Syncing the time on your atomic clock or G-Shock using a phone app.

[powernoodle]

Hey peoples. I have several atomic G-Shocks that have been having difficulty syncing to the atomic clock in Ft. Collins, CO.  Maybe its the time of year, the weather, or who knows what.  Very frustrating for a G-Shock guy.

So I tried the "WWVB Emulator" app on the Google Play Store.  It purports to sync your atomic clock, watch, etc. by playing this little clicky noise on your phone or other device.  You put your clock or G-Shock in sync mode, then place it up close to the phone's speaker while the sound plays.

And it actually works!  It syncs the clock or G-shock!  I don't know how this works.  Its some kind of dark magic.

Now, it is not actually synced to the atomic signal.  But it syncs to the phone, which is so close to the actual time that my eyeballs can't tell the difference.

Highly recommended if you are having trouble syncing your atomic clock or watch. 

[Smashie]

'Tis witchcraft! Burn the witch! Oops wrong forum.

I've tried it with an app called Clock Wave on iOs, £1.99 and it works a treat.

Now just got to try to find out how it works. It's going to bug the heck out of me otherwise.

 

[powernoodle]

It does seem like Deep Voodoo.  But it works, so there has to be a reason.   

[Smashie]

Well the watches don't have a microphone, but they do have an antenna. So I wonder if it's receiving the impulses from the speaker coil; in the phone?

[powernoodle]

The WWVB signal from Ft. Collins is transmitted at 60 kHz.  The guy below measured the audio signal from a similar app, and found it to be at about 60 kHz.  How that happens is above my pay grade.  There is some gibber jabber on the interwebs that its a harmonic.

Look at 2:40 -

[Smashie]

How it happens is like this. It is important to note that the audio/sound itself (air vibrations) is not of use, it is the audio signal, the electric current in the wire to the speaker (and in the speakers' voice coil), or the current in the wire of attached headphones, that generates a magnetic field around the wire, and it is the third harmonic of the 20 kHz electromagnetic wave (60 kHz) that propagates from the wire/conductor, or in the case of the German 77.5 kHz signal, perhaps the fifth harmonic of 15.5 kHz, that can be received by the antenna in the watch. This magnetic field is always created by the current in the wiring to/in the speaker (and in a speaker with a voice coil this magnetic field interacts with a magnet so that the cone moves, creating vibrations in the air we perceive as sound). Harmonics can occur 'naturally', like when you pluck a guitar string, the string vibrates at the fundamental frequency and several harmonics, or overtones. The specific make-up of the overtones gives a musical instrument (and our voice) its timbre. However, in this case, the (odd-integer) harmonics are what make up the square wave that is output by the DAC (digital-to-analog-converter).

See, easier than witchcraft 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I agree.

Definitely witchcraft!

And it has convinced not to ever get a nuclear powered G Shock!

Def

[powernoodle]

Thanks, Smashie. 

After getting used to the atomic function, its difficult to go back to the old ways.  At least for me.  It is so nice to have the exact time on your wrist, though I get that everyone has perfect time on the cell phone too.  I synch my non-atomic clocks with time.gov.

[Smashie]

No worries, I have a pretty good understanding of radio and watches.

Now, if you really want to bake your noodle, how about a mechanical watch that is synced to an atomic clock?

https://youtu.be/9EbhC65zo0M?si=wYCygV7HWA2_av8Y

[powernoodle]

  

[WhichDawg]

I just got the wifey an atomic wall clock (anniversary) and I'll remember this thread, thank you