Engineering answer: It depends.

There isn't a uniform range the signal can be received at since it depends on a few different variables. If you're in North America though, you should be able to receive the Fort Collins signal at some point. Signal strength varies throughout the day, depends if you're inside/outside, surroundings, interference, etc.

Here's a good overview (with coverage maps) from NIST: Help with WWVB Radio Controlled Clocks

 

Engineering answer: It depends.

There isn't a uniform range the signal can be received at since it depends on a few different variables. If you're in North America though, you should be able to receive the Fort Collins signal at some point. Signal strength varies throughout the day, depends if you're inside/outside, surroundings, interference, etc.

Here's a good overview (with coverage maps) from NIST: Help with WWVB Radio Controlled Clocks

That was very helpful. Thank you.

 

PS: Some watches also get their timing from GPS (like the Seiko Astron) not actually the WWVB so you wouldn't have any issues. Depends on the watch you're looking at.

 

It does indeed depend on a variety of things but there are plenty of maps on Google that should give you an idea whether you fall in the coverage range or not.

 

Good suggestion. Google and it's mapping can help you understand the signal, it's strength and source.

 

I thought I would post an update for anyone who might be interested. To clarify, I'm in Central Illinois, USA. About 900 miles east of Fort Collins.

I received my Multi Band 6 watch on 9/25/22 and I am absolutely delighted with its performance. On the first night of ownership, I placed it on a windowsill assuming that it was necessary and it synced just fine. The next night, I placed it on my dining room table and again, it synced just fine. It had been syncing every night for a few days after that so I decided to do a little experiment and leave it in my bathroom overnight which doesn't even have a window. Again, no problems with syncing.

Long story short, it has synced every night since I received it and it doesn't matter where I place it overnight. Much to my delight, if it's in my house, it syncs regardless of where I place it. I am very pleased with those results. The watch has a Power Reserve display (with the push of a button) so I only need to put it on a windowsill if and when it needs more light.

Here is the watch. CASIO LINEAGE LCW-M100DE-1AJF

 

I thought I would post an update for anyone who might be interested.

Great update and glad you got what you were looking for. Wear in good health!

 

I don't think very many people who live in the CONUS or Canada are going to have a problem with the low frequency band, especially with a watch that's not going to be as prone to signal blockage in the way a fixed clock might. If you live outside of the CONUS or the bordering areas of Canada, then you might have issues.

 

I’m on the east coast, and for some reason my radio sync clocks do best facing East, away from the signal. Any other direction, results not so good. I would love the engineering explanation for that.

 

I missed this the first time around, but I live in upstate NY (about 1600 miles from Ft. Collins) and have no issues receiving the signal (I have a similar Lineage model that has never failed to sync). Like joshd2012, I do set them on the sill of an east-facing window. Don't know if that's relevant or not.

 

WWV (Fort Collins) broadcasts on frequencies between 2.5MHz and 20MHz with 2,500 watt pulses at the 2.5MHz and 20MHz limits and 10,000 watts @ 5, 10, 15MHz. This puts all broadcasting within the High Frequency Range. Why?

Unlike VHF (FM) broadcasts that [mostly] emanate in straight lines or “line-of-sight,” the HF range of broadcasts bounce up/down between the ionosphere surrounding the globe and the earth’s surface. The signals will go for thousands of miles, therefore, dependent upon the altitude and strength of the ionosphere -and- this depends upon the angle of the Sun.

A general rule of operations: The higher the Sun in the sky, the better performance in the higher HF range. This is why WWV broadcasts on multiple frequencies (to cover the “clock,” ergo, the earth’s rotation).

HF technology is old. Believe it or not, however, today’s airliners that are crossing the ocean right now use HF voice communications when SATCOM is unavailable. This isn’t common on a percentage basis, but it occurs daily.

Summary:

WWV “atomic” updates will vary depending upon distance from the station in Colorado, the time of day (local Sun angle), and disturbances within the ionosphere (static discharge ‘lightning,’ solar flares, etc.) Other world stations are similarly affected.

For either voice or coded data streams, the rule for HF is “keep trying.” It’s a medium in flux.

 

Actually, "atomic" clocks and watches do not use WWV broadcasts. They use WWVB which transmits time code information on a frequency of 60kHz (not HF.) It carries no audio information, but uses a 1 bit per second time code that your timepiece uses to set the time and date correctly. WWVB is co-located with WWV in Ft. Collins, Colorado, and transmits with 70,000 watts of power, which covers most of North America at night (daytime coverage is restricted due to atmospheric anomalies which is an entire study in itself!) If left near a window or some unrestricted area facing towards Colorado, your "atomic" watch/clock stands a reasonable chance of receiving the signal on most any night. Just be sure to keep it away from any kind of metal (especially in steel framed buildings) as that can block low frequency radio signals.

 

900 miles is easy
But if you have a ton of electronic interface, you can still have problems

 

I have a Casio that picks it up. I'm in Atlanta and it won't receive the signal, but I'm in a heavily populated urban area. It will Bluetooth to my cell phone and that works.

 

The number of receiving stations (watches) has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of reception regarding HF propagation and signal quality. This isn’t bandwidth-related.

 

In my experience it also depends on the watch. While living in France my GWG-1000 would sync to DCF77 faultlessly, but my G-Square pretty much never did. Both watches were side by side. Thank Casio for the BT function in the Square!

I am now 2,000 miles from DCF77 and my Mudmaster still manages the occasional sync. I’m in the middle of the ocean though, so this probably helps. No meaningful stats, but once every 5-10 attempts?

 

I live in Houston and have no trouble receiving the signal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'm almost exactly 600 miles from the Colorado station.

 

Forget terrestrial radio signal watches. Get a GPS watch. My Casio Oceanus never misses a synchronization no matter where I am (and I travel a lot all over the globe). Cost a bit more but worth it.





-NoSeasBoludo-

 

Forget terrestrial radio signal watches. Get a GPS watch. My Casio Oceanus never misses a synchronization no matter where I am (and I travel a lot all over the globe). Cost a bit more but worth it.

+1

As far as I am concerned, BT or GPS >> MB6
MB6 has been useless to me for 6 years out of my 8 years of ownership. Kind of a niche product for the happy few 😉

 

I can see Russia from here.





-NoSeasBoludo-

 

These watches are excellent. I have one with black dial and inverted LCD-display. It's my office watch. The hands hit the markers perfectly, and it has a stopwatch, a countdown timer and world time.

 

I used to live in Charlotte and my Citizen wouldn’t pick up the signal when in a drawer. If it was sitting in top of the dresser, it would pick it up consistently.
Now I live in Dallas and have no problems with the signal.

 

Why don't they move it to the middle of the USA? Then there wouldn't be a problem of reception distance.

 

They upped the range on WWVB using phase modulation, which allows a properly built receiver to have better gain. There was actually a move to add an East Coast transmitter, but the proposed site was near Redstone Arsenal, and they didn't want a HIGH-power transmitter so close. Other factors: the general RF environment is a clogged mess, particularly in the highly urbanized Northeast. Construction matters, BIG time. Having to go through 2-3 walls in your standard house is enough to make reception intermittent; high-rise buildings are far worse, and also create just about every kind of RF mess in the book. GPS avoids this because it's basically a straight line heading up, from anywhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWVB#:~:text=WWVB%20is%20a%20time%20signal,to%20set%20the%20correct%20time

.

Another issue: as people have noted, GPS (and time from the cell phone towers) is rendering WWVB obsolete. There was a Great Hue and Cry back in '17 or '18 when shutting down WWVB altogether was proposed...its uses are largely marginal now. To me, it was largely silly, because it does have its uses, and it's cheap to keep going. It'd be difficult now to get funding for a new transmitter when there are so many alternatives that are forward-looking.

 

Very good response, I didn't know that there was a proposal to shut it down. Yes, GPS seems a lot better but is GPS harder to keep operational and cost effective?

 

I'm exactly 1,601 miles east of the ⚛🕰 in Gastonia, NC with respectively a Casio WV200R3 Waveceptor and a GWM 500-A1 G-Shock with the ability to receive the synchronization signal from a southwest-facing window sill, yet both watches seem to be able to intercept a straitened signal better than my LaCrosse M73170 Personal Weather Station that also includes that feature!