[time-nuts] Re: What everyday uses are there for accurate clocks?

[Ben Hall]

On 11/28/2022 8:45 PM, Dr. David Kirkby via time-nuts wrote:

> Apart from GPS, what in the daily lives of the general public need the sort
> of accuracy one can get from time-nut grade clocks? I believe some
> financial transactions is one application, and the cellular phone system
> another. Are there others?

Greetings David,

As a Time-Nut of the lowest order myself (Junior Time Nut?  Apprentice Time Nut?) I probably should wait for the answers of more senior Time-Nuts...but other than GPS/cellular...I think you've got two other sources that the non-Nut public uses:

--> WWVB / 60 kHz.  Many "atomic" clocks can sync to the 60 kHz signals sent by WWV.  Above my right monitor I've got the Time-Nuts variant of one of these clocks, a kit from Universal Solder in Canada:

<https://universal-solder.ca/product/canaduino-application-development-kit-with-everset-es100-mod-wwvb-bpsk-atomic-clock-receiver-module/>

(there are other sources outside the USA that I can't recall on different frequencies)

One of the really nice things about this kit is that if you know basic Arduino, you can tweak it's code (maybe open-source?) to your liking.  I've been meaning to modify the Arduino code on mine so that it constantly syncs to WWVB rather than once a day now.

-->  NTP.  While I can't remember where I saw it, I did see a clock kit (maybe with Nixie tubes?) that synced to NTP.  My bedside table has a little ESP32 "weather station" that's got a time display that comes from NTP and it's always spot dead on compared to the cell phone.  Truth be told, most people sitting at a computer will use the time from their computer clock, and if it's synced via NTP, that's likely way more precise than anyone will ever need.

You could also listen manually to WWV on 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz shortwave, and call in to the time phone number that I can't recall, but not sure how many people do this these days?  I do use WWV as a test signal when I work on shortwave radios.  I do recall growing up (now 40 years ago almost - eeek!) my father would call the time number, set his watch, then set all the other clocks in the house to his watch that was the "standard."  :)

Past those sources, the common quartz-movement wall clock is probably much better today than anything from years ago.  As long as it's set right once, it's probably close enough for anything a human would need?

Just my thoughts!
-ben