Last year, I was working in my lab, and my digital desk clock was running perfectly. Even when I cut off the power, it could still remember the time. But one day, after turning off the lab’s main power, I noticed that the clock suddenly failed to synchronize with the real time.
That incident sparked a big question in my mind—why did this happen? During my research, I discovered that the clock uses an RTC (Real-Time Clock) module, which is powered by a coin-cell battery. That’s when it struck me: the battery might be dead. I replaced the battery, and instantly, the clock started working normally again.
But this raised even more curiosity. I started wondering whether using an RTC is still a convenient method for timekeeping in modern devices. Our phones and computers never lose track of time—so how do they stay synchronized?
Digging deeper, I learned that NTP servers are responsible for maintaining accurate time across connected devices. That revelation pushed me toward a new idea: Why not build my own NTP-synchronized clock?
However, there was a challenge. To access the internet, I needed a microcontroller with Wi-Fi capability. The obvious choice was the ESP series. I first considered the NodeMCU V2, but when comparing prices, I found the RTC module costs around 320 BDT, while the NodeMCU V2 costs 535 BDT—almost double!
So I paused and re-evaluated my options. Then I discovered the ESP-01 module—a compact ESP8266-based microcontroller priced at only 195 BDT.
Wow! Bingo!
This tiny ESP-01 has built-in Wi-Fi and offers nearly the same processing power as a NodeMCU ESP8266 V2, but at a fraction of the cost. That’s when my journey toward building my dream NTP clock truly began.
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