PSR800 Clock Accuracy?

[kruser]

I've noticed on my PSR800 that the clock does not maintain very good accuracy.
It gains about three to five minutes every 24 hours.
I don't hook it to the computer very often so after say a month, my PSR800 clock is between 90 and 160 minutes or so fast.
I may update it via ezscan once per month and always set the clock at the same time.

Does anyone else notice this fast clock?

I don't really worry about it but it does mess me up when I use the radio for recording. The timestamp will be way off when I go back to find something I'd heard earlier. I know it is a scanner and not a glorified clock but for something that timestamps audio files, I would think it would have a much better clock accuracy.

I do not run it from battery power very much but I do allow it to charge maybe once per week so it is not caused by the batteries going flat.
I usually use an external usb adapter and not the computer for a power source.

I just find it odd that the clock gains so much time in a single day.
I hope the radios PLL reference oscillator is not coming from the clocks oscillator!

It gains this time in all power modes. When running directly from batteries, hooked to a charger but the charge time has expired so not charging and when hooked to a charger and charging and of course when powered on and scanning which would not be charging or when hooked to a computer for updates.

edit: Not having a service manual for this radio, I'm not going to try and find what controls the real time clock as that circuit could very well be part of some master oscillator for the entire radio but I did do a temperature test to see if it was something temperature sensitive and it appears to not be changed by its ambient temp. I put it in a warm fridge at about 46 degrees F for 24 hours and still found the same time gain when I powered it on.

 

[simmsrep]

I have not had any issues with the clock on mine. I dont do a lot of recording but I do use it as a backup alarm clock. I have it set to come on to the local weather channel. I have it set to come on 1 minute later than my alarm clock and it has always been consistant. I run mine off batteries only and I usually update it once a week and take the sd card out and put it in the computer. The last time I used the usb cord was when gre came out with the last update. I dont know, you may have an issue with your scanner.

 

[kruser]

Here's an odd one, since I made the initial post about this back on July 4th, the PSR800 has been keeping perfect time!

I've not changed anything. I plugged it in maybe a week ago and noticed the time was correct darn near to the second. I had not used it since that time until tonight when I powered it up again and I'll be darn, the clock was still running just fine and had only gained maybe two seconds since the 4th!

The darndest thing as I has had the fast clock since day one.
I guess I just needed to rant about it and that fixed it.

I'd bet it will crop up again at some point in time as I suspect something inside is loose or something.
Maybe when I placed it back in its little stand, that jarred something back to making connection.

I did have an issue with this radio after several months of use. I'd found that the battery connections between the battery compartment and the circuit board were not making a good connection. They do not use a soldered connection but rely upon the case halves to put pressure on the battery contact metal and the circuit board in the other half of the case.
One of the posts that holds the battery terminal steel in place was lower that the other so that did not allow any pressure to be applied so it was breaking contact at that point with the circuit board.

I found it when the firmware was released that allowed one to adjust the battery voltage step levels. My voltage was jumping all over the place even with alkaline cells installed so I opened the radio up to examine the power connection points and found that poor connection. I ended up soldering a wire on the negative and the positive sides and get rid of it relying upon pressure to supply power from the battery compartment.
That fix solved my odd voltage problems but it did not change the fast clock problem at all.
Now I wonder if I bought a lemon but other then the power problem and the fast clock, the radio seemed to work just fine. So I just decided to live with the fast clock as it was not a big deal other than the timestamping of audio files being off.
I guess I'll open it back up if the clock starts running fast again and look around for other issues.

But... it is working just perfect now and keeping perfect time. Go figure.