Frequency Divider 74HCT4040
U1 7555 is a CMOS version of 555. The 555 here is in Astable Oscillator mode, C1 and C4 are decoupling capacitors 0.1uF value, ceramic disc.
The output is around 100kHz, If C3 is plastic or mica the frequency output will be stable with temperature. It is better to use a crystal oscillator.
The 555 output is fed to clock input of 4040, the output of 555 will be a square wave, on every high to low transition (falling edge or negative transition) the counter increments by one and the output is 12 bit binary.
Read more at my Digital Timers, Counters and Clocks
If input frequency is F the final output at Q12 is F/4096. The period T = 1/F.
If you make the 555 run at 1Hz, C3 around 7uF, Then this circuit becomes a long duration timer, the Q12 period will be 4096 seconds or 68 minutes.
