I too am fascinated by clocks and how hard it is to get one with the features you want. I settled into two solutions. One is the Bangle JS2, which is the most perfect smartwatch ever made if you use android phones. The other is any rooted Android phone. You get all of the power of the internet and infinite customizability. The only problem with the Android phone solution is battery life if the power goes out. For those looking at e-ink, the M5 paper is really solid as a clock.
I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
121–130 of 180 posts
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#122I wonder if there's a chip that gathers time from LTE and GPS signals and time only.
No complete protocol or handshake, just grab some close-enough time.
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#123I’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…
Yeah stuff like this fits the "old school" definition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signal#Electrical_time_si...
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#124As I saw you using raspberry pi zero w for just display clock, I though this is over engineering, simple Attiny18 with RTC can do this, but adding HomeKit makes this project somehow very interesting and thanks to NTP you have truly clock that never needs setting.
Nice fun project!
Edit: Maybe you can add speaker for internet radio to wake up?
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#125I wonder if there's a chip that gathers time from LTE and GPS signals and time only. No complete protocol or handshake, just grab some close-enough time.
This is discussed here [0]. It is possible and there are a couple of options but there are some catches: LTE is UTC only, GNSS requires much power.
[0] https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/cheapest-way-to-get-datet...
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#126I’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 have 4 Seiko wall clocks that are radio wave controlled. They look beautiful and other than changing the battery need 0 intervention from me. Couldn't recommend them highly enough. Pity they don't seem to make them any more, the newer ones use GPS and don't look quite as nice (in my opinion at least). https://www.rigbyjewellers.co.uk/products/radio-controlled-r...
Braun makes similar ones.
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#127While diving deep into DCF77, I noticed there is something similar for the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWV_(radio_station) It just doesn't seem to get used that much, I suppose?
The shortwave WWV, not so much, except to check if your shortwave radio is working. Canada's shortwave CHU was shut down last month.
The 60 kHz WWVB, yes. Plenty of cheap wall clocks have "atomic time" as it is marketed over here, meaning it has a radio receiver. You can pick one up at the grocery store. It depends on where you live if it actually works though. Where I live it works pretty well, but I've heard it does not work so well if you live on the east coast. That's quite a ways from Colorado.
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#128This 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.
I mentioned this specific model because it also has Tough Solar which should mean much longer between battery replacements!
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
Australia here, no radio time as far as I know. Lately I've been wondering whether accurate time could be derived from terrestrial digital TV signals.
You can set your clock with an iPhone app or a computer with a pair of speakers. https://timestation.pages.dev
This site is really cool! Thanks for sharing
> Because it works by exploiting this leakage, Time Station Emulator works best with a built-in speaker of a phone or tablet.
> In some cases, wired headphones or earbuds may also be suitable.
> Higher-frequency harmonics are considered artifacts beyond the range of human hearing, so they are routinely suppressed by audio compression algorithms and better equipment.
> Bluetooth devices and audiophile-grade equipment are therefore less likely to work.
Re: I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated
#130I’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 tried atomic clocks but they wouldn't work unless they were on the southwest corner of the house. It even said in the manual that if it's not working, to try putting it there. Kind of defeats the purpose setting itself if I have to move it to a specific corner of my house twice a year.
Though I didn't want a digital clock--my goal was an analog-style clock that never needed any maintenance. And it ends up there are some reasonably priced ones on Amazon that just connect to WiFi once a day and adjust if necessary, including to account for DST. I have it set to run at 4am each day, so any DST adjustment happens while I'm still sleeping.
The only final step is to run hardwired power to it so I don't need to change batteries, but I haven't pulled that trigger yet. Often with projects like this, it's more fun to prove out the difficult parts and I lose interest once only the easy parts remain.