"Mark Lloyd" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:55:50 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

[snip]


I have a Sony clock radio that I purchased recently that not only keeps
the time when the power is out but I believe it also automagically
adjusts for Daylight Savings Time. It wasn't that expensive. I
don't have it with me right now so I don't have the model but it
is currently in production.

TDD

I have a similar clock. It has a time zone switch on the bottom, and
does adjust for DST. What it does NOT do is automatically set the time
(though it pretends to, with fancy displays on power up). There's a
little battery inside. Take that out for awhile and it shows 12:00 and
NEVER corrects the problem.

I got one like that too at Sprawl-Mart and thought it was an atomic clock
that set the time via radio signal (based on the packaging and my bad
eyesight) but it turned out not to be. It's got a huge coin cell battery
(they say it will last 5 years) in the bottom, a method for setting
different DST start and stop times, and goes through that "embryonic" sort
of startup you describe that makes it appear to be magically resetting
itself. It's got two great features, though, aside from the dual alarms.
One is the large blue digits I can almost read from across the room and the
other is the little LEDs for the day of the week that indicate green for
Saturday and Sunday. It's an Emerson Research CKS 1832, if that's of any
use to anyone.

As for the OP, a small UPS is probably the best idea for VCRs, answering
machines and so on. Microwaves and coffeepots are a no, no, though.
Someone handy with a soldering iron might be able to rewire the appliances
so that the clock components can be run off a separate power supply that
could be battery backed, but I'd never do it. Some of them must come with a
battery backup, althought that's not much help after you've purchased an
appliance without a backup.

--
Bobby G.