ICE TUBE + WWVB input?

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chawancut
 
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ICE TUBE + WWVB input?

Post by chawancut »

Hi there, I'm a newbie but I've been really interested in making a clock with a WWVB RF antenna input and couldn't find anything out there on the market for a kit. I found this clock and the other displays and was wondering if this clock would be able to take such an input to synchronize the time on it. It seems this kit has a lot of possibilities and I'm ready and willing to start learning and get my hands dirty.

Thanks!
c_c

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: ICE TUBE + WWVB input?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

It has been hacked to take GPS time syncs. I imagine it could be done for WWVB as well. I don't know of any existing WWVB hacks, But there is a pretty active community of Ice-Tube hackers here that may chime in with suggestions.

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jarchie
 
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Re: ICE TUBE + WWVB input?

Post by jarchie »

chawancut wrote:I found [the Ice Tube Clock] and was wondering if this clock would be able to take [a WWVB] input to synchronize the time on it.
This is an educated guess on my part, but I suspect that radio and electrical noise from the boost circuit would interfere with longwave time signals. One user made an initital attempt using a DCF77 receiver, but only observed noise. (DCF77 is the Central European equivalent of WWVB.) Although there has been interest, I do not know of anyone successfully modifying the Ice Tube Clock to support longwave time reception.

Adding a WWVB receiver to the clock is probably possible, but be prepared to do some clever hardware and software hacking to get it working.
adafruit_support_bill wrote:It has been hacked to take GPS time syncs.
A lot of people use a GPS module with their clocks, and that option works rather well. There is more information in the Adafruit documentation, and I wrote an updated--but unofficial--GPS tutorial.

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jarchie
 
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Re: ICE TUBE + WWVB input?

Post by jarchie »

I might have been overly pessimistic here. I placed a WWVB-enabled wall clock directly next to the Ice Tube Clock for half an hour or so last night. The wall clock did not lose the signal. Since I'm in California, the WWVB signal isn't terribly strong, and the wall clock normally loses the signal from time-to-time, presumably due to atmospheric conditions. So the Ice Tube Clock's boost circuit might not produce enough interference to matter.

GPS would be easier--and works worldwide--but WWVB might not be as challenging as I initially thought. Does anyone know of a good module or receiver circuit?

chawancut
 
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Re: ICE TUBE + WWVB input?

Post by chawancut »

Thanks for all the input!
I live in Hawaii so I was thinking I could copy the WWVH much easier than WWVB and it would be pretty strong.

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