Radio Controlled Clock MSF Time Signal

24

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  • virgo17
    virgo17 Posts: 955 Forumite
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    Uxb wrote: »
    Its just yet more sh*t UK infrastructure coupled with something being improved (in this case moved) which makes things worse
    So all pretty normal then.

    I agree. I have a cheap radio clock (wx station) that was bought from Lidl in Spain and brought back to UK. It syncs perfectly with DCF-77 at Frankfurt. OTOH a similar UK purchased device frequently fails to sync with Anthorn in Cumbria.

    Both items are in the north west of the UK.
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,655 Forumite
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    virgo17 wrote: »
    Both items are in the north west of the UK.

    I suppose the mountains could be blocking the Cumbria signal?

    Interesting to hear about the German signal as I have a clock bought from German company Tchibo (remember them?) in the UK at the turn of the century. Still going strong. I wonder if it is using the German mast too.
  • andyt8
    andyt8 Posts: 113 Forumite
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    Quite agree - Rugby was a better location for us in the south of England, I expect those in north Scotland prefer Anthorn up on the English Scottish border.
  • abssorb
    abssorb Posts: 125 Forumite
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    Have you or any of your neighbours recently had any building work done? Foil backed plasterboard is becoming the norm now and does horrible things with RF.
  • S0litaire
    S0litaire Posts: 3,535 Forumite
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    edited 1 October 2018 at 5:56PM
    coffeehound wrote: »
    I suppose the mountains could be blocking the Cumbria signal?

    Interesting to hear about the German signal as I have a clock bought from German company Tchibo (remember them?) in the UK at the turn of the century. Still going strong. I wonder if it is using the German mast too.

    Probably
    The German signal is on a higher frequency (77Khz?) than the UK one (60Khz) and a lot more powerful.

    @dosh37
    You could try opening it up and checking the aerial is intact. Simple wire round ferrite rod usually hot glued inside.
    Simple to replace if steady with soldering iron ;D
    Laters

    Sol

    "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
  • Frozen_up_north
    Frozen_up_north Posts: 2,420 Forumite
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    S0litaire wrote: »
    Probably
    The German signal is on a higher frequency (77Mhz?) than the UK one (60Hz) and a lot more powerful.

    @dosh37
    You mean 60 KHz and 77.5 KHz. You can listen to both at good strength on a web based software defined radio (SDR) in Holland.
    Enter 77.5 or 60, mode CW. MSF on 60 KHz is very strong there.

    websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/m.html
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 5,186 Forumite
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    S0litaire wrote: »
    @dosh37
    You could try opening it up and checking the aerial is intact. Simple wire round ferrite rod usually hot glued inside.
    Simple to replace if steady with soldering iron ;D

    15 months later I suspect they may have bought a new clock :)
  • S0litaire
    S0litaire Posts: 3,535 Forumite
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    Colin_Maybe wrote: »
    15 months later I suspect they may have bought a new clock :)
    You never know with people in this group... :D
    Laters

    Sol

    "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
  • Dodor1
    Dodor1 Posts: 2 Newbie
    Yes, they have probably bought a clock you set in the traditional way maybe even a clockwork one. Neither of my radio controlled clocks are any good both are relatively new and supposedly good (one being a Roberts DAB with the tiniest wire antenna ever) o e randomly changes its time sometimes in the night so the alarm is wrong and the other had only set itself once when brand new.
  • chiny
    chiny Posts: 193 Forumite
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    Perhaps analogue clocks are obsolescent and hoping they will connect reliably to a modern time standard is wishful thinking. Of course, a nice clock in the living room is pretty much de rigueur but maybe heading the way of other familiar household devices.

    What standard would you use anyway; GPS based would appear to be the obvious choice but my experience is GPS systems are not too happy away from windows in a typical house. Wifi ntp ? Surely it is tricky (not impossible) to make such clocks analogue, so probably commercially expensive.
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