SDG #155 Looking at Radiated Emissions and 3D Printing for Increased Contrast - ESP32 Megaclock

This installment of the ESP32 Megaclock build splits its attention between two very practical problems: how much RF noise a fast-switching LED display project throws into the air, and how to make that display actually readable in a bright room.

On the emissions side, the approach is deliberately informal rather than a compliance test. Using software defined radio receivers as a rough spectrum analyser and a near-field style pickup, the board is probed to find where the switching harmonics land and how far they extend up the spectrum. That kind of pre-scan is worth understanding for anyone designing their own multiplexed display or shift-register driven board, because the clock edges, ribbon cables and long unshielded traces behave as antennas whether you intended them to or not. Watching the noise floor rise and fall as different parts of the circuit are enabled is a fast way to identify the real culprit before reaching for ferrites, series resistors or slower gate drive.

The second half is a display contrast exercise. Bare LEDs sitting on a white or green PCB scatter ambient light and wash out badly, so a dark 3D printed mask and diffuser layer is fitted over the digits. The result is a much deeper black background and cleaner segment definition, which is often a bigger visual improvement than pushing more current through the LEDs. It is a useful reminder that filament colour, layer thickness and surface finish are legitimate design parameters when a print becomes part of the optical path.

Useful viewing if you are building any large LED clock or panel and care about both EMC behaviour and the finished look.