Michael Rigby-Jones wrote: > I think you'll find that lack of operation during the night is a > standard "feature" of sundials ... Then again it's not like you're > going to have one in the bedroom. Not such a bad idea. The PIC would have to supply the artificial sun. The scaling would have to change to 24 hours for 180 degrees instead of just 12 hours. I would put the sun, a 12V dichroic lamp, on a track in a semicircle around the bedside sundial. It would have to whip back to starting point every day; maybe during a favourite television show when nobody is looking. At least this way the device will work when it is cloudy or rainy. And you won't have to suffer through all these extra calculations for the tilt of the planet. The loss of angular resolution might be a problem, but that could be countered with a digital LED display. -- James Cameron (quozl@us.netrek.org) Linux, Firewalls, OpenVMS, Software Engineering, CGI, HTTP, X, C, FORTH, COBOL, BASIC, DCL, csh, bash, ksh, sh, Electronics, Microcontrollers, Disability Engineering, Netrek, Bicycles, Pedant, Farming, Home Control, Remote Area Power, Greek Scholar, Tenor Vocalist, Church Sound, Husband. "Specialisation is for insects." -- Robert Heinlein.