davids@well.UUCP (David Schachter) (09/08/86)
I'm sorry; the system I'm on doesn't know about net.newprod so I'm putting the
new product announcement in the two newgroups that are pertinent. (See pre-
ceding article.)
My company makes a product that may solve the hassles of shifting Daylight
Savings Time start/stop dates. The Precision Clock/Time Receiver, Model
OEM-10(tm) receives shortwave radio broadcasts from the U.S. National Bureau
of Standards containing the time and date. These broadcasts, on radio stations
WWV and WWVH, are converted by the clock into a format suitable for use by
computer systems and output through an RS-232 port. The N.B.S. transmissions
include a bit which is twitched twice a year, to indicate the start and stop
of Daylight Savings time and the clock has a switch to let you control whether
the bit is accepted or ignored. (The clock has other switches to let you
control other aspects of its behavior.) Anyway, before this turns into a sales
pitch, let me give you the address and phone number where you can get more
information, if you want:
Precision Standard Time, Inc.
2585 Scott Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95050
(408) 980-8001
(If you wonder, I'm the same David who used to work for Daisy Systems.)jbc@ghostwheel.UUCP (John Chambers) (09/08/86)
The Zenith/Heathkit "Most Accurate Clock" (GCW-1000) has been around
for a while now and performs pretty much the same function as described.
Shop and compare before you buy. ;-)
--------
John B. Chambers
snail: MCC/Database, P.O. Box 200195, Austin TX 78720 USA
arpa: jbc@sally.utexas.edu, db.chambers@mcc.com
uucp: {gatech,harvard,ihnp4,seismo,pyramid,...}!ut-sally!{,ghostwheel!}jbc
voice: +1 512 343 0860 x3478devine@vianet.UUCP (Bob Devine) (09/09/86)
davids@well.UUCP (David Schachter) writes: > My company [Precision Standard Time, Inc] makes a product that may > solve the hassles of shifting Daylight Savings Time start/stop dates. > The Precision Clock/Time Receiver, Model OEM-10(tm) receives shortwave > radio broadcasts from the U.S. National Bureau of Standards containing > the time and date. These broadcasts, on radio stations WWV and WWVH, > are converted by the clock into a format suitable for use by computer > systems and output through an RS-232 port. The N.B.S. transmissions > include a bit which is twitched twice a year, to indicate the start and stop > of Daylight Savings time and the clock has a switch to let you control whether > the bit is accepted or ignored. Note that the NBS broadcast of time services only gives the national rule for changes from/to DST. That means those parts of the country that have different rules must always ignore the bit. However, most states could follow it. A second point: Because the WWV and WWVB transmitters are in Fort Collins Colorado, the signal strength is low on the east coast. I don't know if this will necessarily cause intermittent reception or not. The field intensity map supplied by NBS shows strength < 100 microvolts/meter east of central New York state. For those not familiar with the signal of WWV/WWVB call (303)499-7111 for the audio portion of WWV. WWVH (Hawaiian site) is (808)335-4363. NBS says that what you hear over the phone line is within 30 milliseconds of the actual time (lower 48 states only). Bob Devine
davids@well.UUCP (David Schachter) (09/11/86)
Mr. Devine raises two points regarding WWV/WWVH radio clocks. His first point
is that some states do not follow the national Daylight Savings Time guidelines
and thus the WWV/WWVH broadcast will not work correctly with Daylight Savings
Time. He is correct. Automatic DST correction by the clock can be defeated
with a switch or through the serial port. Of course this reduces the useful-
ness of the clock. Question: are there enough localities with their own DST
rules that the PSTI clock should allow some user programmability of the DST
rules, perhaps letting the user enter start and stop dates over the serial port?
Mr. Devine's second point is the low signal strength on the East Coast. This
is not a problem, at least with the PSTI clock. We have several units working
on the East Coast. The signal strength on the East Coast is certainly lower
than nearer the transmitter (hey, that's not always the case with shortwave
radio!) but our receiver is very sensitive, and is designed to receive just
the five WWV/WWVH frequencies. A specialized receiver such as this can be
more sensitive than a generalized receiver, says the RF analog design guy. It
sounds reasonable....
[I am an employee of Precision Standard Time, Inc. and have a financial inter-
est in the firm.]
Uh, if you want to reply to this, perhaps net.unix-wizards is more appropriate
than net.misc.
-- David Schachter (408) 980-8001 noon-9pm Pacific Timebam@bigbang.UUCP (Bret A. Marquis) (09/16/86)
Heathkit offers such a beasty as well. 250 in kit form and about 400 ready to go..