Atomic watches
 

Does anyone have a radio controlled (atomic) watch? If so, does it work well in Aus? And does anyone know if Australia will get a transmitter?

Do some research Ogs, perhaps looking HERE which gives the synchronisation coverage area?

It appears they rely upon synchronising with the time based WWV RF signal on 5 or 15 Mhz from Colorado, amongst other stations in North America. The signal is hard enough to receive in Australia with a decent antenna and receiver (due to a high signal to noise ratio on HF frequencies), particularly during the day, so my guess it is most unlikely the watch will synchronise in Australia.

But I may be wrong...... :hmm:

I have a Citizen Eco-Drive Skyhawk. It's the model from a few years ago but has the atomic clock synchronisation feature. It was purchased for me as a gift from the US and I can tell you that the feature doesn't work here. I also tried to use it recently in London but it didn't seem to work there either. Heading to the US in a few months so fingers crossed. Regardless the watch is great 10/10.

The Skyhawk uses signals broadcast in Japan (JJY), US (WWVB) and Germany (DCF77). The range in Europe is around 1500 km, so the UK is covered but much of Spain is not. JJY actually refers to two transmitters, which is lucky because one of them is in Fukushima.

My watch has a great synchronisation feature. You look at another clock, pull out the knob and twist it so that it now reads the correct time, and then push the knob back in and it is now synchronised.

I can do it anywhere in the world!

:E

Thanks for your help guys. I think they have taken that feature off the skyhawk now and made a new model.

Most smartphones synchronise themselves (or can be set up to do so) from the Internet. Not a watch, but highly accurate.

It does pose a question: without time transmitter, how have different parts of Australia been keeping in sync all these decades?

bip bip bip bip beep (on the tranny).

Ah those were the days...

and

On the third stroke, the time will be ...

I was more thinking of something a computer could use. :)

Something that keeps clock on all train stations in sync. Easy to do now, but not so much in 1980 without a time signal.

Keeping Time
 

We used to use a service called VNG transmitted out of Lyndhurst in Victoria, it was similair to the WWV that the yanks have on HF, information as in the link http://tufi.alphalink.com.au/time/nsc_vng_leaflet.pdf

It was shutdown in 2002, timing is done now by using the GPS network and this is what the NextG mobile phone tarnsmitters use as their time refernce.
So when you go from state to state thats how the phone always adjusts itself as it refrences to the phone network.

I hear the neutrino model runs ahead of time :)

This is what i need --- an atomic watch!

A couple of days ago I was 2 nanoseconds late for a meeting and it was a disaster. I will have to trade in my $25 Casio!

Might have been for you, Dick. For the other attendees, those 2 nanoseconds you were late were a real relief! :}

That's charming :)

Hey, welcome back, Dick. Good to see you back here.

What is it with pilots and watches? Penis envy? :}

I thought an atomic watch would have been right up somebody's alley back in the 80's. :8

I'm with Dick.

My Casio does multiple time zones and pretty much every other function you can think of at the touch of a button.

6 years on and it's still kicking (or should that be ticking?) :ok:

Dick, did you get that off ebay Hong Kong (no GST) or did you buy it from an Australian retailer?

Dood, easy for you but for those of us that are technologically challenged, we're going atomic. Are atomic certified?

I just wanted a watch that synchronised with my ETAs. Never did find one. :confused: