The atomic time radio station WWVB does in fact broadcast a daylight saving time bit. A good atomic time clock should accurately update for DST (though Amazon reviews for a clock like this one is pretty mixed: https://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-617-249-Curved-Atom...)
I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
51–60 of 180 posts
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#52I feel this article's premise too much. That's exactly the sort of clock I wanted to get my mom as a gift. Why is it so dang impossible to find a not trash simple LED clock that's 'large print', 'the right color', and not annoyingly too bright? A deluxe model might include a day of the week bar or dot and a month / day in month number (smaller than the time, mostly people care about the time)
Did you look at memory clocks?
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#53There are lots of modern alarm clocks that pair via Bluetooth to your phone and auto-set the time from the phone’s time. No internet connection or NTP server needed.
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#54There are lots of modern alarm clocks that pair via Bluetooth to your phone and auto-set the time from the phone’s time. No internet connection or NTP server needed.
But a smartphone's time is set how? Via the mobile network (NITZ) or NTP (SNTP)! And what protocol is going across the Bluetooth connection but SNTP? In NTP terms, your alarm clock is now in a stratum below the smartphone, and with only one source of truth, not a good situation.
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#55This reminded of this other clock project: https://mitxela.com/projects/precision_clock_mk_iv Also: I reckon the closest best-value watch alternative that ticks most(?) of the author's boxes is the Casio GW-M5610-1ER, so long as you are inside a radio-controlled time area.
Casio also has cheaper "wave ceptor" models that do this. If you get one from Japan you can get a nice-looking rectangular model.
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#56All these other responders. Goodness. It’s a clock. It’s a fun little project they made *FOR FUN!*.
Did everyone forget that hackers and engineers like to have fun? Seriously.
Someone at Open Sauce this year made a friggin CRT-based VR headset. Why? Why not.
Did we forget where we came from? Does everything have to be optimal?
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#57The atomic time radio station WWVB does in fact broadcast a daylight saving time bit. A good atomic time clock should accurately update for DST (though Amazon reviews for a clock like this one is pretty mixed: https://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-617-249-Curved-Atom... )
My La Crosse wall clock does support the DST bit, the switch on the back only sets whether you live somewhere that recognizes it or not. Twice a year I try and stay up to watch the clock hands zoomin around during the changeover
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#58There are lots of modern alarm clocks that pair via Bluetooth to your phone and auto-set the time from the phone’s time. No internet connection or NTP server needed.
But a smartphone's time is set how? Via the mobile network (NITZ) or NTP (SNTP)! And what protocol is going across the Bluetooth connection but SNTP? In NTP terms, your alarm clock is now in a stratum below the smartphone, and with only one source of truth, not a good situation.
Given that most alarm clocks only show hours and minutes, I'm not sure micro or nano second accuracy really matters. Provided my alarm clock is within a few minutes of the correct time I don't really care.
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#59I’ve had a Phillips “atomic” alarm clock beside my bed for 23 years that just sets based on radio signal and auto restores if the power is lost, to which it has a backup 9v battery. There’s a time zone setting offset slider and a DST slider. I basically touch it twice a year, maybe another if I move time zones. I’ve only had to touch it for DST (never switched time zones). Takes me conservatively 10 seconds to find a…
I did went GPS+ntp route.
I have a few raspberry pis on my lan that serve NTP time. (you need more than one)
Over the years I've experimented with various flavors.
Right now I have a mix:
1) a pi3 with a gps hat and a battery backup for the pi itself. It uses ntp 127.127.20.20 for gps time, and 127.127.20.28 for PPS. The SMA antenna goes to receiver at the window
2) a pi3 with USB gps on a cable going to the window
3) a pi4 same as above, but with a tiny battery backup rtc attachment
4) a pi5 with usb gps + the new RTC with an added rechargable battery backup
usually, when power goes out, a few reboot, but #1 stays up if I've also kind of wondered if GPS might be able to give you a time less accurately but quicker. Sometimes I look at the NMEA GPS output, and it sometimes doesn't have a position fix, but it does give out a time + week number
(this is all for no good reason, just yak shaving.)
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#60There are lots of modern alarm clocks that pair via Bluetooth to your phone and auto-set the time from the phone’s time. No internet connection or NTP server needed.
But a smartphone's time is set how? Via the mobile network (NITZ) or NTP (SNTP)! And what protocol is going across the Bluetooth connection but SNTP? In NTP terms, your alarm clock is now in a stratum below the smartphone, and with only one source of truth, not a good situation.
I meant the clock itself doesn’t need an internet or local network connection, with which it could do things other than syncing the time.