[time-nuts] WWVB Chronverter update progress

[Achim Gratz]

paul swed writes:
>  Hello to the group its time for a wwvb chronverter update. I used the loop
> antenna as Alex suggested. I added caps to resonate it sort of.

I am still a bit puzzled by this desire to feed the time in via LF
waves.  Maybe WWVB clocks are more different from the MSF / DCF77 ones I
see around here than I thought.  All of the ones I've looked at had a
small (but not tiny) module in them which does all the decoding and the
clock itself really only sees the decoded bits.  The module typically is
only enabled around the update hour (mostly 4am, sometimes 2am) and
switched off for the rest of the day (unless they couldn't sync in the
about 15 minutes they usually keep trying).  So if you really wanted to
wean these off their LF source, it would be much easier to just send the
time out via some ISM band (433MHz or 868MHz / 915MHz as appropriate for
your location) and replace the module with a different one that provides
the decoded bits these clocks expect, just from a different source.
Both the RX modules (actually I see only TX/RX combos at the usual
suspects) and the corresponding antennas (ceramic strip, helix or coil)
should fit nicely in the space formerly used up by the RX module and the
ferrite rod.  You'd need another microC to convert the data or use one
of the modules that are programmable.


Regards,
Achim.
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