Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Atomic clock

Not sure what forum to put this question in, so I'll just throw it in>

I have one of those wall clocks which takes time updates from a WWV radio signal. All of a sudden, it is 4 hours off. Supposed to be noon, says 8:00.

I put in a new battery, redid the start up per instructions, I can even set the time manually, and the first time it receives the signal ( usually in the overnight hours ) it jumps off again. I have tried pushing time zone buttons, DST button, etc. and it always goes to 4 hours early.

Obvously, I will spend any money to get this fixed, it wasn't that expensive. Just wondered if anyone has seen one of these things "loose their mind" or it there is some little thing I have overlooked.

I should add that this could be a mechanical issue, not necessarily electronic. It is an analog clock. The motor actually drives the minute hand and second had around to adjust the time. The minute and second time are dead on, it is just the hour is off 4!

I also have an atomic clock. Mine has worked flawlessly for about 5 yrs. I seem to remember in the instructions that it shouldn't be placed near a pc or tv - you haven't changed the location of the clock have you?

Did you change the time zone to another or just reset it to your time zone? The transmitted signal is usually GMT and the time zone offset is based on that. If the transmitted signal is already compensating for the difference, the clock will still think it's receiving GMT time.

Try forcing it to compensate for the local time by manually changing the offset to a different time zone.

WWV signals are _always_ UTC. They have to be, if you think about it. There is only one transmitter location in the whole country (if you don't count Hawaii), located in Colorado. There is no possible way for the signal to reflect your particular time zone.

You need to set your time zone properly, according to the instructions. Not by "pushing time zone buttons". If you're on the east coast sounds like you may have the thing set for Alaska time.

It has 4 buttons. When you first put in the battery, you pust Pacific, Mountain, Central, or Eastern. If you are in an area that does not do daylight savings, there is a DSToff button. Right now, if I select pacific, I am 4 hours early. If I push eastern, it will advance 3 hours. DST on or off does not seem to affect it. The manual advance is not working per the instructions ( it always advances to 12, the waits for a signal, then sets to 4 hours early)


Like I said, I am not going to lose any more sleep on it. It has either scrambled its brain, or something mechanical has slipped a cog!

Thanks for all the input.

I've got an atomic alarm clock. Not recommended. I don't know if it's the clock or the transmission, but it has shown some weird times.

If anyone here can afford an atomic clock you are at the wrong site. With that kind of money you don't have to DIY, and you can pay people to do your web surfing for you.

A quartz clock which just happens to be synchronized by radio once a day is not an atomic clock.

I don't know what my atomic clock cost [it was a gift] but it says "atomic clock" on the face. It may be just a quartz clock sychronized by radio :confused: but I wish all my clocks were like that :cool: it never has to be set!!!!

Manufacturers are free (within limits) to call their clocks "particle accelerators" if they want. It doesn't make it any more true.

From the WWVB site, the station broadcasting the signal that makes your clock work in the first place: (And yes they DO have an atomic clock)

http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/radioclocks.htm

Some manufacturers refer to their radio controlled clocks as "atomic clocks", which isn’t really true. An atomic clock has an atomic oscillator inside (such as a cesium or rubidium oscillator). A radio controlled clock has a radio inside, which receives a signal that comes from a place where an atomic clock is located.


A radio sync'd quartz clock is no more an atomic clock than is your handheld GPS receiver, or even your computer if you have an NTP client installed and pointed to a stratum 1 server.


594tough- You mentioned this is an analog type clock right? Is it possible that someone grabbed ahold of the hands to adjust the thing much like you would on a regular clock? That would definitely do it. What I would do (before throwing the thing out) is first set the timezone properly (not based on the correct time, just figure out what zone it "thinks" it's on and set that properly). DST button won't have any effect now because this is not the time of season for that. After your zone is set, then carefully adjust the hour hand by whatever means looks right based on its construction. If did get adjusted by a family member or whatever I'd guess it probably just relies on friction and you can safely just move it.

Those bad-boy advertising types are at it again. Calling it an atomic clock is just "marketing license". (Meaning, it's okay to lie about the product.)

OTOH, I have a real atomic clock built in to the DeLorean, but I've been having trouble lately with the flux capacitor.

Hey, maybe you could head on over to the electrical forum and help me out with mine then!

I'm trying to figure out what type of wire I need for the 1.21 gigawatts it draws. Gave up on finding a fuse for that thing. We don't need no stinkin' fuses!

Get the Mr. Fusion upgrade; it eliminates all those problems.

We all know there is no radioactivity inside these! They are "referenced" by radio signal to the "real" atomic clocks. THe only radioactivity most of us have in the house is our smoke alarms, most of which contain about 35kBq, or about 1 micro curie, of Americium 241.
Anyway, if I press the Eastern time zone button, it will go forward 3 hours, but goes crazy again overnight. This thing is possessed!

Anyway, if I press the Eastern time zone button, it will go forward 3 hours, but goes crazy again overnight.

Ohhhhh... so even disregarding the fact that it's not showing the correct time, it won't even stay on the [wrong] zone? That's another matter altogether.

Hell I don't know at this point. Low batteries would cause that, but you didn't say it was battery powered. (Overnight you probably turn down your heat, causing the battery temp to drop, hence lower voltage. Thing resets itself as it warms back up and comes "back to life".) Use alkalines instead of rechargeable. Other than that I have no clue.

Time to call a priest? Errr wait they don't do that anymore.

Time to call a priest? Errr wait they don't do that anymore.
Yes they do! And I think that's where I'll go next!

I have put in new batteries. It's not that cold at night! I can get a new one for $29, so that's where I am going!

Sharp would repair it under warranty ( if I could find the receipt) for $12.95 plus shipping both ways!

Sharp would repair it under warranty ( if I could find the receipt) for $12.95 plus shipping both ways!
How very nice of them to charge you to repair something that doesn't work and is still under warranty.

You should have bought the extended warranty on that $30 clock. It was just another $8. Then all you would have had to pay was the shipping both ways. Coulda saved $4.95. :)

Let me get my mind around this, though, because I think the same way: Any cheepo $20 clock keeps time to within a few seconds a month. For an extra $10, we never have to worry about the clock being off, because it updates itself every night. So we spend the extra $10. We also have our cell phones, which also tell us the correct time 24/7.

Now that we know exactly what time it is to the second, we find that other people are either always a few minutes early or a few minutes late.

And me? I'm still five minutes late for work every day of my life. Can somebody please 'splain that to me?

While I'm at it: Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is? Does Anybody Really Care?

And me? I'm still five minutes late for work every day of my life. Can somebody please 'splain that to me?
Yea, you're not using the Delorean correctly. Or you're still having trouble with that flux capacitor. Have you check the flux level? They do that when they're low on flux.

I bought my atomic clock so I could power my house.

Why does an atomic clock need batteries?

I've never seen one not digital, with motors and hands. Seems like it would be a lot more trouble.

To bring this back on topic and state the obvious, the term "Atomic Clock" refers to both the source clock and any clock that uses that source as a reference to update its time.

In addition to the radio clocks you can buy at retail stores, Rauland makes an "Atomic Clock" that connects via IP to the US time server (http://nist.time.gov). Sapling makes a version that gets its time from the GPS system.

ALL jokes aside guys, I am pretty sure that the flux capacitor, weasel fluffer, AND the muffler bearing are all working fine in 594's clock.

I also have an atomic clock. The flux capacitor, weasel fluffer AND the muffler bearing were working fine but the darn thing did EXACTLY what 594 is describing.

It set itself during the night sometime to the correct minute, but it was 2 or 3 hours off all the time. I also played with the 4 buttons behind the movement and it corrected itself by one hour but never showed the correct time. Then I forgot to put the batteries back in one time when I was trying to fix it. The next day I put them back in and the following day it was working fine again.

Never figured out what was wrong either.:o

I am sure however that the flux capacitor and the farastance had nothing to do with the malfunction.:rolleyes:

It may have been the malfunction of the conjunction function that made it go off time.:p

Calling a product "Atomic" sounds like propaganda from the 50's.

Anyway, my "atomic" alarm clock was handy while I was doing electrical work--I had one clock with the right time that I could set the others from.

Calling a product "Atomic" sounds like propaganda from the 50's.

Anyway, my "atomic" alarm clock was handy while I was doing electrical work--I had one clock with the right time that I could set the others from.
I do too. It's called a cell phone.;) A watch works too.

I do too. It's called a cell phone.;)

I envy your cell phone! My cell phone company seems to not care about the correct time, and it is always up to 30 seconds off.

The local cable company here is even worse. The cable box displayed time is sometimes up to 70 seconds off. Although I just now tested it again... right on for once! Yay.

My old brick phone doesn't even display the time--

but seriously, I don't carry an electronic leash anymore.

I envy your cell phone! My cell phone company seems to not care about the correct time, and it is always up to 30 seconds off.

The local cable company here is even worse. The cable box displayed time is sometimes up to 70 seconds off. Although I just now tested it again... right on for once! Yay.
Cell phone envy can be a costly thing. :D

Thanks to the tip from boilersrus, my wife confiscated the clock, which I was preparing to frisbee into the pool, and took out the battery . She went to the store the next day and got a fresh one, and what do you know....it works! I had put in new batteries, and I suspect it is the long reset rather than a bad battery.

I have a digital multiband radio from C. Crane. If you unplug the AC adapter, it scrambles itself and cannot be operated. You have to leave the plug out overnight for it to reset. That tip is in the manual.

Thank you to boilerman!

I have a digital multiband radio from C. Crane. If you unplug the AC adapter, it scrambles itself and cannot be operated. You have to leave the plug out overnight for it to reset. That tip is in the manual.

That's a nice selling point. :eek:

Quite a few of the systems we install in hospitals are subject to monthly backup generator tests. The break-before-make time isn't long enough to allow the systems to completely power down. It plays havoc with any systems that aren't on UPS or systems where the internal backup batteries are weak.

The "fix" is to power them down, wait a couple of minutes, and reboot.

With all the electronic minds out there it took a sooted up boiler man to steer this thread in the right direction. '594tough' ----------hang tough. The only problem I see now is that you will have to go to the store to buy that long awaited frisbee. (heheheheh) Anybody know what time it is? It's time to go for me. Good luck! Charlie

That's the beauty of these forums: You had the experience with exactly the same problem and passed it on. Nicely done.