Digital Sundial

Hines Digital Sundial

 

 

The “First True Digital Sundial” recognized by:

 

     The digital sundial, invented Dec. 2, 1984, shows the time, in 10-minute increments, with true 7-segment numerical.  The sun shines through slits in the encoder, onto the ends of optical fibers, that route the light to the segments in the display.

 

 

The four categories of timekeeping devices:

 

     All timekeeping devices fall into one of four categories, analog or digital clocks, or analog or digital sundials.  The digital-sundial category has gone without an example until 1984, with the invention of the Hines Digital Sundial which is recognized by the North American Sundial Society as the “First True Digital Sundial”.  Ask your smart phone “Who invented the digital sundial”.

 

 

Construction:

 

 

      Optical fibers are epoxied in holes in the clear acrylic gnomon.  The opposite ends of the fibers are clear epoxied to backs of the segments, in the numerical display. 

 

 

The sundial in a museum:

 

 

    The digital sundial displayed in a museum where visitors can rotate a “sun” handle around a globe.

 

 

Advantages of the Hines digital sundial over other other sundials: 

  • Time is displayed in 10-minute increments.
  • The time is displayed, on bright 7-segment displays.
  • The Hines Digital Sundial routes optical fibers to the displays at virtually any distance, for example indoors in a museum.  (Traditional sundials require users be outdoors at the gnomon to read the time.)
  • Previous analog-to-digital converters have been electronic.  This is the first optical A-to-D converter. 

 

 

Advantage of the Hines digital sundial over other timekeeping devices, of any type:

  • A digital clock without the need of electrical power.  
  • The Hines Digital Sundial is impervious to an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) which may destroy all electronics.  

 

 

Sundial Resources:

 

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How it works:

 

      As the sun moves across the sky, sunlight shines through slits in the gnomon and sweeps over the ends of optical fibers to illuminate the segments of the numerals.  

 

Tens-of-hours

(Xx:xx)

Hours

(xX:xx)

Tens-of-minutes

(xx:Xx)

Minutes

(xx:xX)
A single opening in the top of the gnomon illuminates two fibers, from 10:00 AM to 12:59 PM, to form the “1”.

A one-hour-wide band of light sweeps across the ends of fibers between 9 AM and 4 PM.

 

 Light shines through slits to sweep over these fibers to repeat the 0-1-2-3-4-5 sequence for the tens-of-minutes numeral.   The Digital Sundial reads in the smallest available digital increment above 2 minutes, with the units-minutes fixed at “0”.

 

 

 

Blueprints:

     Open source blueprints to build one digital sundial are available by clicking on the thumbnails above.

 

Public Viewing:

 

      Public viewing is available for the digital sundial in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA.  To arrange a time, and for the physical address, please phone 818-507-5812.

Steve Hines

 

      Plastic novelty shadow-mask sundials (all claiming to be the first digital sundial) appeared 30 years after the Hines’ digital sundial.  The Hines Digital Sundial is the first true digital sundial, and remains the only digital sundial with a 7-segment display.

 

 

Activity:

  • Public viewing made available in Virginia Beach, VA, USA and the construction drawings are now open source, Aug. 8, 2026.
  • Siri, Alexa and Google describe the Hines as the inventor of “the world’s first digital sundial”, Feb. 2025.
  • “Great design“, Jean-Baptiste Rouquier, Dec. 27, 2022
  • plans ordered by Edgar Kogler, April 24, 2018
  • North American Sundial Society (NASS) declares it “The First True Digital Sundial“, October 2, 2014
  • plans ordered by Pat O’Grady, Sep. 4, 2014
  • plans ordered by Bret Niemeyer, June 28, 2011
  • plans ordered by Punjab Engineering College, India, Feb. 6, 2008
  • plans ordered by Charles Ashcroft, Sep. 7, 2007
  • incorporated in paper presented at the North American Sundial Society conference in Banff, Alberta, Canada, Aug. 21-24, 2003
  • plans ordered by Till Liepmann, April 1, 2002
  • information requested by Sundials magazine, Nov. 29, 2001
  • plans ordered by Hans Sassenburg, May 1, 1999
  • plans ordered by James Luttrell, Jan. 21, 1995
  • plans ordered by Robert Siebert, Nov. 1, 1994
  • plans ordered by William Georgian, Sep. 27, 1994
  • plans ordered by Robert McGrath, Sep. 10, 1994
  • plans ordered bt Phillip Rogen, Sep. 6, 1994
  • Solar Today Magazine, Aug. 20, 1994 issue, p. 39
  • plans ordered by Rick Steenblik, Sep. 18, 1988
  • U.S. Patent 4,782,472, issued to Steve Hines, Nov. 1, 1988
  • Invented by Steve Hines, Dec. 2, 1984

 

Hines’ original lab notebook #1 entries for this invention.  
p. 38 p. 39

click to enlarge

 

 

HinesLab

 

Virginia Beach, VA, USA

 

email: [email protected]

 

ph. 818-507-5812

 

Feel free to call us.