Receiving WWV Was: My radio shack time cube

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nohamhere

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I had one once but like so many things I can't find it.. I simply want to receive WWV to set my watch. What's a guy got to do?
 

ko6jw_2

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How accurate is your watch? If you have a recent iPhone it is synched to time signals via GPS. You don't need WWV. I just checked my iPhone against WWV on 15MHz and it was bang on. Currently my analog watch is about 2 seconds slow. I'll fix that when we go off daylight saving time this weekend. Also, the NIST website is problematical because of latency on the internet. On the other hand, how long does it take for a radio signal to get from WWV or WWVH to California? You can drive yourself nuts with this stuff. How accurate do you want to get? The new Apple watches are the most accurate watches in the world. Personally I won't spend the money, but if you are serious about accuracy that's the way to go.
 

nohamhere

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(303) 499-7111

AH !!! perfect. That's what I miss is the HF sound after years in the military listening to HF radio. I know it's not modern or necessary, but would still like to receive the signal. Recommend a receiver .... or I'm handy with a solider iron and would take a shot at building one.

Thanks for humoring a senior citizen.
 

ridgescan

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Heck just get one of those portable AM FM SW radios like the Tecsuns. These will quench your longing for the SWL sounds and set your clocks well. Plus you could sit in your easy chair with one and tune around the SW bands. We can refresh your memory on where stuff is nowadays:)
 

mmckenna

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AH !!! perfect. That's what I miss is the HF sound after years in the military listening to HF radio. I know it's not modern or necessary, but would still like to receive the signal. Recommend a receiver .... or I'm handy with a solider iron and would take a shot at building one.

Thanks for humoring a senior citizen.

Yeah, a cheap SW receiver will work fine. I've got a little Tecsun PL-360 and I can pull in WWV easily with that.

If setting accurate time is your concern, your computer will do NTP and set its clock accurately. Your cell phone will also, the cellular systems use GPS for timing and your phone will sync to that.
 

jwt873

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If you're just after WWV and don't mind paying for a new watch, rather than a radio... You might consider a watch with a built-in receiver that automatically sets itself off the WWVB signal every day. That way you don't have to do it. Here's a list of some you can buy: Top 10 Atomic Watches of 2020 | Video Review

I used a Casio Wave-Ceptor for over 10 years years. I paid around $60 for it. The watch worked very well, automatically setting the date and time. It's been relegated to the shelf now since I picked up an Apple watch which sets itself from the local cell network time. It's a second or two out from WWV time, but I've learned to live with it :)
 
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nohamhere

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Thanks guys, exactly what I needed to hear. I ordered a TECSUN R-9012 AM/FM/SW from amazon. You have me enthused about listening to more than WWV. Another way to beat Covid boredom. Never mentioned that I have several vintage Casio digital watches from back in the 80s that I have kept alive W-71. I've picked several up on ebay recently for parts and to try restoring. The 4 button moduals from the very old generation appears now in many of the newer models.
 
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GlobalNorth

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I wish someone would bring back the old Radio Shack 'Cube' or a tube based desktop radio for WWV/WWVH. Not for setting clocks or watches, but just for listening to the broadcast while reading.

Yeah, I could listen to it on the computer through SDR, on my R-71, etc, but it isn't the same.
 

ridgescan

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Thanks guys, exactly what I needed to hear. I ordered a TECSUN R-9012 AM/FM/SW from amazon. You have me enthused about listening to more than WWV. Another way to beat Covid boredom. Never mentioned that I have several vintage Casio digital watches from back in the 80s that I have kept alive W-71. I've picked several up on ebay recently for parts and to try restoring. The 4 button moduals from the very old generation appears now in many of the newer models.
That'll work! Your choice has a 4 of 5 star review score from over 600 people.
I have only desktop base receivers here but a few years ago I picked up a Tecsun PL380 from a rummage sale for $2 because it didn't get anything on FM or SW. Took it home and found the whip antenna's lead broke from the board inside. Re-soldered it and brought things back to life.
That little radio is pretty impressive with long-distance MW and shortwave stuff comes in pretty well off that short little whip with the nice, quieting DSP attribute.
 

Randyk4661

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When I first got my BCD996P2 one of the first things I did was try out the search features. much to my surprise the first thing it picked up was WWV at 25.000 Mhz. I hadn't heard that in decades.
 

nohamhere

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(y) You guys understand what I've been trying to find. That makes me a Happy Camper, or at least an easy chair listener. :)
 
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GB46

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Out of curiosity I just read a review of the Tecsun R-9012 on swling.com, where Laurence Neils says this about gaps in the radio's shortwave band coverage:
Those gaps are very large. For example, the only broadcast frequency for WWV that would be covered on this set is the 5MHZ one. 10, 15, and 20MHZ are all located in various gaps on the bands.

The full review is here: A review of the Tecsun R-9012 shortwave radio

Hopefully 5 Mhz is usable at nohamhere's location. It's unavailable where I am in the daytime, but I can occasionally hear it at night. The signal is nowhere near as strong as on 10 Mhz, where I can hear it all day long. It also comes in pretty well on 15 Mhz in the daytime, but never at night.
 

AK9R

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I've got a little Tecsun PL-360 and I can pull in WWV easily with that.
I ordered a TECSUN R-9012 AM/FM/SW from amazon.
mmckenna suggested the PL-360. You ordered the R-9012. Looks like you went for an inexpensive portable shortwave receiver with analog tuning. If it doesn't cover the frequencies of interest (for WWV broadcasts, that's 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, and 20 MHz), then it may not be money well spent.
 

nohamhere

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Well, the R-9012 arrives today, so I'll find out soon enough. I want analog tuning and from the reviews I read it sounded like it would fill my simple expectations. I know ..... you get what you pay for. I have no problem returning to Amazon. BUT, here's the problem. As someone observed, I well may be "bitten" and end up wanting more listening than WWV.
So ....... suggestions please. Analog, cigar box size or smaller. No giant external antenna and $25-100. No desire for AM or FM. Simple non-technical suggestions please. nohamhere is very true, but there was a time I used morris code ........... sadly all that comes to mind is a VOR station ... - .. :rolleyes: Edit.. I may not understand the "digital" receiver. To me digital is like a VHF or UHF radio. You tune it and that's it. Analog gives the ability to "roam" all over. Can you tune around on digital ??
 
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GB46

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I may not understand the "digital" receiver. To me digital is like a VHF or UHF radio. You tune it and that's it. Analog gives the ability to "roam" all over. Can you tune around on digital ??
Yes, some digital receivers have tuning dials. The main difference is that the frequency is displayed on a liquid crystal screen, rather than on a slide rule dial like the R-9012 has. You get to see the actual frequency, whereas an analog dial shows you only approximately where you are. Also, you'd see only one frequency at a time, which would change as you tune up and down the band. It's something like what you see on a car's odometer as you clock up the miles, although a lot more slowly; hopefully you wouldn't drive that fast. The good digital receivers will allow you to fine tune your frequency in very small steps, so instead of say, 10.000 Mhz, you might see 10.001 on the display as you move the dial. The steps can get even smaller, depending on the radio's design.

There's also what's known as direct entry tuning, in which you type in the frequency on a numeric keypad and press enter, but that can get pretty awkward if you want to browse around a bit.

I've tried to keep this reply as non-technical as possible, so I hope it isn't too far over your head.
 

nohamhere

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No, my head is hanging mighty low right now, so not a big hurdle. The R-9012 is obviously even to me not going to cut it. Says so right there on the dial. (back it goes) As suggested, the PL-360 would have been the correct choice. I'll leave the question out there for a suggestion as mentioned in previous post.

I've taken up so much of your time with my simple little question about my RadioShack time cube I'm beginning to feel guilty. You have a great forum and I appreciate your acceptance of my questions. A lot of forums I would have been degraded.
 
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GB46

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I've taken up so much of your time with my simple little question about my RadioShack time cube I'm beginning to feel guilty. You have a great forum and I appreciate your acceptance of my questions. A lot of forums I would have been degraded.
I've been on a few forums like that too, although not all of them were about radio. This is by far the best forum I've ever used. It's friendly, very focused on the topics at hand, and a great source of information. You needn't feel guilty for taking up members' time; we're here to help one another. I'm neither an electronics expert nor a ham, but what little I do know is from this forum and more than sixty years as a shortwave listener.
 
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