My Sources of the Correct Time

My interest in accurate timekeeping began in the 1970s. But what were my sources for the "correct" time during that decade? What about the 1980s? What about the 1990s and beyond? How could I be confident that I was receiving the correct time, right down to the second? Join me for a few minutes as I explain my journey through timekeeping.

[@eigrp]

One of my favorite channels. You're a joy to listen to and learn from.

[@GoodTimekeeper]

Thank you.

[@JDM417]

Even though I was born in 1981 I find myself having a lot in common with you. Hearing your stories brings me back to the great years of my childhood as my grandfather was a watch man himself.

[@LeslieAnneChatterton]

I'm 83 and lived through the same era of rapid technological progress that you spoke about, so it was fascinating to hear your story. I'm on my second Casio, my first having a solar battery until it disappeared, possibly stolen. After trying out smart watches starting with the original Pebble watch. I'm sick of daily charging and on my entry level Casio. Thank you!

[@yoarirlurodi236]

Really interesting topic! Love learning from you!

[@ElderPinto254]

i have the mega one stil wear it a lot !! my dad gave it to me in 1991... my dad was a hyperbaric welder and had money to spend haha... it still runs after 32 years so money well spend !

[@jarhead6153]

Greg, didn’t realize your from Chicago. I lived on the Northside around Portage Park, it’s kinda nostalgic to see a boombox, or hear about HeathKits (computers or metal detectors). My Dad had a pretty well made Sears & Robuck Shortwave Radio. If memory serves correctly, radio stations (like WLS) also gave time checks every now and then. I left Chicago in the mid 1980’s…still have family there.

[@GoodTimekeeper]

I left Arlington Heights just about a year before I was old enough to drive. I still daydream about what could have happened if I had stayed long enough to finish high school. I could have had more fun than Ferris Bueller without being such a big, fat liar who abused his friendships. (…with all due respect to those who believe it was a great movie anyway.)

[@bryanscottandrews3451]

I am an old radio engineer, ham radio operator, shortwave listener, and watch and clock enthusiast and really enjoyed the trip through memory lane! Now I’m thinking about how I miss those Heathkit and Lafayette kits. It was so satisfying to earn/save up money to buy a kit and put it together and get it to work, even when I made mistakes that ended up teaching me how to troubleshoot in the end. I really loved tuning in all those shortwave stations and making ham radio contacts and collecting QSL cards from people and stations all over the world while learning about people and their culture and fostering goodwill. So many of us were captivated by time, technology, and precision, and we all probably stretched our budgets more than we probably should to pursue those interests and continue to do so, but for me, it’s definitely been worth it!

[@Larry821]

Yes, I built several Heathkits back in the day: a shortwave radio and a tape deck. I believe the former may have worked first time but the second did not. My father was a civil engineer but quite knowledgable in electronics. So, rather than leave me to my own devices to troubleshoot the deck, my father opted to troubleshoot it himself (I think just for the fun/challenge of it). Unfortunately this may have been partially to blame in my never learning how to troubleshoot electronics with a multimeter which would have been a valuable skill to have. The shortwave spent many an hour tuned to the drone of WWV, no doubt where my own obsession with timekeeping was born.

[@jananders1351]

I really appreciate your channel, even older videos like this one. You have an absolutely infectious enthusiasm that is just a pleasure to see.

[@kristianlewis5520]

Really enjoyed watching this vid. Thank you Greg. Im just like you when it comes to accurate time keeping. Looking forward to your next vid 👍

[@stratblacknosugar.5125]

I remember those junghans clocks, beautiful design, everything I have is plain lcd.

[@Strandjutter]

Thanks Greg! Very interesting!

[@tinymocot]

When I was growing up, my grandma told me to turn on the radio - to be updated with the time 😆. Hope you’re safe and healthy Mr. Anderson.

[@BarnOwl61]

Thanks Greg! It was a pleasure watching you again. Your enthusiastic videos made me buy 3 WaveCeptors and a Bluetooth controlled Casio! Your enthusiasm is catching on my friend! Greetings from the Netherlands and the Mainflingen radio tower complex in Germany ! See you in the next one!

[@teamhonn]

Love my waveceptor and his video on how to actually use all features is priceless.

[@GoodTimekeeper]

Don’t tell anyone but I’m waiting for another Wave Ceptor from Japan right now. It uses the same module as others I’ve reviewed already but maybe I should make a new video anyway when it arrives.

[@teamhonn]

@@GoodTimekeeper yes for sure.

[@gervaziodegan]

Dear, we followed a very similar path to the search for the correct time, I miss when I prayed to tune in to WWVB, I was living in the south of Brazil

[@jsijanta]

🙏Bless ya greg!! Thanks!!

[@james4flix925]

Thank you for your video Greg. Yours is very similar to my story, i use the BBC Radio Pips in the1970's then BBC Ceefax (old school tv text) i have a Sony multi band radio which is over 30 years old and still works, i found the World Radio and TV Handbook a good reference source and even picked up Chinese BPM at 10Mhz. i'm in the UK so my Casio watch picks up MSF and could pick up DCF77, but i hear your government might turn off the Fort Collins service , i know there are phone apps which emulate the service, but it's not the same as actually receiving WWVB

[@JeeGee114]

Before Dutch Ceefax aka Teletekst; which I still use today also on my mobile phone, there was a telephone number 002 you could call for the exact time.

[@thomaslinton5765]

A used Citizen Eco-Drive Calibre 650 arrived in the mail here in eastern Ohio at 12:35PM. At 2:00PM,. I put it on a sunny south window to charge up as it was doing the two-space dance. By chance, I left it with 9 o'clock facing out - south. I went back at 4:30 PM when I had refreshed myself on the instructions to manually set the time, pending an expected night-time spent with 9 o'clock facing west. BUT the date had moved from 7 to 25 and the time was correct to the second. Ever have an "Atomic" watch receive the time- setting signal in the middle of a sunny day at any significant distance from the signal source?

[@manmohanpatra5734]

In 70s and 80s I used to set the time to BBC time signal.I miss it as it is no more audible in India.

[@cl4586]

Where have you been lately? Interesting segment, always enjoy your videos.

[@GoodTimekeeper]

I’m reluctant to comment about the whole COVID-19 thing because I don’t know what we’ll think of it a few years from now (and these videos and comments will still be here, looking okay or looking horrible in hindsight). But suffice it to say that the COVID-19 disruptions have caused problems in my profession and it’s been difficult to maintain consistency in my KZbin efforts. I hope we’ll be done with this soon.

[@danielalbala3119]

Thank you Greg for all those stories. I feel very much similar as you about the need to have an accurate time. I also love Casio waveceptor serie. Please keep posting on this subject. One more thing about a comment made by someone you quoted about the fact multiband 6 is note so great. I want to tell you that here in France Casio wave reception is far better than Citizen. Did you ever tested a Unghans radio clock ? Thanks again

[@danielalbala3119]

I meant junghans radio controlled watches

[@ergindemir7366]

Early windows synchronized time rarely, so my computer with lousy rtc was off several minutes in between. I had to hack the registry to synchronize every day. The most reliable time source by far is gps.

[@carllange3950]

My father had a shortwave radio which we used to receive WWV since the 1950’s. I have been using SW radios since then. Do you know of any clocks that received the WWV signal versus the WWVB signal for automatic setting? I use all the Emerald Sequoia apps. Emerald Time is great for measuring the accuracy of my watches. For my Bulova Precisionists, with their 16 bps second hands, I hold the watch up to the screen and take a picture, then take another picture after a certain length of time (usually a month).

[@GoodTimekeeper]

That clock sitting on my table with the green LED digits is an old model from the 1990s under the brand name Emerson Research. According to the manual, it will monitor both WWV and WWVB continually, unlike the battery-powered watches and clocks I have which only check themselves for short periods each night. But this particular clock you see has been somewhat unreliable in recent years. It sometimes resets itself for no apparent reason, as if it had been unplugged and then had the power restored. So I don’t use it often but I decided to try it for this video as a piece of set dressing.

[@marcmenzel]

I can't find the emerald time app on the Google Play Store.

[@denelson83]

When I got my first GPS receiver around 2006, my father told me to immediately return it to the store, saying I did not need such a thing. How indignant of him.

[@XtianApi]

The nist still gets about 2000 calls a day for time. :)

[@roberthutchinson1626]

Nice video i used to do the same thing in the 70s buy a watch then run to the phone box and dial 123 to get the time set my watch then the next day same thing and if my watch was a few seconds out run back to the shop and tell him to fix my watch he used to be sick of me coming back to his shop lol 😂😂😂👍

[@spankyharland9845]

I have WWV's phone number on my cell phone and I call it to time check my watches. I also have the US Naval Observatory number on my cell phone which I call when I need to calibrate any horological instrument.

[@teamhonn]

I remember call the time but how did you keep that watch all these years?

[@GoodTimekeeper]

It didn’t seem so odd that I kept an old watch in a drawer or a box but, now that you mention it, it’s hard to believe that it’s a 45-year-old watch! It doesn’t work quite right anymore but that’s not the point for that watch anymore. I could get a brand new Casio solar powered watch which looks very similar if I want to go for that style again.

[@teamhonn]

@@GoodTimekeeper it is cool that you still have it. I have nothing much from my childhood. I had a watch like that but I bet it was a Timex.

[@haroldmolloy8736]

can a bedside clock radio be controlled by atomic signal ?

[@GoodTimekeeper]

The one on the table in front of my portable cranker is, in fact, a radio controlled alarm clock radio from Emerson Research. I got it around 20 years ago but it stopped being reliable at least 10 years ago. I have another radio controlled bedside alarm clock which plugs in to AC power and I’ll see if I can prepare a video about it... but I don’t think anyone sells it anymore. This is something I really should follow-up on.

[@haroldmolloy8736]

Thank you Sir.. All good videos, enjoy them keep it up. Thank you ( UK Fan )

[@MrMqwe1]

Have you ever addressed the near shut down of the Fort Collins broadcast about a year ago? There was an online petition which I think failed to get enough people, but obviously they never shut it down.

[@GoodTimekeeper]

I was very concerned about the rumors that WWV would shut down after December 31, 2018 but, at the same time, there was never any official announcement about a shutdown. I never knew much about how the rumor started but I’m glad it wasn’t true.

[@MrMqwe1]

swling.com/blog/2018/08/nist-fy2019-budget-includes-request-to-shutdown-wwv-and-wwvh/

[@churblefurbles]

atomic wall clock sounds like something sharper image would have sold lol

[@eyup121]

Can't believe so many countries still have DST. What a waste of time!