DIY Race Clock and Info Display

[Tanvir Ahmed]

A weekend project, a DIY Race Clock and Info Display 

Display is made from P6 32x32 Led Display module 2 Module on top of each other and 5 modules in length, total 10 Panel. 

Fully customizable display area via phone app you can add remove content of the screen based on your race, the stopwatch is also run from the same app remote, the led controller has Real Time Clock (RTC) chip, and syncs time via wifi when connected with the mobile app. 

p6 led panels are very bright and designed for outdoor use, total setup is very inexpensive to build and easy to operate. Attached pictures are not clear due to mobile phone frame mismatch, the display runs clean. 

Main Component used 

1. LED Panels P6 32x32 outdoor module 

2. HD-WF2 Led Controller 

3. Power Supply 

4. Box 

5. Related cables (Will come with the panels) 

Software for design and controlling the panels is LedArt (Google play store) 

You can see a short clip of the board in action 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J03VdInGTGaBETijyCVNqP_0W2xUWy0D/view?usp=drive_link

If you need more detail build information, you can email me separately. 

 

[Tim Irvine]

Very Cool!

[Craig MacIntyre]

Very nice Tanvir

On Friday, August 4, 2023 at 11:23:59 PM UTC-5 Tanvir Ahmed wrote:

[Christopher Regan]

It's awesome. I assume the box wasn't too expensive? Did you hand build it or have someone build it?

[Raphael Leal]

Can you connect some laptop to use ART Public Display on it?

[Tanvir Ahmed]

To answer a few questions:

1. This panel is NOT! Connected to my race timing software, this is a normal electronic stop watch, that you operate START/STOP/PAUSE via an android app (LED ART). This is not a replacement for timing device synced race clock. 

2. This is a very cheap solution to a problem that I faced finding a proper display, that I can afford which will to act as signage and stop watch for my smaller events, hiring a commercial company to set up a LED wall or buying a proper LED display is not an option in my country, the total cost of this project was 180$ USD

Main Component used 

• LED Panels P6 32x32 outdoor module 

• HD-WF2 Led Controller 
• Power Supply 
• Box 

• Related cables (Will come with the panels) 

3. All the parts are available locally in my country, I just had to go to the market where they sell LED panels and related cards and boxes for making digital signage for advertisement company, I have given list of equipment that is also available in Aliexpress where you can buy if you don't have this parts available in your area. The list is on my first post.  

4. The P6 LED panels are rated for outdoor advertisement board, so rain is not an issue here, you just need to make the box and backplate waterproof, there are hundreds of video on YouTube on how and what you need to build a LED panel. You can check that out 

5. If you want to display your PC monitor and use this as a secondary display, that is a different build, you will need to use P3 Led panel (p6 is not very visible up close as a display monitor) and a different receiving card, also you will need a video processes that will send the HDMI/DVI PC signal to the display.  such as 

1. Led Receiving card
https://cutt.ly/ewdMkasy

2. P3 Outdoor LED Panel (you need to calculate how many you need)
https://cutt.ly/CwdMlpAd

3. Video Sending Device
https://cutt.ly/XwdMzjuC

4. SMP Power Supplies (as per the board power req and size) search google for SMP power supply.

This will be a complicated build (but many videos available on YouTube)

5. What can the display be used for? As I said, the android app is very easy to operate with a little bit of understanding, there are also many tutorials on how to use the APP (Led Art) this display can be used for displaying manual stop watch, race name with many fancy effects, dates, humidity information (with a humidity sensor attached to it ), any other information that you would like to show on race day, you just need to open the APP connect to the LED panel wifi hotspot and type your information and press send, it will immediately show the information.  The design possibilities and endless. 

I am not good at making tutorials, but if you have gathered all the materials and assembled everything I am pretty sure we are a bunch of smart people who can figure out how to use the system, but if you need my help on anything, just email me separately when you are stuck. 

I have not created anything new, it is already out there, I just found a way to use it to my advantage. 

Best Regards

Tanvir