There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

It depends on what's meant by not working the make/model of clock and the battery installed, how long the radio is on for and perhaps a few other things.
Difficult Q without any tech details.

On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.

LCD ones should last a year or so on a single battery. In what way is it
not working ? Mine generally fade out gradually but still show the time.

I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

I tend to put end of life ones in that are no longer fit for supplying
high currents but still have decent terminal voltage at low current.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.


NT

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:31:04 -0800 (PST), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

It depends on what's meant by not working the make/model of clock and the battery installed, how long the radio is on for and perhaps a few other things.
Difficult Q without any tech details.

Maybe my posting was not clear enough. There is no radio involved as
such. It is a radio controlled clock, receiving 60kHz signal from
Anthorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_from_NPL

The clock is 12 inch analogue display purchased from Argos, similar to
this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7378261

It is fitted with a Duracell AA battery and the lifetime is not as
long as I would expect. Sometimes when you change the battery you
have to leave the clock overnight for it to pick up the signal. This
mystifies my colleagues and they think I'm the only person who can fix
the clock! I wondered if I fitted a lithium primary cell, would this
last longer?

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:50:26 +0000, Martin Brown
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.

LCD ones should last a year or so on a single battery. In what way is it
not working ? Mine generally fade out gradually but still show the time.

Per my other post, it is a mechanical display (with hands). What
happens is that it loses the time signal but keeps going showing
totally the wrong time.

On Friday, 30 November 2018 17:14:57 UTC, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:31:04 -0800 (PST), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

It depends on what's meant by not working the make/model of clock and the battery installed, how long the radio is on for and perhaps a few other things.
Difficult Q without any tech details.

Maybe my posting was not clear enough. There is no radio involved as
such. It is a radio controlled clock, receiving 60kHz signal from
Anthorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_from_NPL

The clock is 12 inch analogue display purchased from Argos, similar to
this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7378261

It is fitted with a Duracell AA battery and the lifetime is not as
long as I would expect. Sometimes when you change the battery you
have to leave the clock overnight for it to pick up the signal. This
mystifies my colleagues and they think I'm the only person who can fix
the clock! I wondered if I fitted a lithium primary cell, would this
last longer?

Your question was clear enough. Mr whiskey, not so much.

In article ,
Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:31:04 -0800 (PST), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

It depends on what's meant by not working the make/model of clock and the battery installed, how long the radio is on for and perhaps a few other things.
Difficult Q without any tech details.

Maybe my posting was not clear enough. There is no radio involved as
such. It is a radio controlled clock, receiving 60kHz signal from
Anthorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_from_NPL

The clock is 12 inch analogue display purchased from Argos, similar to
this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7378261

It is fitted with a Duracell AA battery and the lifetime is not as
long as I would expect. Sometimes when you change the battery you
have to leave the clock overnight for it to pick up the signal. This
mystifies my colleagues and they think I'm the only person who can fix
the clock! I wondered if I fitted a lithium primary cell, would this
last longer?

It sounds as though it's located in a reception dead spot or it is aligned
to null out the Anthorn signal.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 30/11/2018 17:39, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 17:16:55 +0000, Scott
wrote:

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:50:26 +0000, Martin Brown
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.

LCD ones should last a year or so on a single battery. In what way is it
not working ? Mine generally fade out gradually but still show the time.

Per my other post, it is a mechanical display (with hands). What
happens is that it loses the time signal but keeps going showing
totally the wrong time.

Is the clock in the best place? I find that radio clocks receiving
from Anthorne are quite sensitive to their location, due to poor
reception through thick concrete walls, steel sheeting etc. Moving
them around from room to room or even within a room can make a big
difference. Several of the radio clocks I've had don't reset
themselves until midnight, even though the reset button is pressed to
activate the 'signal search' function, although a German radio clock
from Lidl and receiving from Frankfurt, does reset itself fairly
quickly.

Take it outside and put the battery in. Once it has set itself it should
be OK indoors.

--
Max Demian

On 30/11/2018 17:13, wrote:
On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.

"Disappointing" is an extremely vague measure of battery life.

--
Max Demian

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 17:39:34 +0000, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 17:16:55 +0000, Scott
wrote:

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:50:26 +0000, Martin Brown
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.

LCD ones should last a year or so on a single battery. In what way is it
not working ? Mine generally fade out gradually but still show the time.

Per my other post, it is a mechanical display (with hands). What
happens is that it loses the time signal but keeps going showing
totally the wrong time.

Is the clock in the best place? I find that radio clocks receiving
from Anthorne are quite sensitive to their location, due to poor
reception through thick concrete walls, steel sheeting etc. Moving
them around from room to room or even within a room can make a big
difference. Several of the radio clocks I've had don't reset
themselves until midnight, even though the reset button is pressed to
activate the 'signal search' function, although a German radio clock
from Lidl and receiving from Frankfurt, does reset itself fairly
quickly.

It's not in the ideal place, but it is in the only place given the
layout of the open plan office. It is on an outer wall. We probably
do have concrete construction and there is a lot of electro-magnetic
interference from all the computers. It does not help that we are a
long distance from Anthorn and the power is only 17kW. It does
generally correct itself through the night, I assume because of
improved propagation.

The clocks do work most of the time and I suspect become less reliable
as the battery loses power. Maybe we should have spent more than £10
and not gone to Argos!

On 30/11/2018 17:13, wrote:
On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.


NT


Scott, if you're not paying for the batteries, get the lithium ones. The
capacity is about 3 times as much as the standard alkaline ones. So,
they'll last a good deal longer. (I would say they will last 3 times as
long, but somebody will leap at me and say the power drain/voltage graph
is all wrong for this sort of application.)

Our kitchen clock, without the radio time-keeping, lasts a year or two
on one alkaline battery. I guess that's what your colleagues are
expecting, but a radio-synced clock is bound to have a bigger power drain.

I do agree with Tabby, though. Changing the battery over is hardly
rocket science. Why are you being called in? Do your colleagues call you
in to turn the kettle on, or have they mastered that already?

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:09:32 +0000, Max Demian
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 17:39, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 17:16:55 +0000, Scott
wrote:

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:50:26 +0000, Martin Brown
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.

LCD ones should last a year or so on a single battery. In what way is it
not working ? Mine generally fade out gradually but still show the time.

Per my other post, it is a mechanical display (with hands). What
happens is that it loses the time signal but keeps going showing
totally the wrong time.

Is the clock in the best place? I find that radio clocks receiving
from Anthorne are quite sensitive to their location, due to poor
reception through thick concrete walls, steel sheeting etc. Moving
them around from room to room or even within a room can make a big
difference. Several of the radio clocks I've had don't reset
themselves until midnight, even though the reset button is pressed to
activate the 'signal search' function, although a German radio clock
from Lidl and receiving from Frankfurt, does reset itself fairly
quickly.

Take it outside and put the battery in. Once it has set itself it should
be OK indoors.

Yes, I did that. I put it in a carrier bag and dangled it out of the
window, much to the amusement of the other staff. It's for reasons
like this they think I am the only person who can 'service' the clock.

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:10:58 +0000, Max Demian
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 17:13, wrote:
On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.

"Disappointing" is an extremely vague measure of battery life.

Yes it is but an entirely accurate representation of my assessment in
the absence of any available performance data.

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 09:13:22 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.

It sounds like it if I'm paying but I thought I could be a hero if I
could pull a rabbit out of a hat :-)

On 30/11/2018 18:15, Scott wrote:

Yes, I did that. I put it in a carrier bag and dangled it out of the
window, much to the amusement of the other staff. It's for reasons
like this they think I am the only person who can 'service' the clock.


How accurate do you need the clock to be?

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:18:51 +0000, GB
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 18:15, Scott wrote:

Yes, I did that. I put it in a carrier bag and dangled it out of the
window, much to the amusement of the other staff. It's for reasons
like this they think I am the only person who can 'service' the clock.

How accurate do you need the clock to be?

Correct twice a day is not acceptable!

The issue is that the clock is either correct or continues to run but
is totally wrong. Totally wrong is not acceptable either!

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:14:51 +0000, GB
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 17:13, wrote:
On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.


NT


Scott, if you're not paying for the batteries, get the lithium ones. The
capacity is about 3 times as much as the standard alkaline ones. So,
they'll last a good deal longer. (I would say they will last 3 times as
long, but somebody will leap at me and say the power drain/voltage graph
is all wrong for this sort of application.)

Our kitchen clock, without the radio time-keeping, lasts a year or two
on one alkaline battery. I guess that's what your colleagues are
expecting, but a radio-synced clock is bound to have a bigger power drain.

I do agree with Tabby, though. Changing the battery over is hardly
rocket science. Why are you being called in? Do your colleagues call you
in to turn the kettle on, or have they mastered that already?

It's more a bit of fun TBH - a good way to keep in touch and (at this
time of year) to get a invite to the Christmas lunch.

GB wrote:
On 30/11/2018 18:15, Scott wrote:

Yes, I did that. I put it in a carrier bag and dangled it out of the
window, much to the amusement of the other staff. It's for reasons
like this they think I am the only person who can 'service' the clock.


How accurate do you need the clock to be?



Doesnt everyone just look at their mobile phone these days?

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:16:40 +0000, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing.

Had an ordinary wall clock with "disappointing" battery life. I could
remember that I'd "only just" changed the battery ie within the last
year. Measuring the battery gave a reasonable 1.2/1.3 V but the clock
wouldn't run, the gears would twiych but not drive. Investigation
found corrosion at an internal pressure contact cleaned that up and
the clock would run with the same battery and has been running for a
good month or three since.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article , Scott
wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 17:39:34 +0000, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 17:16:55 +0000, Scott
wrote:

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:50:26 +0000, Martin Brown
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.

LCD ones should last a year or so on a single battery. In what way is
it not working ? Mine generally fade out gradually but still show the
time.

Per my other post, it is a mechanical display (with hands). What
happens is that it loses the time signal but keeps going showing
totally the wrong time.

Is the clock in the best place? I find that radio clocks receiving from
Anthorne are quite sensitive to their location, due to poor reception
through thick concrete walls, steel sheeting etc. Moving them around
from room to room or even within a room can make a big difference.
Several of the radio clocks I've had don't reset themselves until
midnight, even though the reset button is pressed to activate the
'signal search' function, although a German radio clock from Lidl and
receiving from Frankfurt, does reset itself fairly quickly.

It's not in the ideal place, but it is in the only place given the layout
of the open plan office. It is on an outer wall. We probably do have
concrete construction and there is a lot of electro-magnetic interference
from all the computers. It does not help that we are a long distance
from Anthorn and the power is only 17kW. It does generally correct
itself through the night, I assume because of improved propagation.

more likely less interference.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?


Got WiFi?
build one of these for them.

https://www.instructables.com/id/LED...-Mini-ESP8266/

Then you can have a scrolling message telling them what to do instead of
calling you.

On 30/11/2018 18:16, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:10:58 +0000, Max Demian
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 17:13, wrote:
On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.

"Disappointing" is an extremely vague measure of battery life.

Yes it is but an entirely accurate representation of my assessment in
the absence of any available performance data.


I have to change the AA alkaline battery in my kitchen clock at least
every two years, so I try and remember to do it every new years day,
and then discard the old battery.

Try using AA alkaline batteries intended for running motors first
and see how long it lasts.

On 30/11/2018 16:50, Martin Brown wrote:
On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace.Â* As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.

LCD ones should last a year or so on a single battery. In what way is it
not working ? Mine generally fade out gradually but still show the time.

I have a couple of analogue dial radio clocks and the Duracell
Industrial (formerly named ProCell) AA alkaline batteries last around a
year.

I would agree with others that the clock possibly has been positioned in
a radio blind spot and maybe the radio receiver is being powered up for
lengthy periods in order to eventually get the time signal.





--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 30/11/2018 17:14, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:31:04 -0800 (PST), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

It depends on what's meant by not working the make/model of clock and the battery installed, how long the radio is on for and perhaps a few other things.
Difficult Q without any tech details.

Maybe my posting was not clear enough. There is no radio involved as
such. It is a radio controlled clock, receiving 60kHz signal from
Anthorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_from_NPL

The clock is 12 inch analogue display purchased from Argos, similar to
this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7378261

It is fitted with a Duracell AA battery and the lifetime is not as
long as I would expect. Sometimes when you change the battery you
have to leave the clock overnight for it to pick up the signal. This
mystifies my colleagues and they think I'm the only person who can fix
the clock! I wondered if I fitted a lithium primary cell, would this
last longer?




THe batteries don't last long because of the dumb way it keeps time. It
checks the signal once every 24 hours, probably around 01:15. It then
winds itself forward to 00:00, pauses, then forward again to the correct
time. All this winding round every night runs the battery down, they
sometimes last less than a year.



--
djc

(–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿)
No low-hanging fruit, just a lot of small berries up a tall tree.

Scott brought next idea :
It does not help that we are a
long distance from Anthorn and the power is only 17kW. It does
generally correct itself through the night, I assume because of
improved propagation.

It doesn't need much output power at such frequencies and low data
rates.

GB has brought this to us :
Our kitchen clock, without the radio time-keeping, lasts a year or two on one
alkaline battery. I guess that's what your colleagues are expecting, but a
radio-synced clock is bound to have a bigger power drain.

AA Batteries in my radio LCD synched clocks last for around four or
five years, mine have little trouble getting sync, so I doubt its just
normal radio synching flattening them. Rather I would suggest it is
poor reception causing constant attempts to sync.

DJC explained on 30/11/2018 :
THe batteries don't last long because of the dumb way it keeps time. It
checks the signal once every 24 hours, probably around 01:15. It then winds
itself forward to 00:00, pauses, then forward again to the correct time. All
this winding round every night runs the battery down, they sometimes last
less than a year.

I have never seen one do that, rather they pause if ahead of time, or
pulse the hands forward until correct if behind true time.

On 30/11/2018 18:38, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:18:51 +0000, GB
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 18:15, Scott wrote:

Yes, I did that. I put it in a carrier bag and dangled it out of the
window, much to the amusement of the other staff. It's for reasons
like this they think I am the only person who can 'service' the clock.

How accurate do you need the clock to be?

Correct twice a day is not acceptable!

The issue is that the clock is either correct or continues to run but
is totally wrong. Totally wrong is not acceptable either!



You are missing my point. We have a typical battery operated non-radio
clock, from Argos IIRC. It runs say 2 years on one battery. We reset it
every 6 months or so, when daylight saving changes. It's accurate to a
couple of minutes over the 6 months. If that's sufficient accuracy for
your purposes, then swap the clock over to a non-radio one.

In article ,
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Scott brought next idea :
It does not help that we are a
long distance from Anthorn and the power is only 17kW. It does
generally correct itself through the night, I assume because of
improved propagation.

It doesn't need much output power at such frequencies and low data
rates.

but, in the Home Counties, there's a lot less signal than there used tobe
from Rugby. Fine in the open countryside, but not so good in the concrete
urban jungle

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 21:15:30 +0000, GB
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 18:38, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:18:51 +0000, GB
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 18:15, Scott wrote:

Yes, I did that. I put it in a carrier bag and dangled it out of the
window, much to the amusement of the other staff. It's for reasons
like this they think I am the only person who can 'service' the clock.

How accurate do you need the clock to be?

Correct twice a day is not acceptable!

The issue is that the clock is either correct or continues to run but
is totally wrong. Totally wrong is not acceptable either!



You are missing my point. We have a typical battery operated non-radio
clock, from Argos IIRC. It runs say 2 years on one battery. We reset it
every 6 months or so, when daylight saving changes. It's accurate to a
couple of minutes over the 6 months. If that's sufficient accuracy for
your purposes, then swap the clock over to a non-radio one.

Okay, I see what you mean. We've got more than one and I wanted to
try to keep them at the same time.

In article , Harry Bloomfield
writes
DJC explained on 30/11/2018 :
THe batteries don't last long because of the dumb way it keeps time.
It checks the signal once every 24 hours, probably around 01:15. It
then winds itself forward to 00:00, pauses, then forward again to the
correct time. All this winding round every night runs the battery
down, they sometimes last less than a year.

I have never seen one do that, rather they pause if ahead of time, or
pulse the hands forward until correct if behind true time.
I have a similar clock but it has type C battery. Lasts ages. Only time
it winds round to twelve is when you change or pull the battery.
--
bert

On 30/11/2018 18:16, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:10:58 +0000, Max Demian
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 17:13, wrote:
On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.

"Disappointing" is an extremely vague measure of battery life.

Yes it is but an entirely accurate representation of my assessment in
the absence of any available performance data.

We don't know what your expectations are. You may expect it to run for
many years on one AA.

--
Max Demian

On 30/11/2018 22:20, bert wrote:
In article , Harry Bloomfield
writes
DJC explained on 30/11/2018 :
THe batteries don't last long because of the dumb way it keeps time.
ItÂ* checks the signal once every 24 hours, probably around 01:15. It
then windsÂ* itself forward to 00:00, pauses, then forward again to
the correct time. AllÂ* this winding round every night runs the
battery down, they sometimes lastÂ* less than a year.

I have never seen one do that, rather they pause if ahead of time, or
pulse the hands forward until correct if behind true time.
I have a similar clock but it has type C battery. Lasts ages. Only time
it winds round to twelve is when you change or pull the battery.

The same with mine. On a battery change each of the hands will quickly
tick around to 00:00:00 and wait there for 30 to 60 minutes until it
receives the transmission and then immediately moves the hands to the
correct time. The one I have in my kitchen I look at on a regular basis,
including in the early hours of the morning, and I've never seen it
reset to 00:00:00 in the same way.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 30/11/2018 17:14, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:31:04 -0800 (PST), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

It depends on what's meant by not working the make/model of clock and the battery installed, how long the radio is on for and perhaps a few other things.
Difficult Q without any tech details.

Maybe my posting was not clear enough.

If so your clarification si mudlike in its cogency.


There is no radio involved as such.

Mkay...


It is a *radio* controlled clock,

Er what? with no radio involved?

receiving 60kHz signal from
Anthorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_from_NPL


The Time from NPL is a *radio* signal broadcast from the Anthorn Radio
Station near Anthorn, Cumbria, which serves as the United Kingdom's
national time reference....


The clock is 12 inch analogue display purchased from Argos, similar to
this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7378261

It is fitted with a Duracell AA battery and the lifetime is not as
long as I would expect. Sometimes when you change the battery you
have to leave the clock overnight for it to pick up the signal. This
mystifies my colleagues and they think I'm the only person who can fix
the clock! I wondered if I fitted a lithium primary cell, would this
last longer?



--
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twenty-first centurys developed world went into hysterical panic over a
globally average temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree, and,
on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly uncertain computer
projections combined into implausible chains of inference, proceeded to
contemplate a rollback of the industrial age.

Richard Lindzen

On Sat, 01 Dec 2018 01:14:09 +0000, alan_m wrote:

The same with mine. On a battery change each of the hands will quickly
tick around to 00:00:00 and wait there for 30 to 60 minutes until it
receives the transmission and then immediately moves the hands to the
correct time. The one I have in my kitchen I look at on a regular basis,
including in the early hours of the morning, and I've never seen it
reset to 00:00:00 in the same way.

The transmission is (AFAIR) once a minute, and takes a whole minute. The
usual procedure is to get three consecutive 'good' settings befdore
updating the clock. With weak signals, that can take a while.

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On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:16:40 +0000, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

Is it feasible to fit a larger battery, in a separate holder? I.e. a C or D
cell, holder, two bits of wire, spot of hot-melt?

I would also suggest you turn up with some bizarre tool to fix it. Angle
grinder, chicken bones tied to a stick, grease gun, ... just to keep up your
reputation.


Thomas Prufer

On Sat, 1 Dec 2018 07:54:04 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 17:14, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 08:31:04 -0800 (PST), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

It depends on what's meant by not working the make/model of clock and the battery installed, how long the radio is on for and perhaps a few other things.
Difficult Q without any tech details.

Maybe my posting was not clear enough.

If so your clarification si mudlike in its cogency.

Apologies for that !!!

There is no radio involved as such.

I chose the words 'as such' to suggest it was not a radio set, even
though it works'by radio (hence 'radio controlled')..

Mkay...


It is a *radio* controlled clock,

Er what? with no radio involved?

Not 'as such'. Not a radio set as we know it.. It won't get Classic
FM.

receiving 60kHz signal from
Anthorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_from_NPL


The Time from NPL is a *radio* signal broadcast from the Anthorn Radio
Station near Anthorn, Cumbria, which serves as the United Kingdom's
national time reference....

Which is why I mentioned 60kHz.

The clock is 12 inch analogue display purchased from Argos, similar to
this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7378261

It is fitted with a Duracell AA battery and the lifetime is not as
long as I would expect. Sometimes when you change the battery you
have to leave the clock overnight for it to pick up the signal. This
mystifies my colleagues and they think I'm the only person who can fix
the clock! I wondered if I fitted a lithium primary cell, would this
last longer?

If the foregoing is not enough of a clue to tell you what this
equipment is, I suggest you leave the commentary to others.

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 23:02:00 +0000, Max Demian
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 18:16, Scott wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:10:58 +0000, Max Demian
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 17:13, wrote:
On Friday, 30 November 2018 16:16:48 UTC, Scott wrote:

There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?

no point, lithium primaries are a lot more money for more capacity. Let them replace the alkaline cell now & then. Tell them be grateful they don't need to wind it every day.

"Disappointing" is an extremely vague measure of battery life.

Yes it is but an entirely accurate representation of my assessment in
the absence of any available performance data.

We don't know what your expectations are. You may expect it to run for
many years on one AA.

I think you have answered your own question now.

On Fri, 30 Nov 2018 20:18:26 +0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:

On 30/11/2018 16:16, Scott wrote:
There is a radio controlled clock at my former workplace. As I
installed it, I am still getting the blame that it is not working.
I'll check the battery voltage but it does seem to me that the battery
life is disappointing. Should I fit a lithium primary cell?


Got WiFi?
build one of these for them.

https://www.instructables.com/id/LED...-Mini-ESP8266/

Then you can have a scrolling message telling them what to do instead of
calling you.

Genius. Could I 'customise' the message?