![]() Using a radio-controlled timepiece, you can be confident that your clock or watch is synchronized to official U.S. "The radio broadcast also sends the correct date, and automatically takes care of such things as daylight saving time, leap years and leap seconds. time one or more times a day from radio broadcasts from WWVB, he said. In a radio-controlled timepiece, the watch or clock is synchronized to official U.S. That said, O'Brian explained that radio-controlled timepieces can work in Hawaii, although not as well as on the mainland. O'Brian noted that, because the major market for radio-controlled timepieces is in the 48 contiguous states, many products might not permit setting to the Hawaii time zone, or it might be difficult to make that setting. "It is this indirect connection that some marketers mean when they refer to 'atomic clocks,'" he said. O'Brian said WWVB radio broadcasts, which originate about 70 miles north of Boulder, are indirectly synchronized to the NIST-F1 atomic clock. It serves as the primary time and frequency standard in the United States and contributes to the international group of atomic clocks that define Coordinated Universal Time, the official world time.) (NIST operates one of the world's most accurate atomic clocks, NIST-F1, in its laboratories in Boulder, Colo. They "are large, complex devices costing many thousands to millions of dollars, depending on accuracy." "Note that these timepieces are built by a couple of dozen different manufacturers, and are not built by NIST, nor does NIST have any regulatory authority over these products," he said by e-mail.Ī true atomic clock "uses fundamental vibrations of atoms to measure time extremely accurately," O'Brian explained. O'Brian says those devices should more accurately be labeled "radio-controlled clock" or "radio-controlled timepiece." time by radio broadcasts from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's station, WWVB, in Colorado, explained Tom O'Brian, chief of NIST's Time and Frequency Division. They are clocks and watches automatically set to official U.S. Could you find out why? If it doesn't work here, it doesn't make any sense for them to be sold here.Īnswer: We turned to experts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology for help in explaining what atomic clocks are and why so-called "atomic clocks" might not work in Hawaii.įirst off, those "atomic clocks" you see on the market aren't atomic clocks. Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.Not as effective in Hawaii Question: I was told that atomic clocks being sold all over Honolulu don't really work in Honolulu. WWVB Phase-Modulated Clocks (wall clocks, wristwatches, etc.) WWVB Clocks (wall clocks, wristwatches, etc.) The time and frequency receiver products from each manufacturer have been categorized as follows: GPSDO Further, NIST does not endorse any commercial products that may be advertised or available on these sites. NIST does not necessarily endorse the views expressed or the facts presented on these sites. NOTE: We have provided links to these sites because they have information that may be of interest to our users. Send corrections or additions to: timeinfo The manufacturers are listed alphabetically. The following list of links to manufacturers of time and frequency receivers may be incomplete, and inclusion on the list does not imply endorsement by NIST.
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