Can atomic clock in Houston receive NIST signal?

[John Miller]

Isn't it 60khz though? These clocks don't work off the 10-15-20 MHz bands,
do they? I thought they used a loop antenna inside.

Yes, that's right.

 

[[email protected]]

WWVB at 60Khz is a ground wave over the coverage area. That's why a VLF
frequency was chosen for the broadcast. Typically, frequencies below 1 MHz
are not reflected by the ionosphere. Propagation is best at night because
the D-Layer of the ionosphere is heavily ionized during daytime hours by the
sun, and causes heavy absorption of the radio energy. Since the sun's
effects are minimal at nighttime, the broadcast signal is least absorbed,
increasing signal strength over the area of coverage.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in
the address)

Never take a laxative and a sleeping pill at the same time!!

I am not really aware of the technical details but I did read that "The
LF signal propagates by groundwave, following the curvature of the
earth; the HF signal propagates by skywave, and bounces off the
ionosphere. All signals travel at the speed of light." from
http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/overview.html

Which I must honestly say confuses me even more...How come there is
mention of two signals? Does that mean the information is simulcasted?

(This clock has taken up more of my time than I'd have expected...)

 

[James T. White]

I dished out 50 bucks for a radio controlled (projection) clock from
"The Sharper Image" and I have to say I'm kind of disappointed. I
waited for over an hour during initial setup and tried moving it to a
thousand different locations and different orientations and the closest
I could get to receiving a signal was a blinking tower for no longer
than 2 minutes. I've even turned of my LCD monitor, wireless phones,
bluetooth transmitter and still it does not receive the signal. I've
given in and have set it manually but the unit is still supposed to
check every night at 12 and I will wait and see if it will actually
synchronize (ever).

I live in Houston and bought one of the cheap "Atomic Clocks" at the drugstore.
It took several days but it did finally sync. It seems to do better when placed
by a window. Turning off your cell phone and bluetooth equipment shouldn't be
necessary since they operate at much higher frequencies than the 60 KHz NIST
signal unless they are right next to each other. The biggest sources of
interference for the NIST signals is likely to be the power supplies in your
computer and TV so locate the clock as far away from them as possible.

The sync normally takes place in the wee hours of the morning when the radio
propagation characteristics of the atmosphere are more favorable so be patient.

Good luck.

 

[Voice of freedom]

I am not really aware of the technical details but I did read that "The
LF signal propagates by groundwave, following the curvature of the
earth; the HF signal propagates by skywave, and bounces off the
ionosphere. All signals travel at the speed of light." from
http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/overview.html

Which I must honestly say confuses me even more...How come there is
mention of two signals? Does that mean the information is simulcasted?

Well sorta but not to the same receivers. The shortwave crowd still uses
the HF band transmissions to calibrate their receivers, I suppose.

 

[John Miller]

http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/overview.html

Which I must honestly say confuses me even more...How come there is
mention of two signals? Does that mean the information is simulcasted?

You'll find the answer in the link you posted. In the left panel, click
on 'WWV' and 'WWVB'.

--
John Miller
email domain: n4vu.com; username: jsm(@)
Surplus (For sale or trade):
Tektronix 465B oscilloscope
New Fellowes leather brief/notebook case

 

[Fred Abse]

So you use an electrically-shielded loop antenna.

Nice big chunk of ferrite's good.

How the hell do they get antennas that work inside those radiocode wrist
watches? Do they craftily use the strap?

 

[Fred Abse]

Knowing that the WWVB bounces their signal off the ionosphere

No, it doesn't. At 60KHz, propagation is almost entirely ground wave,
which is why they picked that frequency to do the job, since you don't get
the phase distortion associated with ionospheric propagation.

 

[Jim Thompson]

Nice big chunk of ferrite's good.

How the hell do they get antennas that work inside those radiocode wrist
watches? Do they craftily use the strap?

I don't know, but wouldn't surprise me.

Me, I wear a $20 Timex, that I sync to NIST about once-a-month.
Usually out no more than 4 seconds.

...Jim Thompson

 

[Joseph]

I've had all kinds of problems with mine too, and I live in Denver, fer
pete's sake!

Pick up the phone and dial 303-499-7111!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

[DaveM]

I am not really aware of the technical details but I did read that "The
LF signal propagates by groundwave, following the curvature of the
earth; the HF signal propagates by skywave, and bounces off the
ionosphere. All signals travel at the speed of light." from
http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/overview.html

Which I must honestly say confuses me even more...How come there is
mention of two signals? Does that mean the information is simulcasted?

(This clock has taken up more of my time than I'd have expected...)

The time signal is not simulcast on ground wave and sky wave. The ground
wave and sky wave are phenomena based mainly upon transmitted frequency.
Since the VLF broadcast of 60 KHz is far below the frequencies that are
affected by the D-Layer of the ionosphere, its propagation is almost
entirely by ground wave. It isn't reflected back to earth by the
ionosphere.
The HF broadcasts of WWV and WWVH are reflected by the ionosphere and,
although there is a ground wave present in the HF broadcasts, the sky wave
is predominant. The signal that is reflected by the ionosphere is called
the "sky wave". That's why LF and VLF broadcasts have significantly shorter
range than HF broadcasts. Amateur radio broadcasts in the HF bands can be
heard around the world because of the signals bouncing between the
ionosphere and the ground. Since the 60 KHz signal is not reflected by the
ionosphere, it doesn't enjoy the wide coverage of the HF broadcasts.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in
the address)

Never take a laxative and a sleeping pill at the same time!!

 

[Voice of freedom]

I don't know, but wouldn't surprise me.

Me, I wear a $20 Timex, that I sync to NIST about once-a-month.
Usually out no more than 4 seconds.

That's the frustrating thing, I have an atomic watch and it never fails to
synch right, but that Atomix clock in my room will unsynch all the time and
I can only keep it in one place in the room for it to work most of the
time, I can't even hang it on the wall where I want it.

 

[Mike Smith]

That's the frustrating thing, I have an atomic watch and it never fails to
synch right, but that Atomix clock in my room will unsynch all the time and
I can only keep it in one place in the room for it to work most of the
time, I can't even hang it on the wall where I want it.

Return it.

I have a $17 Sams' Club atomic clock that stays in synch, and it's
battery operated.

Mike Smith

 

[Fred Abse]

Me, I wear a $20 Timex, that I sync to NIST about once-a-month.
Usually out no more than 4 seconds.

I wear a $120 Bulova. 15 seconds slow since November. I sync it about once
in six months.

About the same accuracy for six times the price

 

[Mike Smith]

I wear a $120 Bulova. 15 seconds slow since November. I sync it about once
in six months.

About the same accuracy for six times the price

I have a $9.95 walmart watch/stopwatch. It's dead-on accurate.

I wear it about 4 times a year.

Mike Smith

 

[[email protected]]

9:35am Pacific Standard Time, Clock has successfully (finally)
synchronized as denoted by a solid tower icon on the clock. Checked
with online NIST time down to the second the time is exact. Los Angeles
had clear skies today for the first time in over 2 weeks I don't know
if that means anything but just thought I'd note the fact. Also, the
unit was not moved or changed in any way from the way I left it.

 

[Fred Abse]

I have a $9.95 walmart watch/stopwatch. It's dead-on accurate.

I wear it about 4 times a year.

What do you wear the rest of the time? ;-)

 

[Voice of freedom]

Return it.

I can't, I bought it 2 years ago, and it's been a pain ever since. I just
won't buy Atomix ever again, especially since they ignored my request for
help with it. It may have been a bad model and if they supported it, they
could have gone under. Let them go under, I won't buy an Atomix product
ever again.

 

[Mike Smith]

What do you wear the rest of the time? ;-)

Clock-wise... nothing, but I do have a cell phone in my pocket...

Mike Smith