3 ms·
Right. WWVB clocks running off the 60KHz pretty much solve the clock problem in the US. All my clocks at home are basic LaCrosse analog clocks. They have the in
by Animats 9mo ago
Right. WWVB clocks running off the 60KHz pretty much solve the clock problem in the US.
All my clocks at home are basic LaCrosse analog clocks. They have the internal sensors needed to tell when each hand is straight up, so they can set themselves without user input. On power up, they step until the hands are straight up, then sync when they get an update.
You have to set the time zone with a switch when installing. Only the four US time zones are available.
Battery life is 1-2 years, which is pretty good for a device with a radio.
There are UK and Japan clocks that work similarly, but use national time sources. There are G-Shock watches which synchronize from multiple sources. While running on solar power. Those keep accurate time with no maintenance. That's an impressive achievement.
- js2 9mo ago> WWVB clocks running off the 60KHz pretty much solve the clock problem in the US. YMMV depending upon location. I've never gotten a WWVB clock to work in North Carolina. On the East Coast, the signal maybe sorta works for a few hours overnight: https://tf.nist.gov/tf-cgi/wwvbmonitor_e.cgi https://tf.nist.gov/tf-cgi/wwvbmonitor_e.cgi T̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶n̶s̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶D̶S̶T̶ ̶a̶u̶t̶o̶m̶a̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶l̶y̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶p̶u̶l̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶w̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶u̶n̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶U̶S̶ ̶l̶o̶c̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶a̶d̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶S̶T̶ ̶s̶i̶l̶l̶i̶n̶e̶s̶s̶. Edit: My bad, they can switch in/out of DST automatically, at least when they can work at all.
- zymhan 9mo agoI'm fairly certain the radio time signal has a mechanism to convey daylight savings, I've had alarm clocks that managed DST without any input. > The DST status bits indicate United States daylight saving time rules. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWVB https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWVB
- js2 9mo agoYou're right. I was wrong about that, mostly because I've never had a WWVB clock work for me at all.
- unsnap_biceps 9mo agoI have a few WWVB clocks. The ones that are on the north/south walls will never sync on their own, but east/west walls will sync just fine. I just take down the north/south clocks twice a year and lean them on a west facing wall and they'll sync overnight. I think that most WWVB clocks just don't have the size to have an omni-directional antenna.
- js2 9mo agoIf I have to take the clock off the wall and move it outside, I may as well set it by hand. In any case, I've tried leaving one outside facing west and it still doesn't work. I've literally never had one of these clocks work from NC. Meanwhile, the WiFi NTP clock I purchased just works, like I always hoped the WWVB clocks would have. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46948343 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46948343