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

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

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

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.