Even though I completed the design for the countdown, I had to test it in action. The first time I tested the countdown it did nothing. Since I thought I perfected the design and code, I expected to see a 60 then a 59, but no numbers showed up. So I learned yet again that just when you think something works you run into another problem. I soon realized that there was no power connected to ground or the (-) side of the LEDs. After I quickly fixed this, I saw a 9, then an 8, then a 7. You would think I would be excited about getting the countdown to work from nine, but I was more focused on making it work from 60.
I spent days trying to figure out why the tens column wasn’t working. I looked tirelessly and finally I identified the problem. I didn’t load the data for the tens column shift register. I got to the point where I needed my dad for help again, and I asked him how to load the data into the shift registers through the code (just like how he helped me do it for the 9-0 countdown). He came over and showed me the code we used to shift the ones data and asked me to use it to figure out a solution for the tens. I soon realized that I could just copy and paste the same code and change some variables around.
I spent days trying to figure out why the tens column wasn’t working. I looked tirelessly and finally I identified the problem. I didn’t load the data for the tens column shift register. I got to the point where I needed my dad for help again, and I asked him how to load the data into the shift registers through the code (just like how he helped me do it for the 9-0 countdown). He came over and showed me the code we used to shift the ones data and asked me to use it to figure out a solution for the tens. I soon realized that I could just copy and paste the same code and change some variables around.