It’s hard work being a werewolf, and I don’t just mean cleaning blood stains out of the carpet or dealing with fleas in the house.

It’s this messy business of the full Moon. Most wall calendars and news sources, if they even mention Moon phases, there’s about a 50/50 chance that they’re off by a full day (explained on the “Moon Facts” page). You might be out at a fancy event wearing a rental tuxedo when things turn weird. There goes your deposit. So awkward.

The only way to get a correct Moon phase for your time and location is with math and science. Our Matrix Portal Moon phase clock lets you know where things stand right here and now, portraying the Moon’s phase more accurately than a printed calendar, and whether it’s currently in the sky or has set.

So now you can prepare. No tux! Stay home and put on a comfortable flannel shirt like werewolves do.

This project requires:

  • Adafruit Matrix Portal M4 board
  • Any of our 64x32 pixel “HUB75” (not NeoPixel) RGB LED matrices (other sizes are not supported by this code)
  • USB C cable
  • USB power supply with output of 2 Amps or more
  • WiFi internet access
  • An Adafruit IO account (the free basic plan will suffice, we’re just using this to set the time)
  • An insatiable hunger for human flesh

This guide will get the software running on the bare Matrix Portal hardware. Mounting or supporting the clock in an enclosure or frame is left as an exercise to the reader.

Next we’ll connect the Matrix Portal board and LED matrix. Do not over-tighten the screws on the power terminals or they can shear off. This is best done in human form.

Parts

Video of a person rotating an LED matrix panel with animation resembling falling colored sand.
Folks love our wide selection of RGB matrices and accessories, for making custom colorful LED displays... and our RGB Matrix Shields...
$24.95
In Stock
USB Type A to Type C Cable - approx 1 meter / 3 ft long
As technology changes and adapts, so does Adafruit. This  USB Type A to Type C cable will help you with the transition to USB C, even if you're still...
$4.95
In Stock

You can use a USB C power supply or a USB micro B with a micro B to C adapter

Angled shot of Official Raspberry Pi Power Supply 5.1V 3A with USB C with Power plug facing down.
The official Raspberry Pi USB-C power supply is here! And of course, we have 'em in classic Adafruit black! Superfast with just the right amount of cable length to get your Pi 4...
$7.95
In Stock
5V 2.5A Switching Power Supply with 20AWG MicroUSB Cable
Our all-in-one 5V 2.5 Amp + MicroUSB cable power adapter is the perfect choice for powering single-board computers like Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, or anything else that's...
Out of Stock
Angled shot of Micro B USB to USB C Adapter.
As technology changes and adapts, so does Adafruit, and speaking of adapting, this adapter has a Micro B USB jack and a USB C...
$1.25
In Stock

If you'd like your LEDs diffused, some acrylic may help

LED RGB matrix 12" x 12" with "Adafruit Industries LED Matrix" text showing, and LED acrylic slowly covering to make it nicely diffused
A nice whoppin' slab of some lovely black acrylic to add some extra diffusion to your LED Matrix project. This material is 2.6mm (0.1") thick and is made of special cast...
Out of Stock

Adafruit carries a number of 64x32 RGB LED Matrices, varying between the space between LEDs (pitch) and whether rigid or flexible. Choose your favorite - larger pitch means the display is larger, width and height-wise but with the same number of pixels, and larger may be easier to read further away. Smaller for near your desk, for example.

Two white hands hold out an assembled and powered on 64x32 RGB LED Matrix Panel - 3mm pitch. The matrix displays "Adafruit Industries LED MATRIX! 32x64 *RGB*"
Bring a little bit of Times Square into your home with this sweet 64 x 32 square RGB LED matrix panel. These panels are normally used to make video walls, here in New York we see them...
Out of Stock
Vide of assembled and powered on 64x32 RGB LED Matrix Panel - 4mm pitch. The matrix displays "Black Lives Matter" alongside the Raised Fist.
Bring a little bit of Times Square into your home with this sweet 64 x 32 square RGB LED matrix panel. These panels are normally used to make video walls, here in New York we see them...
$39.95
In Stock
Two white hands hold out an assembled and powered on 64x32 RGB LED Matrix Panel - 5mm pitch. The matrix displays "Adafruit Industries LED MATRIX! 32x64 *RGB*"
Bring a little bit of Times Square into your home with this sweet 64x32 square RGB LED matrix panel. These panels are normally used to make video walls, here in New York we see them on...
Out of Stock
Two white hands hold out an assembled and powered on 64x32 RGB LED Matrix Panel - 6mm pitch. The matrix displays "Adafruit Industries LED MATRIX! 32x64 *RGB*"
Bring a little bit of Times Square into your home with this sweet 64x32 square RGB LED matrix panel. These panels are normally used to make video walls, here in New York we see them on...
Out of Stock
Video of woman in a white sleeveless t-shirt holding and slightly bending a black flexible 64x32 RGB LED Matrix. The LED matrix is lit up with rainbow LEDs with the text: Adafruit Industries LED Matrix 32x64 *RGB*.
If you've played with multiplexed RGB matrices, you may have wondered "hey, could we possibly manufacture these on a thin enough PCB, so it's flexible?" and the...
$44.95
In Stock
Two hands flexing a powered on 64x32 Flexible RGB LED Matrix - 5mm Pitch.
If you've played with multiplexed RGB matrices, you may have wondered "hey, could we possibly manufacture these on a thin enough PCB so it's flexible?" and the answer...
$79.95
In Stock

This guide was first published on Sep 23, 2020. It was last updated on Mar 18, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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