Alternative Time Systems for Home Assistant

A comprehensive Home Assistant integration providing 30+ alternative time systems from science, science fiction, fantasy, history, religion, and various cultures. Transform your Home Assistant into a universal time machine!

🎯 Overview

Transform your Home Assistant into a multiversal clock supporting:

⭐ Stellar Distances (Real-time distances to stars & pulsars with accuracy data)
🪐 Solar System Tracker (Real-time planetary positions with visual maps)
🚀 Science Fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars, EVE Online, Warhammer 40K)
🧙 Fantasy Worlds (Tolkien, Elder Scrolls, Discworld, Warcraft)
🏛️ Historical Calendars (Maya, Egyptian, Attic, Roman, French Revolutionary)
🔴 Mars Colonization (Darian Calendar, Mars Time Zones)
🌏 Cultural Calendars (Islamic, Thai, Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, Hindu, Ethiopian)
💻 Technical Formats (Unix, Hexadecimal, Julian Date, Swatch, TAI, UT1)
🎖️ Military Systems (NATO DTG in multiple formats)

✨ New in Version 2.5.2.170

⭐ Stellar Distances Calculator 🆕

Real-time distances to notable stars and pulsars with measurement accuracy!

7 Stars:

Star	Distance	Accuracy	Note
Proxima Centauri	4.24 ly	±0.006%	Nearest star
Barnard's Star	5.95 ly	±0.007%	Fastest proper motion (10.3"/yr)
Scholz's Star	22.2 ly	±0.17%	Passed Oort Cloud 70,000 years ago
Ross 248	10.3 ly	±0.27%	Will be nearest in 36,000 years
Gliese 710	62.5 ly	±0.05%	Collision course - 10,600 AU in 1.35 Myr
Polaris	433 ly	±1.5%	North Star
Betelgeuse	723 ly	±18%	Supernova candidate

6 Nearest Pulsars:

Pulsar	Distance	Accuracy	Note
PSR J0437-4715	511 ly	±0.06%	Nearest millisecond pulsar (173 rot/sec)
PSR J0108-1431	424 ly	±13%	Oldest nearby (166 Myr)
Vela Pulsar	932 ly	±6%	Brightest radio pulsar
Geminga	815 ly	±32%	First gamma-ray pulsar
PSR B0656+14	940 ly	±10%	"Three Musketeers" pulsar
PSR B0950+08	906 ly	±8%	Old pulsar in Leo (17.5 Myr)

Features:

Real-time distance calculation using parallax + radial velocity
Measurement uncertainty (±%) for each object
Distance range (min-max) based on parallax error
Accuracy ratings: excellent / very good / good / moderate / uncertain
Data sources: Gaia DR3, VLBI parallax, Pulsar Timing
Approaching/receding motion indicator
12 languages supported

Previous Updates (2.5.2.165)

🕐 TAI - International Atomic Time

Continuous atomic timescale: No leap seconds
Related time systems: GPS Time, Terrestrial Time (TT)
Leap second history: Complete since 1972
Example: 2026-01-05T00:36:52 TAI

🌍 UT1 - Universal Time 1

Earth rotation time: Based on actual Earth rotation
IERS REST API integration: Real-time DUT1 values
Intelligent caching: Configurable 5 min to 24 hours
Example: 2026-01-05T00:43:31.767 UT1

✝️ Ge'ez (Ethiopian) Calendar

13-month calendar: 12 × 30 days + Pagume (5-6 days)
Native script support: Ge'ez/Amharic month and weekday names
Ge'ez numerals: Ethiopian number system (፩፪፫...)
Example: 15 መስከረም 2017 or ፲፭ መስከረም ፳፻፲፯

🪐 Solar System Improvements

"You are here" marker: Earth position clearly marked
Corrected month orientation: January now at top
Improved planet positions: More accurate calculations

📦 Installation

Via HACS (Recommended)

Open HACS in your Home Assistant
Click the three dots in the top right corner
Select "Custom repositories"
Add URL: https://github.com/Lexorius/alternative_time
Select "Integration" as category
Click "Add"
Search for "Alternative Time Systems" and install
Restart Home Assistant

Manual Installation

Download the alternative_time folder from the repository
Copy it to your /config/custom_components/ directory
Restart Home Assistant

⚙️ Configuration

Via User Interface (Config Flow 2.5)

Go to Settings → Devices & Services
Click Add Integration
Search for Alternative Time Systems
Follow the enhanced configuration wizard:
- Step 1: Name your instance
- Step 2: Select categories (Technical, Historical, Cultural, Space, etc.)
- Step 3: Choose calendars from each category
- Step 4: Configure calendar-specific options
Done! Your sensors will appear automatically

🎨 Version 2.5 Architecture

Standardized Calendar Format

Each calendar follows the unified CALENDAR_INFO structure:

Metadata: ID, version, icon, category, accuracy
Multi-language: Names and descriptions in 12 languages
Calendar Data: Months, weeks, special dates, events
Configuration Options: Customizable per calendar
Update Intervals: Optimized for each calendar type

Supported Languages

🚀 Performance Optimization

Category	Update Interval	Calendars
Real-time	1 second	Unix, Swatch, Timezones
Near real-time	5-10 seconds	Hexadecimal, Stardate
Time-based	30-60 seconds	Mars Time, Julian Date
Date-based	1 hour	Calendar systems, Stellar Distances
Event-based	5 minutes	Warhammer 40K

📈 Version History

v2.5.2.170 (Current) 🆕

⭐ Stellar Distances Calculator: Real-time distances to 7 stars & 6 pulsars
📊 Measurement Accuracy: Uncertainty percentages for all objects
📏 Distance Ranges: Min-max based on parallax errors
🎯 Accuracy Ratings: excellent/very good/good/moderate/uncertain
📡 Data Sources: Gaia DR3, VLBI, Pulsar Timing

v2.5.2.165

🕐 TAI: International Atomic Time
🌍 UT1: Universal Time 1 with IERS API
✝️ Ge'ez Calendar: Ethiopian calendar with native script
🪐 Solar System: Improved positioning

v2.5.0

⚡ Complete Architecture Rewrite
🎨 Standardized Calendar Format
🌍 Multi-language Support (12 languages)
📁 Category-based Organization
⚙️ Enhanced Config Flow with plugin options

Previous Versions

v1.6.0: Tamriel, Egyptian, Discworld calendars
v1.5.0: EVE Online, Shire, Imladris calendars
v1.4.0: Mars time systems
v1.3.0: Asian calendars, Attic calendar
v1.2.0: NATO time formats
v1.1.0: Maya calendar, async improvements
v1.0.0: Initial release

🛠️ Development

Adding a New Calendar

Create calendars/your_calendar.py
Follow the standardized format (see existing calendars)
Include CALENDAR_INFO dictionary with all metadata
Implement sensor class extending AlternativeTimeSensorBase
Test thoroughly

Minimal Calendar Template

CALENDAR_INFO = {
    "id": "your_calendar",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "icon": "mdi:calendar",
    "category": "technical",
    "update_interval": 3600,
    "name": {
        "en": "Your Calendar",
        "de": "Dein Kalender",
        # ... other languages
    },
    "description": {
        "en": "Calendar description",
        "de": "Kalenderbeschreibung",
        # ... other languages
    },
    "config_options": {
        "option_key": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "default": True,
            "label": {"en": "Option Label", "de": "Optionsbeschriftung"},
            "description": {"en": "Option description", "de": "Optionsbeschreibung"}
        }
    }
}

🐛 Troubleshooting

Calendar Not Appearing

Check Home Assistant logs for errors
Verify the calendar file is in the correct directory
Ensure CALENDAR_INFO['id'] matches the filename

Options Not Saving

Check that your calendar has config_options defined
Verify the option types are supported (text, number, boolean, select)
Review logs for configuration errors

Wrong Language Displayed

Check Home Assistant language settings
Verify translations exist for your language
Fallback to English if translation missing

Stellar Distances Issues

All calculations are based on J2000.0 epoch data
Uncertainty values come from parallax measurement errors
Pulsars with unknown radial velocity show 0 km/s

📄 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

🙏 Acknowledgments

Home Assistant Community for feedback and testing
Gaia DR3 for stellar parallax data
VLBI networks for pulsar distance measurements
IERS for UT1 data services
All contributors to the project

📮 Support

Bug Reports: GitHub Issues
Feature Requests: Open a GitHub issue with [Enhancement] tag
Questions: Use GitHub Discussions

🔗 Links

Version 2.5.2.170 - Made with ❤️ for the Home Assistant Community

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 399 Commits
custom_components/alternative_time		custom_components/alternative_time
LICENCE		LICENCE
hacs.json		hacs.json
icon.jpg		icon.jpg
readme.md		readme.md

License

Lexorius/alternative_time

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