Atomic Clock Reception Problems Are NOT a Problem with Radio Wave Apps
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- Опубліковано 2 лют 2021
- In this video I go In Depth with the Junghans MEGA app and I talk about other, similar apps.
Here are a couple of TV advertisements for Mr. Microphone. The first is the American version...
• Mr. Microphone By Ronc...
...and the next one appears to be a British remake of the commercial which starts out with exactly the same script...
• Ronco Advert - Mr. Mic...
Meanwhile... if you'd like to see some of my previous tips about how to deal with radio reception difficulties involving "Atomic" radio controlled clocks and watches, here's that video from me...
• Reception Help for Rad...
But what about this video right here and right now? Well, it turns out that if you are having radio reception problems with your radio controlled watch or clock, there are some apps that will help you simulate the atomic time broadcasts using your smart phone or tablet. It's rather impressive that someone figured out how to do this. Lots of folks have commented over the past few years about an app called Clock Wave which costs just $1.99, but it turns out that there are free alternatives too. I decided to try out the free Jughans MEGA app and I was impressed with the results.
Generally, when it comes to my clocks and watches, radio reception problems aren't an issue where I live. I'm only about 350 miles from the atomic time transmitter WWVB in Fort Collins, Colorado. But, even around here, radio reception might be a problem around buildings made of concrete and steel or in areas where there are lots of other devices which create radio interference. And, of course, these apps can be very handy in places where the atomic time transmitters are out of range anyway.
A word of caution: If you use one of these atomic time transmitter apps you may have to experiment with the exact placement of your clock or watch in relation to your smart phone or tablet. The watch or clock should be very close to the smart phone or tablet. A slight adjustment in any direction could make all the difference. Also, be sure that your smart phone or tablet is set to the correct time zone and that your clock or watch is also set to the correct time zone. With many Casio watches that have the Multiband 6 receivers, the watches won’t even try to receive atomic time data if they are set to time zones (or the cities) which are considered out-of-range. - Наука та технологія
I was not happy when I heard that NIST was thinking about shutting down WWVB. It's probably the one government service that people actually use.
If you're like me and you don't live close to Ft Collins, be sure to always set your new WWVB clock manually the first time. In my area clocks can only hear WWVB in the middle of the night, and that's when they look for the signal. But if the clock isn't (approximately) set, they may be looking during the daytime and hearing nothing day after day. They don't listen all the time - usually only between midnight and 4am or so. It also helps if you orient the clock so the face or back of the clock is pointed roughly toward Ft. Collins as the antenna inside is directional. I have a casio waveceptor watch and I had to try various locations in the bedroom until I found one that worked. I always place my watch in that same spot overnight and face it towards Ft Collins and it sets reliably every night.
Thank you! I've just synchnonized an awg-m100 with clock sync (the last app in your presentation). It worked. Fantastic alternative to know.
The Junghans worked for my GW-7900 !!!
Thank you so much for this video.
Alléluia I live in Canada Québec lower town so impossible to update via radio wave…
And my lacrosse clock is so frustrating to manually set that I give up letting the clock with one hour behind…
The clock-wave app solved my problem !
Many Thanks !
I just downloaded "radio watch synch" app for android, and it works great. I'm in Australia, but my watch is expecting LAX radio signal - wwvb, but it plays the signal in my local time, and it worked find first time.
Yes, it uses the audio hardware at about 20kHz sending square waves through it, which create a harmonic at 60khz, and generate a little bit of emr.
BTW: if you had a metal box, say a biscuit case, that would shield nicely from outside interference.
BTW: Of course I could set the watch to expect signals from any of the several time broadcasts it supports, and choose the appropriate signal in the app.
Nice video, Greg. I live in North Texas and have no problems getting the atomic clock broadcast if.... I put the watch near a window over night, so it is more likely to sync up. If I wear the watch to bed, or don’t leave near a window it won’t sync up.
I'm in NY and I get atomic clock reception in one corner of basement farthest away from my computer. I'm not sure if that's just a sweet spot or because there aren't many electronic devices near that spot. Window sills also work on the upper floors.
Thank you! The junghans app worked on my mtg 900 & GW 500a! I get the WWVB updates very sparingly in NJ, maybe a handful of times in a month if I’m lucky but with this app I hope I can get it anytime or most times now! Do you think having it on power save has any affects on wwvb?
Hi Greg. I have a couple of Casio Multi Band 6 watches. I am located up in Sherwood Park, Alberta Canada, so quite a way from Fort Collins. My watches sync to Atomic time every night no problem and I'll tell what I think is why. If I wore my Ramgeman to bed at night, it would sync no problem. But if I took it off and set it on my dresser, it was hit and miss. So what I found was , by wearing it to bed at night and tossing and turning, I think, kept my watch "awake" and avoided the power saver from shutting the watch down, and it would grab the radio reception fine. So what I did was turn OFF "Power Saving" feature and now I just place all my Casio Multi Band 6 watches on the dresser, go to bed and every night, without a miss, the watches always grab the atomic radio signal and they are always updated and never a miss. This works for me. Thanks for your great videos, Always enjoy watching them. Cheers!!
I will give that a try.....only problem with that is that I move around a lot when i sleep and my Casio 5610 auto light function turns on and off all night.
Another possibility is wearing the watch enhances reception.
Good to know! I am in Saskatchewan about an hour from the North Dakota and Montana border. My Casio atomic watch is on it's way.
@@COVID...19 You will love it! Im now at the point, I have 3 Casio with Multi Band 6, so any future watch purchase MUST have MultiBand 6!! In fact I have a Sangean Clock radio with atomic time on order :)
@@PaulHVAC1 That's awesome.
Greg, thanks for fascinating video. I've a question. I have a G-Shock with only the U.S.'s 60 KHz frequency. I notice the the UK station is also on 60 KHz. Is the time formatting the same such that the watch would work should I go to the UK? If not, I guess I can just use one of the apps.
Thanks so much Greg! I live in Sydney and my wave ceptor 5161 won't allow me to set the watch to the signal receiving mode (I can however manually reset it). I thought it was faulty until I saw your comment below that the watch won't allow me to do it because we have no reception here in Australia. Also in the manual, it says that you can only set the watch to the signal receiving mode by using these timezones LON, PAR,
ATH, HKG, TYO, HNL, ANC,
LAX, DEN, CHI, or NYC. Thanks again :)
Great suggestion! Thanks. It worked. Just make sure to turn off the Junghans mode as that is different than WWVB or other transmissions. I’m also going to try the “hang it on a metal bar” approach, essentially adding a much bigger antenna.
The metal bar trick works every single night for me on the east coast of the USA, with a Casio wv59 (5 band)
Another fantastic episode Greg. I'm reminded of a device I bought recently called the Kardia Mobile. It's a small, two-finger EKG reader that cordlessly connects to your phone and displays your EKG via an app. Rather than using Bluetooth it feeds some kind of clever inaudible signal into your mic. Kinda the reverse of these time apps.
One thing to keep in mind: these emulators are only "posing" as WWV. The time displayed on the app isn't coming directly from NIST like with the actual WWV, it appears to simply be the phone provider's time. Now from my spot checking it seems like my cellular network stays pretty close to NIST, but picky users may want to check the accuracy of the time displayed on the app before use.
I just got a ProTrek PRW 6900Y and I was having a heck of a time trying to get it to accept a signal (my other Casio multi-bands work fine). The app works perfectly. Thanks Greg!
Clock Sync on "Beast Mode" will set my GW-9400 after about 5 minutes, it has yet to set my GW-M5610 though. Beas Mode just told me I had to watch an ad to use it and never displayed any ads but started working. All it seemed to do was increase the volume.
I enjoy your video's. Just wanted to say my Casio watch picks up WWVB every night here in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. 2,370.34 km or 1,472.86 mi. I was quite happily surprised.
The Junghans app worked but it is off by an hour - DST is on, as it should be in Canada. I had to set the time 1 hour forward in the app e.g. 3pm to get 2pm on the clock... any thoughts?
UPDATE: WWVB Emulator has DST option - so it all works perfect now!
What I suspect is happening (and, yes, I am an electrical engineer, but I specialize in digital stuff) is that the WWVB is at 60 KHz. Standard audio is at up to 20 KHz in bandwidth, which means that you need a sample rate of at least 40 KHz (Nyquist's theorem). CD-quality audio is at just over 40 KHz sample rate, and even high-quality audio is 48 KHz. So, it is unlikely that the D/A converter in the audio path could handle this. HOWEVER.... If you send a square wave, you get harmonics (odd harmonics, to be exact). So if you send a 1 KHz square wave, you will get a certain amount of signal at 3 and 5 KHz. So, if you want a signal at 60 KHz, then you can just output a 12 KHz square wave and the 5th harmonic would be right where you want it. Or make a 20 KHz square wave and hope that enough energy is in the 3rd harmonic. The modulation just depends on turning the signal power down -- easy to do. ---------- Now, as to how this gets to your watch... One way to make an antenna is to just make a bunch of turns of wire (especially at lower frequencies). Dozens or hundreds of turns. Just open up any old AM radio and look for the iron bar covered in wire for proof. Now, guess what is in an old-fashioned electromagnetic speaker? Hundreds of turns of wire. It is designed to keep most of the EM energy inside, as it is used to make a magnetic field that moves the coil in relation to a magnet, but some energy will escape. ---------- I hope this makes sense. So it is inefficient. You only get a fraction of the power since you will rely on a harmonic frequency, and most of the signal energy gets converted into sound, but it is crazy enough that it might just work.
Also, in relation to "harmonics" that I mentioned. If you have a 1 KHz sine wave, 100% of the energy goes into that 1 KHz signal. When you have any other shape of signal (sawtooth, square, triangle, human speech, guitars, etc.), only a portion of the energy is in the fundamental (low) frequency. The rest of the energy goes into higher harmonics which shape the wave. Go to the Wikipedia page on "square wave," the "Fourier analysis" section for some more info.
I can only imagine how tricky it was for someone to discover this would work for this specific purpose (emulating WWVB). I mean, first, someone had to decide that this exact thing was what they wanted to do and then they did it. Wow!
I’ve found Junghans doesn’t stay in sync as well as paid apps like Clock Wave with my G-shock. Pick it up off just slightly next day. Thank you for your inspiring videos, gentleman.
I think I was able to boost the signal by touching my keys to the back metal plate of my g shock, I think it actually worked because before where I would get absolutey nothing, the signal strength indicator went up to max as soon as I touched my key to it, and low and behold it worked this time!
Hi Greg. Like the videos. I have a citizen Jdm watch that is radio controlled to the Japanese mast. Is there a way of changing it to European or US reception? I find it hard to believe it is not possible.
Thanks for your video! i was able to sync a couple of square g shocks with the Junghans app!
Great information. Those WWVB simulators are pretty clever. Here is some information about direct reception of WWVB and DF77 in Germany. WWVB broadcasts on a frequency of 60 kHz and DF77 broadcasts on, you guessed it, 77 kHz. Radio waves at these frequencies (and up to about 3000 kHz) are absorbed by the lowest layer of the ionosphere, known as the D layer. The D layer only exists on the part of the Earth that is in daylight. As the Earth rotates away from the Sun, the D layer gradually fades away, and long distance reception of radio signals at lower frequencies becomes possible, which is why it is possible to hear AM radio stations in The 540 to 1600 kHz band from far away, at night. Thus, the best time for direct reception of signals from WWVB and DF77 will be at night, and the same is true for all the time signal stations that broadcast on low frequencies. Reception of signals from these stations is also affected by the season of the year, because of how seasons affect the length of the day. Winter means longer periods of darkness and thus, a more complete disappearance of the D layer; the opposite is true in summer. So, summer months are the most challenging for long distance reception of low frequency radio signals, and winter months are best. A further complication is introduced by the listener's location relative to the transmitter. If the signal has to cross the day-night terminator to reach the receiver, then depending on the extent of D layer absorption in the daylight portion of the signal path, the signal may or may not reach the receiver. Also, as many comments have noted, minimizing blockage of signals by various obstacles can go a long way toward ensuring reliable reception. A bit of experimentation with respect to clock placement may be helpful.
Do waveceptors set the date? The year? I'm doing some experiments with the German signal and it seems inconsistent. Sometimes date is corrected, sometimes not.
Does anyone know if the £1.79 payment for the ‘Pro Edition’ is a one-off payment, or is it a rolling subscription payment for the “Radio Wave Sync” app?
By the way to sync a Casio watch you have to disable "enable Junghans sync" in the settings. I don't know why but it's a factor.
I suppose it will take some experiments for each individual to find the best settings and the best placement to make this work with whatever clock or watch they are using. I’m still finding out how to make this work with each of my devices. And I still suspect my results are mixed because I already have good reception from the real WWVB transmitter.
Dear Paul Joseph B: How do we do this?
Hallo Greg, found the Junghans app for Android as well. Installed it, although I have great reception here In the Netherlands from the German Mainflingen radio tower complex. This must be great news for the people in Australia, they are not so lucky!
I'm going to try the app when I get home. I bought a RC clock a few months ago, permanently 4, 8 or 12 o'clock. I hope it works so much
I'm home and I can't get the clock to synch with the app
Nice video, Greg! In north Texas, I can just leave the watch near a window and it syncs up. Don’t wear it to bed, though, it won’t sync up.
Weird! I'm located a bit further south (north-east México) and it syncs even when keeping it on my wrist while sleeping almost every 3 out of 5 nights.
I was watching the Good Timekeeper Show with Greg Anderson and was synching my Casio watch with the Junghans App at the same time. To my complete surprise it didn't work. But when I stopped the video and silenced my host, Greg Anderson, my Casio synchronized perfectly.
It turns out I can't watch my favourite watch channel and synchronize my watch at the same time. Such is life and Greg's voice interfers with the signal.
It's a great channel and I have become a big fan. The Gshocks are great. I have two, the GAW 100 as a beater (it's an amazing watch, big but so easy to read) and the GWT b200 for a more stylish look ( nice seconds hand). I am considering the GW 7900 as it looks so cool.
My first GShock was a GW M5610-1B which was fine but I could hardly read the negative display and I had to give it to my son. Now I only consider the positive display because I am too old for the stealth look.
I live in the South of Spain, great for Tough Solar, but the radio reception isn't good. If I leave the watch in the patio overnight there's no problem but in the house it's dodgey.
I am enjoying the Junghans app you recommended because it works and it's so interesting how it functions.
I am left-handed so I bump into everything and I never take my watch off all day, swim, shower or work. As such the Gshocks are perfect for me, being so tough and weightless.
I am surprised Casio hasn't come up with radio reception app for their customers in the Southern hemisphere, I have family in Australia (the Irish emigrate everywhere).
Anyway, thanks for the channel and I'd recommend Gshock watches for anyone.
I’m very fond of my AWGM100 watches and I realize that the GAW100’s operations are the same using the same buttons AND there are G-Steel watches that also operate the same way. So it would be good if I explored those others. I understand they have backlights inside the LCD screens (which is different from the AWGM100 watches). Then again, those other watches cost more. Hmmm.
The GAW and the AWG are exactly the same price on Amazon Spain 120 euros. The GAW has a great backlight. I'm thinking of going for a AWG instead of the other I was thinking of (which is also 120 euros) but I kind of worry about the backlight. Did you say it was poor?
I just received a GAW-100 watch TODAY. I will make a video about it tomorrow and I will compare its light with the light on the AWGM100.
I have a question for Greg and for anybody. I have an old Casio Wave Ceptor WV-300A which is still well preserved after probably at least 10 years (I am not sure). When I press to receive reception it searches and searches and in the end says "ERR!"
Let’s see if we can troubleshoot this. Has this watch always been this way and, if not, how long ago did it change? Also, do you have other radio controlled clocks and watches and, if so, how well do they receive?
@@GoodTimekeeper Unfortunately no, and no. I bought the watch on ebay used because it is in great condition and cost very little. No other radio controlled watches or clocks. Apart from this function all other functions work perfectly. It also appears it must have received it at least once because when I press the D button to "receive" once it shows time and date January 26th, 12:06am. That must be when it received the signal last?
I lived in Singapore, tried both the Junghan and Radio Wave app on my android, both didn't work on my G shock. Anyone has any success story to share? Thanks and much appreciated.
I have a Sharp Atomic clock that only receives WWVB. How can I use it outside the USA, in an out-of-range region like the Middle East?
In case of reception problems, move all other ac/dc converters / chargers etc away from the clock (or the clock from the converter)
Very interesting topic Greg, I don’t own an atomic watch, perhaps soon
is it possible to work in citizen radio controlled clock made from Japan but used in Philippines?thanks
I wish to replace the quartz clock movement in a simple wall mounted clock. Is there such a thing as a clock movement that updates it’s time via wifi instead of WWVB? That would solve a lot of problems I have with radio controlled clocks.
There are only a few WiFi clocks out there right now and most are sold for industrial and/or institutional use so they can be very expensive. I saw one from Bulova (called the “Bulova Connect” model) for about $77 on Amazon and that’s the best price I could find. But I haven’t yet found a kit to convert an existing analog clock to WiFi.
@@GoodTimekeeper Greg, thank you for the information. Based on that, I will use a standard quartz movement in my clock. Manually adjusting it twice a year for DST seems less time consuming than using a radio wave app, especially for a wall mounted clock.
Solved easily. I live in northern Ohio. My awg-m100 would not update. I placed a ~5” piece of metal through the band, placed it near a window and it synced 1st attempt. Laying it on a cookie sheet may work too. For some reason the metal sufficiently improves reception.
Great idea! 👍
Suddenly the radio watch sync worked on my Citizen, I just flipped the watch facing down to the screen near the loudspeaker
Very difficult to get the signal in North East New Jersey. The Junghans App worked great on an old La Crosse wall clock.... Thanks
WWVB Emulator for Andriod works pretty good. I tried Radio Watch Sync with my casio wave ceptor watch and it doesn't work as well as WWVN Emulator. I noticed both are off by 1 second
This app worked for my Casio thanks for the info
I use a different app for Android called WWBV emulator (and atomic clock to help set my phone the most accurate to atomic time) and it works great. It only take about 2-3 minutes to set my clock. I live in an apartment where there's little to no signal, so the app is what I use to set it
North-east México lurker here; I can consistently get my Rangeman to sync almost every night by just keeping the watch on my wrist and staying away from electrical stuff, and I can ALWAYS get it to sync by placing it at the window that faces north and forcing it to manually sync.
That is great advice. I will try that.
I have a little weather station that is hooked to an AC/converter that's plugged I to the wall socket.
The outdoor sensor is the receiver and transmits the time data along with its temperature and humidity readings to the base station.
One day the time wouldn't sync anymore and it kept failing.
It turned out it wasn't the outdoor sensor, the cause was another powder adapter I had put near the base.
I removed it and the problem was gone.
My concern is that we’ll have a lot more of these sources of radio interference in the future. Well done with troubleshooting this one.
So the app sync phone time to radio or sync from wwvb
We get one AM station, the 50,000 watt Celar Channel station in Cleveland IF we put the radio next to the west window in the batroom upstairs. Back when MLB was a sports entertainment operation instead of a political deal, and I was a fan, I listened over my car radio parked in the driveway.
Good info, thanks!
I couldn't get my Casio GAW to set with the Junghands app until I put the watch face down on my mobile's screen and it worked no problem.
Yes. I’m guessing a lot of trial and error is necessary with this method of setting the time. Every watch and every mobile device will be just a little different, but once you find a way that works you’ll likely be able to repeat it with the same results every time. I am still experimenting.
I set my clock from the computer or a gubmint time server, then I put it by the window that faves Colorado at night. It syncs every time.
My watches are running really well, so I don't seed to sync them.
Great video! Thanks a lot :)
Hello Greg, sure enjoyed your information on atomic time keeping. I have a Fossil ABACUS AU-8001 atomic watch. I have looked high and low trying to locate instructions to how to set the device. No luck. I have a couple of AU-4008's with instructions, but can't apply them to the 8001. Just wondering if anyone out there might have instructions on how to set this one up, new watch but can't set it. Would appreciate anything you might know about this watch. Keep up the great casts, look forward to new ones. Thanks. Ervin Dale Simpson.
I’m not familiar with that one. I thought I was able to find the manual but it was a broken link (to a page that’s not there anymore). Have you tried the “contact us” link at support.fossil.com yet?
yes another one is 800 khz (am radio) if you play sound through a speaker ( works on iphone xr and 14 plus what i tested) you will hear a distorted version if the sound from the speaker, however it has to be very close to the receiver about less than 4 inches
I have Sangean rcr 3 was doing great reception in Canada 🇨🇦
But after a power failure now it's not getting any reception
Unfortunately, the apartment building that I live in is constructed like a Faraday Cage, blocking out nearly all exterior radio signals, and especially signals below 30 MHz.
any way to make this signal strong enough to run 24/7 through the whole house?
I’m thinking that due to the recent damage of the southern WWVB antenna, that’s the reason my new Franklin digital analog hybrid clock hasn’t set itself yet. It’s tried time and time again and failed. I think I might give one of these apps a go.
WWVB reception is definitely weaker now. Make sure the antenna in your clock is facing Ft. Collins, as they're more sensitive in two directions. Usually out the front and back of the clock. So face the front or back roughly toward Colorado. Clocks in my house will only set on walls facing East/West (Ft Collins is west of me). If I put them on North/South facing walls they'll never set because of their directional antennas and the weak WWVB signal.
Love the channel
The app does not work with my Casios. I wish Casio would use some of their revenue to build an app like this that works.
Hi Greg. I live in Australia. I purchased a La Crosse 404-1235UA-SS, apparently this has the best receiver of all their clocks, not good enough for SE Australia. I can't get the clock to sync with the phone app either. I think the clock is tuned to only receive the WWVB signal. Do you have any advice? I desperately want an atomic signal. Thanks
As far as I know that clock only tries to receive the time from WWVB, which means it’s probably only going to show time for the USA time zones. I am aware of analog clocks which set themselves using a local WiFi connection but I haven’t tried one yet. I wonder if they have a model which can be set to Australia time zones. I have seen a WiFi clock with the Bulova brand name on it. I will see what I can find out about it.
According to this web page it appears this will set itself to the local time worldwide... www.theclockdepot.com/clocks-blog/operating-instructions-for-bulova-connect-wifi-clocks/
@@GoodTimekeeper Thanks Greg, I'll keep trying using the WWVB only on the app. I can manually adjust the hours with this model once it sync's. If I ever get it to
@@GoodTimekeeper Thanks Greg, I'd prefer not to buy another clock, I fear I may have to if I want the atomic time on my clock. I really appreciate you looking into this
I would like to know how slow radio-controlled time-signals are. By the time that the signal has been generated in the atomic clock of a (remote?) observatory, then modulated, demodulated and processed ad-infinitum, how late would it be in reaching a particular timepiece; and how long before the user of the latter is informed of such? Oughtn't, to be on the safe-side, the originator of such a signal broadcast it about ½ second before it is due? Such correction could be made easily.
The speed of light would be okay if the Universe were still the size of the present-day Moon. But it's much larger nowayears, And, in most circuits, electric pulses propagate at considerably-less than lightspeed
I suppose there's a very, very slight lag, but these consumer-level clocks receiving the time from WWVB likely aren't able to display precisely enough to correct that anyway. I mean, when the hands proceed to a new second, did the new second begin when the hand STARTED to move or when it STOPPED moving to the new marker? That's a small fraction of a second difference.
I know that when you watch a TV show on cable TV or from a satellite system there are several times when an otherwise "live" program is encoded, streamed, decoded, compressed, re-encoded, re-streamed etc. in between the TV station and your TV monitor, which can cause a considerable delay of several seconds. But WWVB has just one place where the data stream is sent and there is no additional processing of that data stream before it reaches a radio controlled clock. So maybe the speed of light is sufficient.
I once read an article explaining the lag time between an event happening in front of you and the moment when your eye senses it BEFORE your brain processes what your eye is seeing and THEN you actually have the conscious thought that you saw that event. So, in a sense, EVERYTHING we perceive is already over, even when we see it in person with our own eyes. The lag time interval is very, very small but it must still exist.
I reckon that the delay is more than as slight as you are telling us, especially if satellite reception and transmission are involved. Have accurate measurements not been taken? Let's see the answer clearly!
WWVB goes directly to my watches and clocks without going to any satellites in between. I know there are some very detailed technical articles on the NIST website. I don't know if there are any which mention delay measurements when sending atomic time data from Boulder, but it wouldn't surprise me if that information is buried in a document that anyone can discover in public files. I believe that the official entities which operate these clocks in various counties are sharing their time data on a regular basis so SOMEONE must know how their data compares to what other clocks are showing around the world.
Wouldn't the signal from WWVB override the times on the watches set incorrectly eventually?
Yes. All of the watches and clocks which I set to the wrong time for this video were able to correct themselves when they did their normal reception functions a few hours later.
It would be great to have a device that receives the signal and amplifies it locally to service several watches at once. As a victim of Watch Pox, I have too many "atomic" watches, and, given my distance from Ft. Coillins, have to be careful to point them correctly: 12 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 7 o'clock - all face up and as near west as possible.
I WAS JUST THINKING THAT! I get free merch from Amazon, and clocks are a hot item, especially the radio controlled ones. The clocks need an external antenna like a small radio uses, an external remote that you can mount in a good signal area and then it sends it to the clock. They stopped short on this issue with these clocks.
find out the location of the antenna on your Atomic Clock- and build an antenna to act as a driven element for it- that will increase your chance of getting good reception.
I´m lucky. I live close to the German border (in the Netherlands). And I have an excelent reception from the transmitter in Mainflingen.
Being that Casio has so many watches that are Atomic guided.....they should make an app for their loyal fans around the world that are far removed from these 6 atomic towers around the world......wonder if anyone knows if the material that the watch is made of help with reception.....plastic vs stainless steel vs titanium......anyone?
"Atomic towers?" The material the watch is made of doesn't much matter because the part of the watch with the antenna will always be made of plastic to allow the signal through.
When I tried the Junghans app before I found it didn't properly handle the "DST on" flag.
Yes, that is one of the criticisms I saw when I started reading about it. I will have to look at these apps again after March 14 (which is the next time we’ll switch to DST here in the USA).
big help.. it works on my clock
Thank you so much, It works.
Cannot connect My citizen watch to Junghans, but it can with clock sync
Ur the man Greg!
I feel like this would happen:
Me: *trying to set watch with the app*
People in my life: *texting me right in the middle of it*
DANG IT!!! 😂
There is an app called dcf77 emulator for android. It is less cluttered than the Junghans app. So worth trying if you live in the EU
Is there any type of WWVB extender on the market?
I may have seen something years ago for industrial use. Maybe at BRGPrecision.com. But today they seem to be selling clocks which synchronize over Ethernet or WiFi. With these more affordable WWVB clocks perhaps it’s best to try that trick folks use when they put a watch around a metal object like a bicycle frame overnight.
Probably using the coil in the speaker 🔊. Blinking a light is plausible if you can do it fast like fiber optic
Una buena presentación.
My RC clocks have not synchronized with WWVB for months now. They used to be reliable. Even my commercial receiver cant pick up WWVB. It was reported that they had problems with one of their antennas.
yes. they report it will be fixed about the end of june.
Very strange. Crazy that this can work at all, though I've tried using apps on both Android and iOS to synch a Japanese G-Shock in Florida with no luck. Interestingly enough, I was able to successfully sync it with a US model on the first try. Very strange.
I also bought a radio transmitter wall clock from Osaka, Japan and brought it back with me to the Philippines. It didn't work for me either.
It would be interesting for you to try setting the UltrAtomic clock with these apps. I don't believe that the apps include phase modulation, so the UltrAtomic clock, which recovers time data from WWVB's phase modulation, would need to be backward compatible to the amplitude modulation data format when it fails to find phase modulated data present.
Phase modulation was added to WWVB's signal in 2012. Phase modulated data can be recovered under weaker and noisier signal conditions than amplitude modulated data, so the UltrAtomic clock will set itself in areas where other radio controlled clocks are unable to receive a strong enough signal to set themselves.
Note that the iPhone and other smart phones can not be programmed to produce a 60 kHz tone directly. They generate a subharmonic, probably 20 kHz, and depend on the phone to generate enough signal at the 60 kHz harmonic (3rd harmonic of 20 kHz). It should be possible to construct an amplifier which would distort the signal to produce a stronger signal at the 60 kHz harmonic. A possible arrangement would deliver the signal to the amplifier via Bluetooth. The clock receives an electromagnetic wave generated by the phone's speaker. The amplifier output must be converted to an electromagnetic wave for the clock to receive.
My radio clocks constantly are changing time sometimes as much as 2 hours or even weeks over night.
I think it's making a 60kHz sound (like the 60kHz radio signal, with the time data encoded, and it ends up sounding like clicks.
Radio wave sync funciona con los relojes G-SHOCK en colombia. Lo hice a las 11 pm y quedo la hora colombiana perfecta. Se demoró unos minutos pero funcionó.
Good 👍
Off subject here but I want people to read this so more of us will think to ask for it. It would only make sense if the clock in every car were an atomic clock. It would be great if the clock in our cars just took care of itself. Cars have antennas that greatly increase receiving the Colorado signal. I say this in confidence of it working because I live in Connecticut and my atomic clock receives the signal being near a basement window of my home that is facing southwesterly. It doesn't have to be in the basement but that's where I have it and I would think a window at ground level blocked by shrubbery would be more difficult to receive the Colorado signal.
Also, can someone address why the USA doesn't have a repeater signal located somewhere that would make it so the entire lower forty-eight states could get the signal.
Thanks very much....
I tried activating the Junghans Mega App, accidentally, to my home sound system.
My poor inner ear and my poor dog...
Not the greatest idea, as it turns out.
LoL!😂 That was something that I was going to do for greater intensity than phone. I guess that I shall refrain per your experience and word of caution. 😉
It isn’t converting audio into the signal the watch can understand, it’s the oscillation of the electricity through the coil of the speaker. You could take the magnet and diaphragm out of the speaker, and just leave the coil attached to the speaker port and it would work the same. Being so close, the frequency doesn’t need to be exactly tuned.
- just got to you’re explanation and you are correct…..
If anyone remembers pre-flip phone cell phones? Before your phone rang, you could hear a specific noise in your computer speakers if your phone is close. That’s kinda the opposite effect - a strong, close radio signal (the cell’s “ring back” signal) is inducing a current in the speaker coil, which in turn creates a variable magnetic field which makes the coil (and therefore the diaphragm) vibrate and produce a sound. It’s not that the speaker coil is tuned to the exact frequency of the cell signal, it’s that the signal is so strong and so close that it’ll induce electron flow in an extremely wide range of coil wraps, wire diameter, and coil radius.
Cool didn't know this exists
I live in Germany and radio-controlled clocks are very popular here. I don't think this system will be shut down anytime soon. We Germans like to keep technologies that are not dependent on the internet, like FM radio or cash Euros. 🙂 Casio has put the new series of G-shocks on the market with Bluetooth. I think this is a good alternative for people where Multiband 6 is not available.
l live in the southern Caribbean i received WWVB Radio signal with my lacrosse ws
I live in Illinois and easily get an atomic clock reception every night. Love my G-shocks.
Clock wave signal app will sync the correct time in Japan though it only show you your current time in your country
This does not work on my Citizen Blue Angel.
From the Watch Cave ? 😀
why is there only one in the country? why so few in the world?
Greg Anderson gets the real thing every night!
what is the science behind? why is a radio signal being simulated by sound wave??
Time services like WWVB send UTC time, not local time.
Rest your watch on top of a himalayan salt lamp. It works every time!
I have that Radio hack clock!!!!
Alas, I am in an area that does not have cell phone service. No apps.
I picked the best window - west side - facing Colorado. No soap. BUT after I removed the window screen IT WORKED!!!
i used to have an atomic clock and it sucked. it was supposed to keep accurate time so i wouldn't have to make adjustments, especially for daylight savings. it didn't work, especially for daylight savings. thank goodness for smartphones, tablets, computers and the internet. as for as my analog clocks, well it is what it is