Thank you for using the AvClock we created! The clock is intended to be a wall or desk clock that also indicates weather conditions in a format pilots are taught. The clock gives current METAR and TAF information when configured correctly, however this information is not intended to be the sole information a pilot uses to make aviation related decisions. Due to space constraints and limitations of the technology, not all information is presented. A pilot needs to consult other sources of information before making aeronautical decisions.

This manual is presented in the logical order to get your clock up and running as quickly as possible.

Initial Setup

Power: Plug the USB cable into the included power supply. A high-current supply is needed (and included!) to power the bright display.

Wifi: when the clock cannot find a wifi network it has been configured with, it will fall back to access point mode. In this mode, it advertises itself as an access point and allows you to connect to it. Look for it on your phone or computer with a network name like AvClock_???. “???” represents a unique identifier – 12 letters and numbers that uniquely identify your AvClock. You can also force it to reset to this mode by holding the touch button (top right-most screw on the back of the clock) for 30 seconds.

Connect: connect to the AvClock_??? network. The password is “flyright” (with no quotes). Your phone or computer may complain about the network not being connected to the internet. If so, you should select whatever is necessary to stay connected to the AvClock. Be aware the password isn’t intended to be secure. For added network security during the operation of AvClock, I recommend consulting with a networking professional and considering setting the AvClock up behind a firewall on your network router.

      

Configure the network: On some phones and computers, the network configuration page will pop up automatically. If it does not, open your browser manually. In your browser, follow this link: http://192.168.132.1. (If you are looking at this webpage while connected to the internet, this link won’t do what you expect it to. You must be connected to the AvClock for this to work.) This will take you to the network configuration page.

Select “Configuration” (the top blue button) to set up your network. On the Configuration page, select your network name and enter its password. Be aware that all network names and passwords are case sensitive and some phones seem desperately to want to capitalize your letters! You can actually configure two different networks here in case you would like the clock to work with two different networks. If you just want one, then fill out the top “SSID” and “Password” entry. The clock will try them in order when it powers up. When you have configured your network, click “Save“.

The AvClock will continue to boot. Its screen shows you its progress. It may take a few minutes to complete based on network speed and any pending updates.

Clock Configuration

Configure Display: When it finishes booting, you’re ready to configure the display of the clock! There are two ways into the configuration screen. Either reconnect to “AvClock_xxx” as before and then go to http://192.168.4.1 in your browser. Or, if your phone or computer is on the same network as the AvClock, you can go right to its IP address. To do that, try going to http://avclock.local on your browser. Some routers do not play well with that system, so the fall back is to determine the clock’s IP address and go directly to that IP address in your phone. The clock will print its IP address on the main screen while it boots and displays the last digits of that IP address again for 10 seconds in the top right corner after it boots. Whichever means you use, the configuration page above remains the same.

Configure Airport: The top box lets you enter the ICAO designator for an airport. Remember that three letter airport codes are preceded by ‘K’ for U.S. based airports. For example, Los Angeles International Airport is commonly known as LAX, but its ICAO identifier is KLAX. The airport should be one that reports at least a METAR and optionally a TAF.  You can test out the airport you would like to use at the Aviation Weather Center METAR website. The Aviation Weather website also has excellent references on the symbols and layout used here as AvClock sticks as close as it can to the standards.

Configure Views: In the second box, configure which views you would like to see on the clock. “Clean” refers to a simple clock face with basic weather information: sky cloud coverage, winds, and a NOAA icon representing current weather. “Detailed” adds all the main numerical data found in a METAR. “TAF” presents the TAF if present in graphical form. “Logo View” turns on any graphical logo that might after been configured into the clock. On the clock, you can switch between these views by briefly touching the touch sensitive screw on the back (top right-most screw).

Clean View: The clean view shows the time, winds, sky coverage, and any significant weather using NOAA symbols. Here is a chart of those symbols.

Detailed View: One image above is a quick reference to the various elements of the Detailed View. The other shows an example of a Detailed View. In addition to the standard format METAR in the middle of the screen, the corners clarify the data. The upper left is a textual representation of the wind speed since reading the flags is less precise. The lower left shows the UTC time that the METAR was valid. The lower right has the text description of the weather symbol as per METAR text format. The chart linked above has those text abbreviations as well. Here is a quick reference to the layout of the clock.

TAF View: The TAF View shows a representation of the standard information in a TAF. It is arranged in up to four columns with each column representing subsequent valid times from the TAF. The top of each column has a small clock that shows the valid time for the column. The valid times are adjusted to be in the local time zone. Ranges, such as those given in a temporary entry are represented by a clock face with the time range shaded in. Probabilities are represented with a percent number written over the top of the clock. The Sun or Moon symbol to the top left indicates whether the clock is showing a time from 6AM to 6PM (Sun) or from 6PM to 6AM (Moon). Below the clock symbol is a two digit number showing the ceiling in hundreds of feet. Below the ceiling is the sky coverage, flight rules, and wind barb for that entry. Below the wind barb is an icon representing any significant weather. And finally at the bottom of the column is a number representing the visibility as reported in the TAF.

Configure Cycle View: If you would like the clock to cycle between the screens automatically, you can configure a time in seconds that each screen should remain active in this text box. If you set it to ‘0’, then cycling of the views is disabled and you use the touch screw to switch views.

Configure Timezone: In the fourth box, set the offset from UTC for your local timezone. Standard and Daylight Savings time will be set automatically. Here are the settings for the contiguous United States:

Eastern: -5
Central: -6
Mountain: -7
Pacific: -8

Save: Click the ‘Save’ button to save these settings to the AvClock. The AvClock will be immediately updated with the new settings.

Easter Egg: I like to leave my clock on the “Clean” view but want to occasionally view the detailed numbers of a METAR. I created a hand motion that does just that. If you slowly move your hand past the light sensor in a fairly bright room and the clock is in “Clean” view, the “Detailed” view will click on. It will stay up for 30 seconds and then go back to the “Clean” view.

Detailed Settings: This button lets to configure some of the nitty-gritty interface options and to reset various settings.

Detailed Settings Configuration

Day Brightness and Night Brightness: These two control the brightness of the display when the clock is under bright light (Day) or dim light (Night). Vary them so that the screen isn’t too bright or too dim as per your preferences. Use the steps below to set up automatic switching.

Day Threshold and Night Threshold: These two configure what the clock thinks of as “bright” and “dim” ambient lighting. This isn’t a process you should need to do very often and it may default to adequate settings. But this procedure gives fine control and lets you configure the clock the way you want. To set these sliders, I suggest this approach. Set your room up in it’s brightest configuration – with all lights on. Slide the Day Threshold slider all the way to the left. Slight the Night Threshold all the way to the right. After each change, click ‘Save.’ Now, iterate through moving the Day Threshold to the right until the clock is at daylight brightness for your bright room. (It may start out that way!) Turn off the light in the room. Then move the Night Threshold to the left. Click Save to test. Keep adjusting until the clock brightens in bright rooms and dims in dim rooms.

Touch Sensitivity: The touch screw on the back measures capacitance and that’s how it detects a touch. Dry ambient conditions or humid conditions affect that measurement. The default is set to 20 which works for most situations. Generally a range between 5 and 50 work for trickier situations with lower numbers corresponding to more sensitive detection. If the clock is switching views even without Cycle View configured, then lower this number.

Reset detailed Settings: Below the main area is a button that restores the settings on this page to their default settings. This is useful if you’ve been trying to iteratively adjust things and just want to start over. 

Reboot AvClock Now: If you’d like to reboot the clock, you may either power cycle the clock or use this button to do so.