 seconds, then OFF | The Wave has queried one of the APIs (e.g. earthquake or astronomical data). | Nothing – this is good. |
| Brief flash occasionally | The Wave is sending data to the Oscilloclock. | Nothing – this is good. |
| Constantly OFF | The Wave is not functioning at all. | Contact Oscilloclock for help. |
Status fields and advanced settings
Further status fields and advanced configuration options are described below. Tweak to your heart’s content!
| Heading | Field | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Clock Name | Name to be displayed at the top of the Administration page. (Admittedly, not very useful!) |
| Current Time | Time currently stored in memory. (UTC) | |
| Sync Status | Status of time synchronization against the NTP server. – OK – Sync successful – Overdue – | |
| Quake Count | Number of earthquakes currently stored in memory, retrieved from the USGS API. | |
| Sidereal Time (LMST) | Sidereal time retrieved from the USNO API. | |
| WiFi Setup | Status | Status of connection to a Wi-Fi router. – CONNECTED – The connection has been established – CONNECT_FAILED – The password is incorrect – IDLE – Wi-Fi is in process of changing between statuses – NO_SSID_AVAIL – The configured SSID cannot be reached – DISCONNECTED – An SSID has not yet been entered |
| SSID | SSID for connecting to the Wi-Fi router. | |
| PSK | Passkey for connecting to the Wi-Fi router. | |
| Time Setup | NTP Server | NTP server against which to synchronize time. |
| Send time | Enable or disable sending time data to the Oscilloclock. | |
| Sync Interval | How frequently to query the NTP server. | |
| Time Interval | How frequently to send time data to the Oscilloclock. | |
| Quake Setup | Send USGS quakes | Enable or disable querying and sending USGS quake data to the Oscilloclock. |
| Send Test quakes | Enable or disable sending test (dummy) quake data to the Oscilloclock. This can be useful for demonstrations, or when the USGS API is unavailable. | |
| Poll Interval | How frequently to query the USGS API for quake data. | |
| Quake Interval | How frequently to send earthquake data to the Oscilloclock. | |
| Min mag (1) | Minimum magnitude for an earthquake to be stored in container 1. | |
| Min mag (2) | Minimum magnitude for an earthquake to be stored in container 2. | |
| Max age (1) | Age (in seconds) before an earthquake is purged from container 1. | |
| Max age (2) | Age (in seconds) before an earthquake is purged from container 2. | |
| Capacity (1) | Maximum number of earthquakes to be stored in container 1. | |
| Capacity (2) | Maximum number of earthquakes to be stored in container 2. | |
| Astronomical Time Setup | Send Astro data | Enable or disable sending astronomical data (such as sidereal time) to the Oscilloclock. |
| Astro Poll Interval | How frequently to query the ASNO API for astronomical data. | |
| Local longitude | Longitude (in decimal) at your location. This is required for performing astronomical calculations. | |
| Local latitude | Latitude (in decimal) at your location. This is required for performing astronomical calculations. | |
| Webserver | SSID | SSID that other devices will use to connect to the Wave for the administration connection. (To access this administration page.) |
| PSK | Passkey for the administration connection. The default is “oscilloclock”. | |
| Hidden | Enable or disable a ‘hidden SSID’, where the SSID does not appear in other devices’ Wi-Fi connection lists. Be careful – if you enable this and forget the SSID, you will no longer be able to connect to your Wave. Ever. | |
| Web Interval | How long to keep the administration connection available after power-on. | |
| Factory reset | Factory reset | Reset the Wave device to factory defaults. |
Tweaked too much? Reset your Wave!
If you wish to reset your Wave configuration to the factory settings, access the administration page as described earlier, scroll down, and click the Factory reset button.
Firmware Updates
Occasionally, the external organisations such as USGS or USNO make changes to the APIs that the Oscilloclock Wave uses to obtain data. In such cases, the Oscilloclock Wave firmware requires an update.
Fortunately, the underlying ESP8266 ESP-01S module in the Wave is low-cost, easily replaceable, and light-weight to ship. For breaking issues such as API changes, Oscilloclock Labs will reach out to Oscilloclock Wave owners and offer to ship a new module with the latest firmware for a small fee plus shipping.
Any questions? Just contact your friendly engineers at Oscilloclock!