Radio Alarm clock,  help with manufacturer  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: papall44532
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 21, 2019, 02:42:04 pm
content: I have alarm clock, that says 'radio controlled' on and nothing else. I bough from ebay and have no idea what the manufacturer is. Is has an odd symbol on at the bottom that looks like an acorn crossed with a satellite dish. Any help regarding the manufacturer would be great. I hope hope to find instructions online. Thanks in advance for your help. I feel like an idiot.Many thanks in advance in advance for your help.Papal

author: DDunfield
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2019, 09:23:15 am
content: "Radio Controlled" probably refers to an ability to automatically set the time based on a broadcast signal (such as WWV in the US).They are often called "Atomic" clocks, because the time signal usually originates from a national cesium clock.SHARP uses a satellite dish atop a dumpy little tower as it's radio clock logo, sometimes accompanied by the word "Atomic", sometimes not (image attached). But I would expect the company name "SHARP" to be visible somewhere. Given that it came from eBay and has no manufacturer marking, I would not be surprised if your device is a no-name/generic/knock-off, possibly with a logo trying to look a bit like the Sharp one.

author: papall44532
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 22, 2019, 12:54:09 pm
content: Hlelo dunfield thanks for your help. The symbol is at 45 degrees and it has what looks like seven underneath at an angle and top bit looks like a satellite dish. It doesn't say atomic any where. I 've attached a pic hope you can see it okay.

author: DDunfield
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2019, 08:34:48 pm
content: 140x140 picture - I can't see the logo nor the text...But it doesn't matter as I can't really help further. When you mentioned the satellite dish I thought of Sharp (who knows, someone might interpret the little tower as an acorn somehow)..I'm not really familiar with other "Atomic" clocks.I would recommend that you put any information you can find on it, any text, numbers etc. into Google and look at "Images" and see if something matching your device comes up.Also if you are comfortable doing so, take it apart and look for text, numbers etc. on the circuit board and do the same.Failing that, look for something that has the same display as yours - if it is a generic product, it may be packaged by different companies in different enclosures, but it would be likely to have the same controls.You could also try contacting the eBay seller, perhaps they know where it came from of where to find documentation.If none of that works, you will have to "figure it out". Looks like it has a calendar, so it may be a bit more complicated than a basic clock, but usually you can figure out what the buttons do.As for the "Atomic" aspect, generally you just turn the feature on, put it somewhere it should be able to get a signal (I have mine on the outside wall of an upper story room), and leave it for a day and you should find that it has set itself. There should be an option somewhere where you tell it what time zone you are in.Dave

author: pwlps
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2019, 09:56:25 pm
content: In Europe "atomic" clocks use the DCF-77 or MSF signals:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCF77https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_from_NPL_(MSF)I'm not sure there is a special logo identifying the type of signal, I had a radio-controlled watch receiving the DCF77 but there wasn't any logo on it.

author: bob91343
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2019, 10:53:17 pm
content: Try LaCrosse for a mfr. I have one and it looks a bit like yours.