WWVB broadcasts the current time and date with split-second accuracy. These new products and non-networked systems will be able to take advantage of the improved NIST broadcast format thanks to next generation receiver chips that will begin entering the marketplace in 2013.įind out more about radio-controlled clocks work with WWVB. AcuRite atomic clocks use a radio-controlled signal to synchronize to the correct time broadcast by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Radio Station WWVB, located near Fort Collins, Colorado. Legacy clocks and watches will still continue to function as they have because the amplitude modulation remains the same, but they will not benefit from the increased performance of the new phase modulation protocol, Lowe said. This change significantly improves signal reception and overall performance of new products that are designed to utilize this new protocol. If one is phase-shifted, the crest will arrive a little before or after the other.) (The crests of two waves that are "in phase" pass a point at the same time. Phase modulation adds an additional layer of information encoded by shifting the phase of the carrier wave. A radio clock or radio-controlled clock (RCC), and often (incorrectly and colloquially) referred to as an 'atomic clock', is a type of quartz clock or watch that is automatically synchronized to a time code transmitted by a radio transmitter connected to a time standard such as an atomic clock. Like a traditional AM radio station, time information is encoded in the WWVB broadcast by changes in the strength or amplitude of the radio signal. To solve these problems, Lowe says, NIST has developed, tested and is now beginning to implement the new phase-modulation WWVB signal. Moreover, a time broadcast from England on the same frequency also interferes with devices on the east coast of the United States that rely on the NIST broadcast, according to John Lowe, station manager for WWVB. WWVB Radio Controlled Clocks: Recommended Practices for Manufacturers and Consumers January 2005 Special Publication 960-14 Michael A. Like a typical AM radio, your atomic clock will not be able to receive the WWVB signal in places surrounded by heavy concrete or metal panels. AM Receiver module with external Antenna for 60kHz 'Atomic Clock' Radio Signals like those available in USA and Canada, England and Japan up to 2000 km Reception Radius depending on Weather and other Conditions 1 bps Data Output with 3. The signal is able to cover a distance of up to 2,000 miles from the source. However, sometimes the radio-controlled clocks have difficulty accurately picking up the WWVB time signal because of the clock's location, local radio interference, effects of buildings, and other problems. signal (WWVB at 60 kHz AM radio signal) with an accuracy of 1 second per every 3,000 years. Those broadcasts are synchronized to the NIST atomic clock ensemble in nearby Boulder, Colo. Popular radio-controlled timekeepers, which range from wristwatches to wall clocks, are not really atomic clocks-though that's often in their name-but they do set themselves by listening to low-frequency AM time broadcasts from the NIST radio station WWVB in Fort Collins, Colo.
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