A Digital Sundial on Instructables
Interesting digital dial. I must admit I looked at this design about 20 years ago. The author has one 3D moveable drawing of the completed dial. If you look closely on the underside of the gnomon, there are cut-outs of hour numbers that match the obverse side. Therefore, this sundial works correctly only two days a year (I'm inferring that the numbers were aligned for the equinox). Pity that such a beautiful digital dial is nearly useless. Exactly the same problem with Voshart's digital cube (see http://gizmodo.com/this-digital-sundial-tracks-the-sun-through-a-laser-cut-1545753402). This may force me back to the drawing board since I hold US Patent 5,596,5533 Jan 21 1997 Digital Sundial. (See also Scharstein's US Patent 5,590,093 Dec 31. 1996 Digital Sundial. Dan's patent is earlier, but he had to reference my article in NASS' Compendium). A the modern digital world. I understand that Apple's digital watches are being delivered to those few lucky souls today. --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: A Digital Sundial on Instructables
Hi all I think it can also work with a square section, so it should be easy to laser-cut. I also think the holes on the other side of every number may become a window, with inside frames, to allow a projection with any declination of the Sun (a bit more complicated) The problem may be the projection: the ratio between the size of the holes and the distance of the projection may blur it and it could become unreadable. ciao Fabio Fabio Savian fabio.sav...@nonvedolora.it www.nonvedolora.eu Paderno Dugnano, Milano, Italy 45° 34' 10'' N, 9° 10' 9'' E, GMT+1 (DST +2) -Messaggio originale- From: Richard Mallett Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 10:01 PM To: Robert Kellogg ; sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: Re: A Digital Sundial on Instructables On 24/04/2015 17:00, Robert Kellogg wrote: Interesting digital dial. I must admit I looked at this design about 20 years ago. The author has one 3D moveable drawing of the completed dial. If you look closely on the underside of the gnomon, there are cut-outs of hour numbers that match the obverse side. Therefore, this sundial works correctly only two days a year (I'm inferring that the numbers were aligned for the equinox). Pity that such a beautiful digital dial is nearly useless. Exactly the same problem with Voshart's digital cube (see http://gizmodo.com/this-digital-sundial-tracks-the-sun-through-a-laser-cut-1545753402). This may force me back to the drawing board since I hold US Patent 5,596,5533 Jan 21 1997 Digital Sundial. (See also Scharstein's US Patent 5,590,093 Dec 31. 1996 Digital Sundial. Dan's patent is earlier, but he had to reference my article in NASS' Compendium). A the modern digital world. I understand that Apple's digital watches are being delivered to those few lucky souls today. --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial At a time when digital watches are hardly ever seen in the shops. -- -- Richard Mallett Eaton Bray, Dunstable South Beds. UK --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
RE: A Digital Sundial on Instructables
The projection distortion could be somewhat compensated by distorting the number cutouts, so the early and late hours are comparatively narrower. Dave -Original Message- From: sundial [mailto:sundial-boun...@uni-koeln.de] On Behalf Of Fabio nonvedolora Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 1:49 PM To: sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: Re: A Digital Sundial on Instructables Hi all I think it can also work with a square section, so it should be easy to laser-cut. I also think the holes on the other side of every number may become a window, with inside frames, to allow a projection with any declination of the Sun (a bit more complicated) The problem may be the projection: the ratio between the size of the holes and the distance of the projection may blur it and it could become unreadable. ciao Fabio Fabio Savian fabio.sav...@nonvedolora.it www.nonvedolora.eu Paderno Dugnano, Milano, Italy 45° 34' 10'' N, 9° 10' 9'' E, GMT+1 (DST +2) -Messaggio originale- From: Richard Mallett Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 10:01 PM To: Robert Kellogg ; sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: Re: A Digital Sundial on Instructables On 24/04/2015 17:00, Robert Kellogg wrote: Interesting digital dial. I must admit I looked at this design about 20 years ago. The author has one 3D moveable drawing of the completed dial. If you look closely on the underside of the gnomon, there are cut-outs of hour numbers that match the obverse side. Therefore, this sundial works correctly only two days a year (I'm inferring that the numbers were aligned for the equinox). Pity that such a beautiful digital dial is nearly useless. Exactly the same problem with Voshart's digital cube (see http://gizmodo.com/this-digital-sundial-tracks-the-sun-through-a-laser-cut-1 545753402). This may force me back to the drawing board since I hold US Patent 5,596,5533 Jan 21 1997 Digital Sundial. (See also Scharstein's US Patent 5,590,093 Dec 31. 1996 Digital Sundial. Dan's patent is earlier, but he had to reference my article in NASS' Compendium). A the modern digital world. I understand that Apple's digital watches are being delivered to those few lucky souls today. --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial At a time when digital watches are hardly ever seen in the shops. -- -- Richard Mallett Eaton Bray, Dunstable South Beds. UK --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: A Digital Sundial on Instructables
On 24/04/2015 17:00, Robert Kellogg wrote: Interesting digital dial. I must admit I looked at this design about 20 years ago. The author has one 3D moveable drawing of the completed dial. If you look closely on the underside of the gnomon, there are cut-outs of hour numbers that match the obverse side. Therefore, this sundial works correctly only two days a year (I'm inferring that the numbers were aligned for the equinox). Pity that such a beautiful digital dial is nearly useless. Exactly the same problem with Voshart's digital cube (see http://gizmodo.com/this-digital-sundial-tracks-the-sun-through-a-laser-cut-1545753402). This may force me back to the drawing board since I hold US Patent 5,596,5533 Jan 21 1997 Digital Sundial. (See also Scharstein's US Patent 5,590,093 Dec 31. 1996 Digital Sundial. Dan's patent is earlier, but he had to reference my article in NASS' Compendium). A the modern digital world. I understand that Apple's digital watches are being delivered to those few lucky souls today. --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial At a time when digital watches are hardly ever seen in the shops. -- -- Richard Mallett Eaton Bray, Dunstable South Beds. UK --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
