Problems with radio controlled clocks ( non boaty)

[VicS]

I have several radio controlled clocks.

One, the oldest and made by Oregon Scientific, receives the signal from Cumbria and is working with no problems The others , with one exception bought from Lidl, receive the German signal.
Recently all those receiving the German signal have started to loose reception of the signal.
One has always been a bit iffy but a while ago I moved it to a different room where it seemed to be happy until recently.
The one in the lounge has never missed a beat in about nine years until recently.
One, which is my bedside alarm clock and travelling alarm, has only previously ever lost reception in a modern London hospital where even mobile phones were known to suffer from low signal strength. I guess the steel construction was the cause there.
The one not bought from Lidl is an Oregon Scientific weather station which can be switched between the Cumbrian signal and the German signal but the German signal seemed to be the better of the two for its location in the house.

Has anybody else had any similar problems or know of any reason why I am having problems ?
I am wondering if the strength of the German signal has been reduced so as not to cover the UK following Brexit.

There has been no local building work which is likely to have affected the signal.

I will try switching the Oregon Scientific weather station to the UK signal , but it is not in a good position to receive that.

Perhaps I should not buy stuff from Lidl but their ginger biscuits are good.

 

[Thistle]

Perhaps a silly question, but have you checked the batteries? If slightly beyond their best they may struggle even more in cold conditions.

 

[peteK]

I have 3,two in the house and one in the boat,all receive German signal,not noticed any problems.

 

[VicS]

Perhaps a silly question, but have you checked the batteries? If slightly beyond their best they may struggle even more in cold conditions.

I guess the batteries are different ages but at least one has recently had a new battery/ batteries . None is showing a low battery warning . All are in heated rooms although some rooms are warner than others. The problem pre-dates the current cold snap. The Oregon Scientific weather station is running on mains power to support a bright and colourful LED display.

They all recover if placed close to a window but soon loose the signal again when returned to their normal positions.

One of my multimeters has a battery test function so batteries are one thing I can check but in the past they have all continued to work even with a low battery warning showing.

 

[ChromeDome]

Radio Controlled Clocks (RCC) are sold with different configurations to accept signals from one or more stations. If travelling globally you may experience that your watch purchased in Europe will not pick up a signal e.g. in APAC.

If such settings are not available to the user I don't think there's a lot you can do.

One of my clocks picks up signals very well even in a steel drawer inside the house, another needs to be put outside, with a view to the sky, for at least 24h to get it.

Radio clock - Wikipedia

 

[davidej]

Our one is from the London Clock Company so, I imagine, receives the Uk signal.

It goes bonkers now and again and whirrs round ending up 6 hours out of sinc. Usually rights itself next 6 or 12 o’ clock.

 

[cpedw]

I have a home-built clock using Cumbria that has been a bit confused twice over the last few days. I was putting it down to the weather conditions affecting the radio reception but you say ...

The problem pre-dates the current cold snap.

I am continuing with that theory in my case until normal weather returns and the clock doesn't.

 

[LittleSister]

Get yourself a sundial!

Each to his/her own, but I think this can be filed under 'First World Problems'!

I'm reminded of the idea that if you have one clock/watch, you know the time, if you have several you can't be sure. My clocks vary slightly, but they're 'near enough', and get synchronised a couple of times a year when the clocks change.

 

[Little Dorrit]

I have an Auriol Weather Station which I believe I purchased from Lidle. I think I have on at least one occasion had to do a full reset using the reset button on the back. After the reset, I needed to go through a lengthy (and not intuitive process) to recalibrate the unit for which a manual is useful if not essential. Perhaps try that. I have a copy of the manual in PDF format if it's of any use shout.

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

I have several radio controlled clocks.

One, the oldest and made by Oregon Scientific, receives the signal from Cumbria and is working with no problems The others , with one exception bought from Lidl, receive the German signal.
Recently all those receiving the German signal have started to loose reception of the signal.
One has always been a bit iffy but a while ago I moved it to a different room where it seemed to be happy until recently.
The one in the lounge has never missed a beat in about nine years until recently.
One, which is my bedside alarm clock and travelling alarm, has only previously ever lost reception in a modern London hospital where even mobile phones were known to suffer from low signal strength. I guess the steel construction was the cause there.
The one not bought from Lidl is an Oregon Scientific weather station which can be switched between the Cumbrian signal and the German signal but the German signal seemed to be the better of the two for its location in the house.

Has anybody else had any similar problems or know of any reason why I am having problems ?
I am wondering if the strength of the German signal has been reduced so as not to cover the UK following Brexit.

There has been no local building work which is likely to have affected the signal.

I will try switching the Oregon Scientific weather station to the UK signal , but it is not in a good position to receive that.

Perhaps I should not buy stuff from Lidl but their ginger biscuits are good.

No help to you whatsoever but I have a wireless programmable thermostat for my CH. It works perfectly except for one position (The most suitable!) where it will intermittently lose the signal. No obstructions and line of sight equal for all positions. Manufacturer, Horstman, actually lent me an upmarket version to test. Exactly the same!

 

[trevbouy]

The frequencies of the clocks are in the very low 60-80kHz region.
It may be that you have lately had an item of electrical equipment that uses a 'wall wart' for power.
These switch mode power supplies are notorious for interference in that frequency region as well as others. Try a portable transistor radio on long wave to see if there's interference.
These things are the scourge of the Radio Amateur community !

 

[blush2]

I've got two Staiger alarm clocks, until this week one has been at home and one on the boat. I think they probably run on the German signal, certainly there were no problems traveling round Europe and the Atlantic islands. When I saw this post this morning the one upstairs had no signal, but it was back an hour later. The other one is now in the kitchen so I don't know what it was doing then but it is online now.

Maybe I can do a bit of research and keep them next to each other to see if they lose the signal at the same time.

I know the one that has been at home all the time does lose the signal sometimes.

At the moment the Met Office says the cold weather might affect mobile phone signals, is this the opposite effect to high pressure when the VHF picks up signals from far at?

 

[VicS]

Thanks for the interest and replies.

To clarity some points they are all in various rooms in the house. well inside the 2000km range claimed for the German signal, on high ground with no hills nearby that might screen the signal although it does have to cross the eastern most part of the Kent downs.
Until recently all worked well , with one exception which is in fact an Auriol weather station , but even that one has been Ok since I moved it to a different room. ( I have the original instructions thanks Little Dorrit )

I have no recent new bits of electronic equipment which might be causing any problems but possibly the neighbours could have.

I came across one interesting bit of advice on the up-market Creative Watch Co website . They say one should not use Duracell batteries. " When replacing the battery in a radio controlled clock DO NOT use Duracell batteries as they can cause malfunctioning of the clock movement. " I have not used Duracell batteries in anything since they were dubbed "Duraleak" on these forums and I realised that leaky batteries were almost always modern Duracells ( I think they may have improved again, but I am not risking it.) I use Energiser batteries
On the same website is a comment from a user hinting that the 5G phone network might be causing problems.

Re the wireless thermostats . I have two controlling the CH in different parts of the house. They work OK but I've not tried moving either. Both have been fitted where previously there were wired thermostats

 

[blush2]

Our clocks occasionally had signal problems well before 5G and in two different locations, they are more than 20 years old. I never really bothered about it unless it coincided with the hour change in the days when I needed to use the alarm for work.

 

[VicS]

Our clocks occasionally had signal problems well before 5G and in two different locations, they are more than 20 years old. I never really bothered about it unless it coincided with the hour change in the days when I needed to use the alarm for work.

This morning all bar one see to be receiving a signal.
The weather station which I switch to the Cumbrian signal is searching for a signal

Re the 5G, I notice that television aerial boosters have a filter to prevent interference from mobile phone networks ( I have to buy a new one otherwise not something I would have known about.)

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

Thanks for the interest and replies.

To clarity some points they are all in various rooms in the house. well inside the 2000km range claimed for the German signal, on high ground with no hills nearby that might screen the signal although it does have to cross the eastern most part of the Kent downs.
Until recently all worked well , with one exception which is in fact an Auriol weather station , but even that one has been Ok since I moved it to a different room. ( I have the original instructions thanks Little Dorrit )

I have no recent new bits of electronic equipment which might be causing any problems but possibly the neighbours could have.

I came across one interesting bit of advice on the up-market Creative Watch Co website . They say one should not use Duracell batteries. " When replacing the battery in a radio controlled clock DO NOT use Duracell batteries as they can cause malfunctioning of the clock movement. " I have not used Duracell batteries in anything since they were dubbed "Duraleak" on these forums and I realised that leaky batteries were almost always modern Duracells ( I think they may have improved again, but I am not risking it.) I use Energiser batteries
On the same website is a comment from a user hinting that the 5G phone network might be causing problems.

Re the wireless thermostats . I have two controlling the CH in different parts of the house. They work OK but I've not tried moving either. Both have been fitted where previously there were wired thermostats

Re. Batteries. In many applications it is not a good idea to be using rechargeable due to voltage difference. Most applications seem to recommend Alkaline.

At the moment the Met Office says the cold weather might affect mobile phone signals, is this the opposite effect to high pressure when the VHF picks up signals from far at?
Without going into all sorts of gory detail. very basically, yes!

 

[thinwater]

Assuming this is dry land (title said non-boaty), and assuming you have a cell phone, please explain what is the point? It can't be for celestial navigation, because if you have all this you have GPS.

In all seriousness, I don't understand how the time will be measurably more accurate and to what purpose. With the introduction of good, cheap electronic movements in the 70s, I rather stopped worrying about time. I feel like I'm missing something here.

 

[cpedw]

please explain what is the point?

I can't speak for VicS but for me, radio clocks are great because they deal with BST/GMT (Daylight Saving) which otherwise is tedious twice yearly if you have say half a dozen clocks about the house.

 

[Refueler]

I have two Oregon Weather Units that have RCC time. Both are disabled .... if I enable - they change the time zone I am in regardless of my user settings. Both only pick up German signal.
Polish seller to me in Latvia. I could buy same in Latvia but price is higher than Polish + shipping !

 

[VicS]

I have two Oregon Weather Units that have RCC time. Both are disabled .... if I enable - they change the time zone I am in regardless of my user settings. Both only pick up German signal.
Polish seller to me in Latvia. I could buy same in Latvia but price is higher than Polish + shipping !

Thats odd
If you actually set the time zone to +1 (ie 1 hour ahead of Central European time which is what the German signal will be) it should not be changed.

Interesting though because even though I switched mine to the UK signal ( which is weak) I did not change the the time zone setting ( it still says minus 1) the time display is still correct. I guess it has not actually latched on to the UK signal. I'll put in another room where the UK signal should be better and see what happens