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Casio G-Shock time sync radio

gshock.casio.com

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Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#111

Post by somat »

psychphysic wrote: post #12

If you're interested in buying a Casio watch that does this they tend to be called Waveceptor, I'd recommend looking at one that's also solar powered (tough solar).

I specifically went with a battery model because I was not convinced that the battery in the solar models would actually last that much longer than the battery only model. While you can replace the battery in the solar models it is a proprietary part and considered watchmaker level service, while with the battery model it is normal service with a generic part. So I decided that replacing a battery every 5 years would not actually be that bad compared to trying to find a proprietary part every 10 years(A guess based on forum posts, so worthless).

All of which is a false economy. As I buy what is actually a cheap mass production watch as if it were some sort of heirloom piece that I will be passing down to my grand children. Anyhow, whats the point of being a geek if you can't overthink things sometimes?

Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#113

Post by tw1984 »

JCM9 wrote: post #81
friend_and_foe wrote: post #80

I'm curious why we don't just use GPS's UTC time broadcast to set time? I understand that using GPS to track satellites and find location is power hungry, but I can't imagine that simply receiving a time and setting a clock is any more power hungry than this system.

GPS signals are much higher frequency and very low power and thus don’t work indoors. These HF time signals are way more powerful and can be detected inside buildings.

> GPS signals are much higher frequency and very low power and thus don’t work indoors.

With a $20 antenna placed near the window, together with a modern receiver, it is easy to get nanosecond level of precision for GPS systems. Some receivers even have in-door precision specification.

GPS not only work indoors, in terms of timing, it works actually pretty well indoors.

Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#114

Post by friend_and_foe »

iszomer wrote: post #105
JCM9 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GPS signals are much higher frequency and very low power and thus don’t work indoors. These HF time signals are way more powerful and can be detected inside buildings.

In the interest of the previous reply, Casio's GBD-H1000 has the ability to time sync with GPS.

Yeah but it needs to be charged often. That would be a compelling use case for the radio based timing synchronization that are in less power hungry watches, and I'm curious, if this watch just had GPS for timing and none of the other features, if it's power would last as long or even half as long as the older models.

Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#115

Post by tysam_and »

basking wrote: post #108
firewolf34 wrote: post #9

Yes, as others have stated this is an old technology. I don't really understand why this is not more common in the modern day. it's not really that expensive to implement and they did it with analog chips back in the day... Why do we have to set the time on our clock radios or on our microwaves or whatever? Why don't they just always use this Tech. I don't understand. All you have to do is allow people to store an of…

My dad has a g-shock that lasted 15 years. He loves it. Model: MTG-M900DA-8CR. I bought him a new one a month ago, snd he almost cried because he was looking for this watch in garage sales. He asked me to set it, we looked and both watches were already set to the correct time down to the second. The face has a solar panel that you can’t see.

Oh....my gosh. That's the exact one I had growing up as a kid for years. Wow. The memories are flooding back now. Wowie. I faithfully charged it in the sun whenever I saw it run low, and one night woke up maybe somewhere between 1 and 3 A.M. to see it syncing. I was maybe, oh a little older than 7-8 at the time.

I felt so overwhelmed with excitement that I ran over and woke my sister up to tell her my watch was syncing with the atomic clock in New York. She did not nearly share my level of enthusiasm over the subject matter at hand.

Of all of the more stereotypically autism-related memories I have of little me, that one is one of my favorites. My passion and excitement at the time was so cute. :') <3

Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#116

Post by ggm »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #20

Related thread with local transmitters of time signal: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27769403 https://github.com/hzeller/txtempus (A DCF77, WWVB, JJY and MSF clock LF-band signal transmitter using the Raspberry Pi) ios and mac app: https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/49109/pips-a-radio-time-s... (time sync over rf is super cool; I would be super interested if anyone has links to field surveys of time signal ava…

I run this for my Citizen Skymaster on a picoPi. It works. Being within receiving distance of JJY in Yokohama IETF, and in Frankfurt near the german transmitter was wonderful, but I have an NTP synced dummy at home with a copper loop antenna and it works fine.

Using the HDMI lead interferes with the rPi GPIO signal being used to supermodulate the RF. As long as you don't drive the HDMI, its fine. I think its possible HDMI is an RF radiator.

The java/javascript trick with headphones works too.

Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#117

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

ralferoo wrote: post #82
jader201 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess, but still, these seemingly large numbers are still a minute percentage (e.g. probably 0.00001%) of overall costs/revenue that are relatively way, way more. I would understand manufacturing pain, and the ROI just doesn't justify it. But saying that it's solely to do with costs doesn't line up, IMO.

> CarGuy: Around €1.50 > I guess, but still, these seemingly large numbers are still a minute percentage (e.g. probably 0.00001%) of overall costs/revenue that are relatively way, way more. Do you realise that your estimate, of €1.50 per car being 0.00001% of the costs, puts the manufacturing cost of a car at €15m?

You could almost get a new Rivian for that much.

Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#118

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

wsc981 wrote: post #112

I just wish this time sync feature wasn’t limited to only Western world and East Asia. A nice feature, but not usable in Thailand, where I live.

Another comment[1] describes a simple way to sync these devices just by playing a sound from a device with a browser.

I also think most (all?) timepieces with a GPS antenna will sync with good enough precision when you have line of sight to the sky.

Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#119

Post by tysam_and »

basking wrote: post #109
ilyt wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you...used them ? My Protrek basically doesn't sync if I'm at home, and as it tries to start sync after midnight the auto sync near-never works. I installed DCF77-emulator app on phone to get around it. My radio-synced clock works fine but comes with big (BIC lighter size but double the thickness) external antenna. Probably much worse in microwave that's somewhere inside the house and not near window > All you h…

My dad loves his. I bought a new one for him after 15 years of use. Both watches were the correct time. He swims a lot in it, and the old one is much smoother than the new one. I love that guy.

Same.

Re: Casio G-Shock time sync radio

#120

Post by Qqqwxs »

friend_and_foe wrote: post #80

I'm curious why we don't just use GPS's UTC time broadcast to set time? I understand that using GPS to track satellites and find location is power hungry, but I can't imagine that simply receiving a time and setting a clock is any more power hungry than this system.

GPS determines a solution for position and time simultaneously. It requires 4 satellites to solve for 4 unknowns (X, Y, Z, t). If you know your position you can solve for time using only 1 satellite, but a watch is always moving so it's position won't be known.
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