70s Trafalgar LED

[Mike_B]

Hi guys, well for me this is a triumph and a 5 month project mainly trawling the internet for a donor.
As you know I like 70s watches and have a thing for these leds . I found this Trafalgar in near perfect condition but the module was bad. Battery had leaked at some point and whilst it would light up it would be complete random digits.
I know nothing of modules but set about cleaning and checking circuits and then sourcing a new oscillator as I read it could be the fault. I then learned to solder (badly) but alas I could not get this thing to fire up.
I looked for 5 months for a donor and then last week low and behold two pop up on eBay, one went for big money the other I negotiated a deal which cost allot more than my original at £20!
It arrived today and I immediately set about swapping the module over. But there was a problem, it would not set the time.


(Donor on left)

Failed module


Good module



To my horror the setting pusher contact is broken!!



Panic set in as I'd paid £45 for this daft thing as my passion got in the way of reason and it was not on its original bracelet.
Deep breath and then okay all I need to do is get the pusher to make contact. You can't bend too much as it's held on by the plastic retainer but I managed to bend a little and to hold in position I used ... yes the end of a cocktail stick!!
Bingo it fired up and I could set the time!



I trimmed the Stick before caseback went on.

Put the original bracelet on and wham!





My daughter has to hold the button to see the led so I can photo..


So this is about the longest project I've had, it's quite rare to find a working one and this is in near mint condition. Better photos will follow in the daylight but I am extremely happy.

One issue though that so far I can't work out. The second button lights up something else


I can set the left side digits from 1-31 so must be days. The right side is weird, it's constantly counting from 0-59 you can't stop it even when button is not pressed if you count on your head and press to check its still counting. Very odd and I have no idea why it would do this. Surely this is a day date function?

I would love your opinions , eclectic taste I know but there must be some love out there for these LEDs!?

[pip]

That's a cool LED one Mike_B and well recovered. I couldn't find an instruction manual but I did find a very tiny bit of background which you may be interested in:

Willy Herrman of Trafalgar was a true entrepreneur; he used components and labour from all around the world to produce a stylish watch at a price people could afford. The Trafalgar watches used semiconductors made in California, which were assembled into modules in Bangkok. The modules were then shipped to the UK for final assembly using Swiss cases and Hong Kong-made bracelets.

[Deleted]

Is the button that operates the day/date the one with the tooth pick?

[Mike_B]

Aug 31, 2017 15:39:14 GMT -8 @penguinbce said:

Is the button that operates the day/date the one with the tooth pick?

Sadly no, I have checked to make sure the pusher is not in constant contact and it's not. It's all very odd. Module looks near perfect so nothing obvious.
Just very strange how one would count to 31 and the other 59

[GuyJ]

Not just a permanent feature to check the seconds, as in maybe you can zero it in order to get the watch completely synced up with a specific button combo?

Try holding the same button down for 5 seconds or something. Or both together for 1 or two seconds?

[Mike_B]

Morning Guy, your wisdom is enlightening!

You could be onto something there, I am now wondering if it is some strange seconds / date combo?

if you press and hold the button all you see is the 0-59 counting upward.  when you press the setting button in (with a paperclip) it only changes the 1-31 number.  I cannot seem to reset the seconds t zero but it might do this if I set the time function first then just check the counter to see if its counting from a low number.  You would assume seeing as its "digital" that you could set the seconds. 
more playing is needed. 
The only way to stop the counting is to press the time button and "second" button together it freezes the count.... wait a minute.... or a second... have I just answered my own question, could this be a way to set the seconds!!!!