I want to get an Atomic Digital watch for my husband. Its supposed to set itself, however I don't understand how it works. Is it satellite, do u have to face North?

Question

I want to get an Atomic Digital watch for my husband. Its supposed to set itself, however I don't understand how it works. Is it satellite, do u have to face North?

3 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

synchronizes itself to the US government’s official Atomic Clock outside Boulder, Colorado.

Home atomic clocks are designed to receive a radio signal broadcast from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Colorado and synchronize to that signal.

Limitations of Atomic Clocks

The majority of home atomic clocks only work (synchronize to Atomic Time) within the continental United States. This means your atomic clock will not synchronize correctly in Hawaii, Alaska, or continents other than North America. Home atomic clocks only work in some areas of Canada and Mexico.

Another limitation of home atomic clocks is that they may not receive the NIST signal within large buildings containing steel construction. Moving clocks closer to windows in these types of buildings will usually resolve the synchronization problem.

This information is on atomic clocks, and I assume atomic watches are the same, from www.lifewire.com/what-is-an-atomic-clock

Answer 2

Walt O'Reagun answered

In addition to Maurice's answer ... You may be able to find "atomic clocks" that set their time from GPS satellites. (Similar to how many GPS units get their time automatically set.) Those satellites also use internal atomic clocks.

Answer 3

An atomic watch is a wristwatch that is radio-controlled to keep the most accurate time on earth. An atomic watch never needs to have its time or date set/adjusted because it receives a low frequency radio signal each night that keeps it perfectly synchronized with the US atomic clock in Colorado. The watch’s built in antenna searches once a day for the 60 kHz radio signal emitted from Ft. Collins and decodes the signal in order to update its time. This radio updating process accounts for Daylight Saving Time, leap years, and leap seconds as they occur. The transmitter in Ft. Collins has a broadcast radius of 1,864 miles, making its signal available to most of the United States, but not Hawaii or Alaska; if a US atomic watch travels outside this range (say, overseas) it will function as a normal quartz watch but won’t regularly be able to update its time. While Europe has similar systems in place for its own atomic watches, the transmitter frequency is different and incompatible with its American counterparts. While this type of watch does update every day, their updating capabilities are limited; while atomic watches will always update to be “on time,” they aren’t able to adjust their times relative to the time zone they’re currently in because they lack GPS software. This means that when crossing timezone lines, the watches will still need to be adjusted. Many atomic watches allow the wearer to check the time of their last synchronization, as well as options to manually make the watch search for the synchronizing radio signal. While most of these watches are set to automatically update at night (when radio interference is at its lowest), there are certain factors which can make this more difficult for the watch’s software. If a watch is in a building with excessive shielding, a protective safe, laying next to other electronic equipment, or being close to power lines its updating process might not work properly.

More here:

http://blog.watchdoctor.biz/2016/06/13/what-is-an-atomic-watch/