Changing a Regular Clock to a Radio Controlled "Atomic" Clock
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- Do you have a favorite clock but you wish it had an "atomic clock" movement (a.k.a. motor)? Well, chances are you can convert the clock by simply replacing the original movement. Here's how I did it.
- Věda a technologie
Best "How to" video I have ever seen. I am going to do this for all my wall clocks. Thank you for NOT spending 3 or 4 minutes telling us about all your hobbies and background in fixing things. Got right to the point in well-paced, well-sequenced instruction. BRAVO!
Greg, I've been a big fan of your channel-- especially love your Casio videos!
I know this is an old video but I wanted to share that just today I did the atomic movement surgery on a clock my dad kept in his workshop. We recently lost him, and I figured this was a great way to keep his memory alive, and I know he'd endorse a clock that's crazy accurate. :)
Thanks!
Actually I have two older clocks with really nice cases whose basic quartz movements have died. One I will be able to replace the movement with an "Atomic Clock" movement, the other I will only be able to replace with a "set-and-forget" movement because of the enclosure, but finally both will now have a new life. Thanks!
Great idea. I have the same clock, love the looks of it . And the radio controlled makes it 10x better
That was a very good video you posted Greg. I am thinking about doing it to. Thanks a lot for the idea. 😊👍
Great video. Thank you for posting. I was converting a clock and was not sure how to initially set the hands before powering it up. Glad you addressed that. I also wondered what that pin was in the back that you took out. I probably would have left it there had you not said to remove it. Unfortunately the atomic movement I bought was defective. So my work went for nothing! I ordered a plain old movement that adjusts for DST. Did so because I'm working with a 30" clock and was told the atomic movements can't handle the bigger hands of a larger clock. What are your thoughts? Is there an atomic movement I could have gotten that would have handled 12" hands?
Very clearly explained! Thank you!
Brilliant video. May try that myself. 👍👍👍
Hi, there are several radio controlled units available on the mentioned site. The differ in clock thickness such as 3/16” and 1/8” etc. How do you select which thickness you need?
Is there any atomic radio receiver clocks that will receive in any room or that have an external antenna? I have La Crosse and they seem very limited. Located East coast.
How would you do this for a digital clock? I bought my parents a senior clock. Sure enough it is meant for seniors with memory problems but is not atomic.
How big the Hour and Minute Hands are the ones are converted?
Hello Greg Anderson. Can a radio-control watch that was not originally manufactured to receive a particular one of the six major time calibration signals (e.g., the USA time signal from WWVB in Ft. Collins, Colorado) be modified to receive that particular time calibration signal by either replacing the motor in the watch as you do on a regular wall clock in this video or by replacement of or reprogramming of the watch's microchip by an electronics expert so that the radio-control watch will receive a particular time signal that was not originally programmed into the watch by the watch manufacturer? Could a non radio-control (i.e., a regular, solar-powered watch) be modified to become a radio-control watch?
Good job, thanks!
I've been thinking about doing this to a special Sonic themed clock from amazon, however that clock is but having a Sonic themed atomic clock would be awesome should I try and do it? It has a similar Style structure as shown in the video
Clock movements come with lots of different shaft sizes (length & diameter.) Not all movements will fit any clock.
Yeah but it's not that complicated if you do a little research. There's basically 5 types for (modern) kitchen clock type movements , the first twos mostly for european brand clocks. Euro shaft, Euro push fit, (American?) I-shaft, chinese and japanese push fit.
Depending on your location finding RC movements can be difficult. For the Euro you can obviosly find movements in Europe. For chinese pucs fit it's particular easy finding a good RC movement. Most discount and mid price modern clocks use some chinese movement and though chinese movements is made with many fittings for new clocks it's mostly chinese push fit (Most Ikea clocks, Newgate, Karlsson, Acctim and many more similar brands) - so as long as it's not a large clock (~35 cm or larger) it's easy to change those movements. By far the most difficult is Japanese push fit - has not seen any RC movements with such shaft.
And than there's large consumer clocks (pro clocks is something different). For Europe UTS makes movements but I've not seen any high torque chinese movement. I have a few older clock movements from the time before automatic hands detection - very useful for a little hacking. I've modified a few of them to basically become drivers for other movements. I have a large 50cm wall clock with a chinese (though very decent) high torque 12888 movement. While an HD-1688 RC movement fits the hands it's nowhere strong enough to handle the large heavy hands. So I disabled the original 12888 electronics (cut a trace on pcb) and just soldered wires out for the motor. The electronics from the older RC movement then powers the 12888 motor - hey presto a very large RC clock with the original hands (other would destroy it's nice design) even though it's impossible to get a RC movement that without modification can handle the hands. Manually align hands to 12, then tell movement you're done and it'll start receiving. Then it'll fast forward to correct time one received. But with only 1 motor (electronics was designed for 1 motor) it can take up to ½ hour for a full 12h catch up. Not as speedy as new clocks but good enough and very versatile and easy to make use of the output without difficult interpretation - just use it raw and it'll keep track of time for you.
The fast spinning of the hour and minute hand takes just over 3½ minutes to go from the 12:00 position back to the 12:00 position.
I didn’t even know about atomic clocks. Thanks for the information! What happens when the battery dies? Will the clock automatically reset itself when a new battery is put in?
Yes, the clock will go through the process as shown here once you put new batteries in. It will take it a few minutes to find the radio signal (which will be impossible during daylight hours unless you live close to Colorado).
lovely
Hi. From where did you got that digital clock?
Greg, did you hear the recent news? They might be shutting down WWV and WWVB. Government wants budget cuts and NIST proposed shutting down their radio transmitters in their most recent budget request. It remains to be seen if it actually happens, but it's in their budget proposal for 2019. If this happens, I guess we'll see GPS clocks take over.
Will that mean that an atomic clock will work no matter where it is located? This clock seems tied to Colorado.
Yeah, Klockit will sell you the movement for about $13. Then charge you $14 to ship it. LOL.
Best to put the clock face down on a cloth so it doesn't get scratched.
Where do these radio controlled atomic clocks get their control signal from?
Colorado. NIST runs a radio tower there that broadcasts the reference time based on an atomic clock they operate. These days, however, the radio system out of Colorado is getting outdated. Why? Because every GPS satellite in orbit has an atomic clock on board and can transmit time of the same accuracy without all the interference of terrestrial radio signals. If you look at your smartphone, the time is always accurate because it's constantly pulling it from the cell tower which gets it's time from GPS satellites. So, really, what we need are bluetooth wall clocks that can sync with your phone (or the wifi in your house). It's a better solution for people who live on the coasts away from Colorado.
I bought an atomic clock from lidl. A German supermarket in the uk. I got the clock home and put a battery in. Thing gave me German time and not United Kingdom’s. Couldn’t set the clock as it kept returning to German time zone.
I think Seiko use same alignment techniques!
What do the buttons do??
Where to buy this Movement ?
Excuse me, Gregg, but could you share the essential information with us about the atomic replacement unit and how it can be purchased and for how much? Klockit does not seem to list such a kit as you have described here in your video.
EBay dcf clockwork
Sir can you please tell me that the atomic clock and watches works in india or not.??
Please sir help me... and reply me as soon as possible .....
Thank you so much
There's a reason people in India can't use atomic clocks at least as of right now and back at there inception they did work for what we know to be 1 year 3 months and 14 days and somewhere over the ocean due to high speed data cables and being between a newly launched satalite thats also housing atomic energy it all intersects in a way science can't explain and has been blamed for multiple unexplained disappearances and all people from India last known to have recently purchased automatic Hershenger German clocks and running their 12 hour cycle trying to set them if u put a battery in depending on how many people are there it may run backwards but that's the bad voodoo that's going on with that cross and specific distances make that part of India in the diagrams right on the middle of the forehead where a third eye would be and I believe a portal into either the past future or exact present of an alternate universe (theory) cause what would that make u do if it ran backward? You'd put the battery in backwards and that's how they find all of them too. It's supposedly suppressed information ℹ️ a bum carrying a cinder block around and talking all sorts of madness told me that hahaa he was wondering down by this bike trail by my house in the Sonoran desert 🏜️
He poured gas on himself at a gas station lit himself on fire and died it was big news here like 10 years ago I only know about how long they ran cause I wrote it down to try and see if what he said had any significance and when I put it in as coordinates that's when there stuff about the diagrams will start pooping up. I'd leave it alone is something that the world doesn't understand and they need to address that cross it's also killing whales and has made it rain fish he said cause they fall from some portal into this realm but it's the frozen ones or steamed looking electrocuted ones cause something else causes regular fish fall sometimes he said but yeah.... You gonna try it?
These directions worked like a champ but, after a day or so the hands start moving again and haven't stopped. I pulled the battery and let it sit for a while like a day, and repeated the procedure and it worked again and then it started running again. I have three other atomic clocks in the house and they work like they should. The position of this clock is in my garage window facing the west. Just about ready to dump this sucker in the trash. Any ideas?
Lost of signal, only partly came throught so it runs Constantin put it somewhere else
What model clock is the one on the left?
It's a radio-controlled digital clock.
🙂
that's kind of lame. I have an enclosure that simply won't work just by cutting plastic out.
I need 2.2 x 2.2 " shape (radio).
I hate to NITPICK, but what is ATOMIC about this.
Apart from the fact that the electricity that powers the transmitter for the time sync signals may come from a Nuclear Power Station.
ATOMIC CLOCKS are laboratory instruments that use the ATOMIC DECAY OF CAESIUM to provide a time base that can achieve accuracy’s in the range of BILLIONTHS of a second. They can also cost hundreds of thousands of $s.
I used to work for HP when it was a superb manufacturer of top quality scientific instruments, I believe it is now known as Agilent.
HP made Atomic clocks such as I have described and I used to wander through the labs that did the certification of those clocks. You could watch a digital display showing the mind boggling accuracy they achieved.
THOSE ARE ATOMIC CLOCKS.
Um… not to nitpick but that’s why I put the word “atomic” inside quotation marks. (P.S. It sure doesn’t seem like you “hate” to nitpick.)
@@GoodTimekeeper Now WHY would you mention ATOMIC, EVEN IN QUOTES.
Where you hoping to attract viewers like me, hoping to learn something REALLY INTERESTING.
What a DISAPPOINTMENT TO FIND THIS PATHETIC LITTLE VIDEO.
So did you really think we couldn't think ourselves of this "good idea"? ROFL!
radio clocks are a scam unless you live within like 100 miles of the transmitter. otherwise you will never pick up a signal. its just a way for companies to sell cheap clocks for more money and not tell you that you wont be able to use the feature you bought it for because the NIST budget was slashed and the time radio station is putting out about as much wattage as the local AM talk show station.
@ Fakiirfication Wow with a name like that I can see why Radio Clocks give you a problem, HaHa, just kidding everybody's name is important. But frankly, I think you have the problem backwards about radio clocks, it is a known fact that radio clocks will not work outside of the U.S.A. But I don't know of any reason that they won't work inside, that was the reason why the transmitter site is located in the state of Colorado so that the whole U.S.A. would have coverage, Now Alaska and the Islands would be a different story. They would need there own transmitters.
@@chucksteward2615 nah. The trump admin cut funding to the nist lab that operates the transmitter. So the signal is very weak. My radio clocks went from syncing just about every night to rarely syncing at all. They still run the transmitter, but it is at reduced power. Not useful if you need to depend on the clock being right without adjustment.
@@fakiirification Precisely. Six years ago I ordered two cheap radio controlled movements. I installed one in my office at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City. It would sychronise daily and kept perfect time for a couple of years. Then, one day it stopped syncing. I blamed it on the price and myself for not buying a more expensive one. I installed the extra movement I had kept for years and it never worked. Then I learned that the signal had been weakened by the cut in funding.
Battery. Are junk
I think it makes no sense to take a cheap clock and do this. Not worth the time. Just buy one. Really ridiculous contortions.
It's very simple. I liked this clock. It's clean, simple and a good size. But I wanted it to be radio controlled. So I'm telling everyone something that politicians wish they could say honestly. "Do you want your clock to be an atomic clock? If you like your clock, you can keep your clock, period!"
ElmertheClep Yeah, don't argue with me. . . PERIOD!!!
I think it's a fun project and it's cheap.
What he did is cheaper than what is available to purchase in the market, and it custom fits his taste and his needs. Why should anyone disagree with the taste of another person?
Some of us like to get what we like by doing in stead of by just buying. It is a matter of style.
Ken-tech. Table clock settings