My wife has a travel alarm clock that uses the WWVB signal but
the software is down-right flaky.  In the first place, the weekday
doesn't change at Midnight but will change if you operate any of the
clock's buttons after Midnight.

        Then, on the night before the day we were scheduled to go off
DST, it set itself back an hour and then somehow, got set back to DST
mode during the night, causing it's alarm to go off an hour early the
next morning.

        Maybe, it is broken, but I suspect that every last one of
those clocks is broken the same way.  Since it normally works properly
with the exception of the thing about the week day, I think it is just
bad software in its controller.

        It is a relatively inexpensive, but slick-looking little
travel clock sold by a company that specializes in novel, cool
gadgets, but to me, cool is stuff that really works like it is
supposed to.  This clock mostly works, but the designer botched the
best part of having the WWVB receiver built in.

        I'd love to know how they receive that 60 KHZ signal in that
little box.

        I read about a watch that uses the WWVB signal, but you are
the antenna as long as you wear the watch.  The travel alarm sits on a
night table or some other place and isn't connected to any long wires
or anything that could serve as an antenna.  It must have a very
sensitive receiver with a rod antenna like those found in portable
AM radios.

        I guess when it dies, I'll find out what is in it.:-)

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK
OSU Information Technology Division Network Operations Group

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