The batteries died on our atomic clock the other day, and when we replaced them, the time has set to one hour ahead and will not correct. I don’t see any way to adjust the time on the clock itself. Anyone have any idea how to get it back to the correct time?
Yet another ironic thread title/OP.
Can you get into any type of menu? Most likely, it’s in the wrong DST setting.
All the atomic clocks I have owned require you to set the time zone. American atomic clocks default to Eastern zone time, making them appear to be one hour fast for us folk on Central time. Check around the clock and you should be able to find the setting for the time zone. On the clock in front of me (Oregon Scientific), there is a button marked ‘Zone’ which performs this function.
Oh, thanks so much! I never even considered that possibility.
Heh.
How does one purchase an atomic clock? Do you go to your local Clock-mart, or something?
My new alarm clock is one. I got it at Target. They’re fairly easy to find (and they’re not actually atomic, but they set themselves to the atomic clock when plugged in).
The good news is that it is exactly one hour off.
Jinx, “atomic” clocks are not really atomic. They just adjust themselves daily with a radio signal from an actual atomic clock (and we assume the precision of a modern clock to be enough for one day). You can buy them anywhere. RadioShack, Brookstone, Sharper Image and all those adult male toy stores are good places to start. The back pages of sciency/male-oriented magazines are also packed with ads for those.
There are also “atomic” wristwatches and plenty of computer desktop utilities. You will never bo so precisely late again.
Depending on the location, the clock may have difficulty receiving the signal, it’s very low frequency and moving the clock just a few feet may make all the difference.
That’s only good news if you live in a time zone that’s a whole number of hours different from the transmitter’s time zone. I imagine there’s not much market for these clocks in India (GMT + 5 hrs 30 mins)yet, but one day that odd half-hour is going to cause problems.
In the UK these are known as Radio Controlled clocks\watches. Seems a more accurate description to me.
And here I thought we’d have to readjust our atoms.
I hate it when that happens.
Until we have a 100% foolproof way to deal with atomic clock waste, I think we should pursue alternative time-keeping methods to satisfy our need to know what time it is.
One too many letters 
Just out of interest, how much would it cost to buy a real atomic clock?
Just as a point of interest, when I got my first one a few years ago, it did not recognize that Arizona does not have daylight savings time. So, twice a year I had to set it to Pacific time and back to Mountain.
Now, most of these clocks let you set “Mountain (AZ)” as a choice, making it easier.
How I love not having to reset every clock in the house, cars, on the computers and watches twice a year since moving here.
Be advised that some of these things are marked as “atomic clock” but are set manually. We received one of these imitations as a Christmas present a few years ago.
I prefer Emerson’s “SmartSet” series.
Remaining dependent on that technology can only lead to ruin.
I suggest sun dials as a true alternate timekeeping technology.
I hope you used an atomic battery with a longer half life this time.
I have one of these and I really like it, however, I have learned that it is basically a standard wristwatch in a clock radio cover. To explain - the way it automatically sets its time is by never losing it. It has a watch battery inside it that keeps the time keeping part always powered. THe watch battery should last for years, and for all I know is rechargeable and will effectively never wear out. The way it handles daylight savings time is by adjusting according to the calendar. Since our wonderful congress extended daylight savings by a month starting this year (grrrrr), the “SmartSet” clocks will not adjust correctly for DST anymore. You’ll have to make the change manually every March and November. I haven’t checked yet to see if DST can be disabled.