Atomic Clocks - Bye, Bye! (Page 2): Got two from Radio Shack when it was still alive but slowly dying. One work w/in a day and the other adjusts after 48 hours. And it’s been that way...

hugEDhog Loc: Bear, Delaware

Got two from Radio Shack when it was still alive but slowly dying. One work w/in a day and the other adjusts after 48 hours. And it’s been that way since.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

jerryc41 wrote:

I've had three atomic clocks since 2017, and every... (show quote)

Set them to GMT. Then you never have to adjust them.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

And you'll never know what time it is in your state!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

ecblackiii wrote:

And you'll never know what time it is in your state!

It will stimulate your brain by doing an easy subtraction whenever you look at your clock.

whfowle Loc: Tampa first, now Albuquerque

Over the years I have replaced nearly all my clocks with "atomic" ones. Some have very sensitive antennas and I don't have to do anything since they change right on time. Even though I am fairly close to Fort Collins, some of my oldest clocks won't reset and I have to put them in a window facing north towards Colorado.

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

No problem with mine; it resets in 12 hours. It runs for 5 years on a 1.5 volt D cell.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I bought three LaCrosse atomic clocks - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002WZRJK?ref=product_details&th=1

Now here's the funny, but typical, part. I waited weeks for them to sync. I played around with the buttons on back. No good, so I ordered three regular quartz wall clocks. Later that day, I played around with the buttons on the back of the clocks again. I get them to display the correct time. 😋

They're not synced with Mr. Atomic in Colorado, but at least they have the correct time, and they should maintain it.

BebuLamar

jerryc41 wrote:

I bought three LaCrosse atomic clocks - https://ww... (show quote)

Unless I live in an area where the atomic clock can receive the signal and sync everyday I wouldn't use it. I don't mind changing the clock twice a year. In fact with the regular quartz clock I have to set the time much more often than that. If the atomic clock can't sync everyday it's not better than a regular quartz clock because it is just a regular quartz clock that can reset itself with the signal from WWV so often. If it can't resync itself before 1 sec is off then I don't care for it.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

BebuLamar wrote:

Unless I live in an area where the atomic clock can receive the signal and sync everyday I wouldn't use it. I don't mind changing the clock twice a year. In fact with the regular quartz clock I have to set the time much more often than that. If the atomic clock can't sync everyday it's not better than a regular quartz clock because it is just a regular quartz clock that can reset itself with the signal from WWV so often. If it can't resync itself before 1 sec is off then I don't care for it.

Exactly! I've had these for seven years, so I don't think I can return them.

Even quickly replacing the battery causes the clock to lose the time.

ad9mac

I'll have to take them down and adjust the time twice a year, but I will have the correct time on time. I will also replace the batteries then.[/quote]

Isn't that what you're doing about now? Resetting them twice a year?

Schoee Loc: Europe

BebuLamar wrote:

Unless I live in an area where the atomic clock can receive the signal and sync everyday I wouldn't use it. I don't mind changing the clock twice a year. In fact with the regular quartz clock I have to set the time much more often than that. If the atomic clock can't sync everyday it's not better than a regular quartz clock because it is just a regular quartz clock that can reset itself with the signal from WWV so often. If it can't resync itself before 1 sec is off then I don't care for it.

Better off with a smartphone as they update time regularly through the internet to an atomic clock.
For wristwatches I use time.gov to get the correct time

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Schoee wrote:

Better off with a smartphone as they update time regularly through the internet to an atomic clock.
For wristwatches I use time.gov to get the correct time

I wonder if you can still use a landline phone to get the time. "At the tone, the time will be 8:38 and 40 seconds. Beep, beep beeeep!"

BebuLamar

Schoee wrote:

Better off with a smartphone as they update time regularly through the internet to an atomic clock.
For wristwatches I use time.gov to get the correct time

The time signal via shortwave radio is slightly more accurate than time signal received via the internet but they are in miliseconds. So it's not really relevant. I found it's very hard to receive good shortwave radio signal for those so called atomic clocks to work well. And independent quartz clock is accurate to about 15 seconds a month or so unless it's a higher precision one.

Schoee Loc: Europe

BebuLamar wrote:

The time signal via shortwave radio is slightly more accurate than time signal received via the internet but they are in miliseconds. So it's not really relevant. I found it's very hard to receive good shortwave radio signal for those so called atomic clocks to work well. And independent quartz clock is accurate to about 15 seconds a month or so unless it's a higher precision one.

yes you are spot on with the quartz. my quartz wristwatch i checked for a period of months and it loses 15 secs per month. also with quartz they will usually be consistent with their error, ie. will always lose 15 sec per month, whereas mechanical watches go plus or minus depending on lots of factors.

whatdat Loc: Del Valle, Tx.

My watch used to reset itself automatically twice a year, within a matter of hours of the change. For some reason, I have had to do it manually the last 2 or 3 times. After 8 years of so of having the watch, has the signal gotten weaker on my Citizen Eco? Battery, maybe?