As with all things RF, "your mileage may vary". I have a wall-type clock I picked up at Dayton a year or so ago, in the bargain pile in the flea market for $10 (brand name unknown, but it has a sticker on the back that says "Made in China"). Works fine, until you get a marginal signal from WWVB (which is on 60 kHz, by the way -- check out the WWVB web site [http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/wwvb.cfm] to see how they pump out a lot of power out on 60 kHz, also the format of the timing signals, which are set at the rate of 1 bit per second). Apparently some of the chip sets don't bother to check the error bits, and will set weird times and dates if a bit gets lost here or there. I keep this particular clock in my office on top of the cube cabinet so it at least has a clear view west over the cube farms out the other side of the building, and sometimes in the morning when I come in, it will be showing a completely wrong date or some odd time. Placing it in the nearby east-facing window across the aisle and forcing a synchronization corrects it.
I also have a Citizen 'atomic' watch that works quite well at home at night on the dresser (the WWVB 'atomic' clocks auto-sync at 2 or 3 in the morning local time to take advantage of the enhanced night-time propagation on 60 kHz), as long as I keep it away a foot or so from my CDMA-based Sprint cell phone. Otherwise, emissions from the phone charging circuitry seem to interfere with it. I would certainly welcome something that would increase the accuracy of the clock in the K3. It tends to wander quite a bit, and it's a hassle to have to dump all the various programs I have talking to the K3 over the serial port via Larry's (N8LP) excellent bridge program, so I can run the K3 utility to synchronize the K3 clock to the computer clock. You'd think that after spending thousands of dollars on a rig like the K3, that it would at least keep good time. 8-p BTW, that last statement is what MY customers tell me about MY product 8-) (and no, it's main purpose in life is NOT to keep good time, either). I just couldn't resist using that argument on someone else. 73, -- Dave, N8SBE > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: WWV-driven station clock that displays zulu > time > From: Charles R Tropp <charlestr...@yahoo.com> > Date: Thu, June 02, 2011 4:46 am > To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > > The problem with the La Crosse clocks and all "atomic" clocks is that if > you have a computer near your operating position (as most of us have > these days), the clock must be at least 6 feet away (as per the > instructions that come with the clock) otherwise there will be no > reception of the WWVB signals. That means you will need to get a wall > mounted clock that is large enough for you to see and it probably should > be mounted on a wall that is facing the WWVB signal you are trying to > receive for best reception of the WWVB signals which is hit or miss most > nights. (e.g. West if you are East of Ft Collins, Colorado). The model > WS-8157U-IT can be set to UTC if you wish. > > 73, Charles, N2SO > > On 6/2/2011 12:20 AM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote: > > The Lacrosse Technology WS-8115U, WS-8157U and WS-8117U are all WWVB > > based clocks that can be set to display UTC in 24 Hour format. They > > can also display indoor/outdoor temperatures and day/date. > > > > The Lacrosse Technology products are available several places on-line > > look for places like www.atomicclocks.com, www.atomic-clocks.com and > > probably other places ... check around for the best price and make > > sure you can download a manual in advance. There are many brands of > > "Atomic Clocks" available on-line and they all seem to be based on > > a limited number of commodity receiver/clock chip sets but most do > > not have on-line manuals to confirm the ability to select time zones > > other than ET/CT/MT/PT with/without DST. > > > > 73, > > > > ... Joe, W4TV > > > > > > On 6/1/2011 9:26 PM, k7hbg @dslextreme.com wrote: > >> Great request Wayne! > >> > >> I would like a clock like Wayne describes too. All (polite) suggestions > >> Welcome. ;o) > >> > >> 73, Bob K7HBG > >> ______________________________________________________________ > >> Elecraft mailing list > >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > >> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > >> > >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > >> > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Elecraft mailing list > > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
