[Boatanchors] OT: Guess I need a new clock for the shack, the old one's 'obsolete' :(

[Jim Degenhart]

It seems the NBS went to phase modulation in about 2005. I got a note 
from Spectracom about their older clocks showing incorrect time. They 
used a phase looked loop to feed and oscillator to keep the signal 
clean. With the new Phase modulated signal they became erratic. Most of 
these units were end of life in 2005-6. I have two that only stay in 
sync if left on an outside wall. But they still lose about a minuet 
every couple of weeks. I have an MFJ 24 hr clock that keeps withing 5-6 
sec over 6 mo. By the time the battery is dead its less than 15 seconds 
off. And it is generally cheaper.

Jim  KF9XK


On 10/20/2016 10:56 AM, Phil wrote:
> Well, for quite some time now the shack clock has 'synced' exactly 12 
> hours fast.  That is, 8:00AM shows as 8:00PM. No big deal (I have it 
> set for 12:00 display) except that half a day each day the date and 
> day display also is bonkers.  Also, the daylight savings time feature 
> doesn't display (I can manually set it, but when it syncs it goes 
> away). . .
>
> At first I thought that the 60kHz receiver may have died and it's not 
> syncing each night, but that's NOT the case.  It seems that NIST 
> changed their format just enough (adding phase modulation as well as 
> Amplitude modulation) to make many, if not all older 'atomic' clocks 
> obsolete.  They even say so on their web site.
>
> It's a very nice large clock,  displaying room temperature, day, date 
> and time.  Oh well, I only paid a little over $20 for it many years 
> ago (maybe 15 years?).  Guess I got my service out of it. After all, 
> it's only money (which I don't have a lot of, LOL).
>