FAQ-WaveCeptor

The advantages of radio-controlled watches are obvious: Once they have been set to the relevant time zone, they always display the exact local time. All CASIO radio watches receive radio signals throughout almost all of Europe - some models even in the USA, parts of Canada and Mexico (area from the Fort Collins, Colorado transmitter within a 2000 mile radius) or Japan. In Europe, the change from summer to winter time is also completely automatic. Here you can learn about the technology that makes it possible, and about how your watch picks up the time.
The displayed time matches your computer's system clock - not the actual atomic clock's time. The model shown here receives DCF and MSF radio signals.

 

 

Why have a radio-controlled watch?
Regular signal reception ensures that your watch always shows the correct time. The exact time is transmitted to the watch from atomic clocks - the most precise watches in the world. No setting, no resetting, always on time.

 

Where does the time come from?
Atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks in the world. In Germany, the official time is established in the Physkalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig the national meteorology institute. In Great Britain, the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington near London is in charge of this task. In the USA, the responsibility falls to the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) in Fort Collins/Colorado and in Japan, the responsible body is the Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) in Tokyo.

 

How accurate are atomic clocks?
Atomic clocks hardly deviate at all from ideal time. Over a period of one million years, they could "theoretically" fall approx. one second out of sync. To put this into perspective: a quartz wristwatch falls a few seconds out of sync each month. Mechanical wristwatches - no matter how sophisticated they are - lapse many more seconds behind.Atomic clocks hardly deviate at all from ideal time. Over a period of one million years, they could "theoretically" fall approx. one second out of sync. To put this into perspective: a quartz wristwatch falls a few seconds out of sync each month. Mechanical wristwatches - no matter how sophisticated they are - lapse many more seconds behind.

 

How does the time reach the watch?
The time calculated by atomic clocks is sent to radio towers. In Germany there is a transmitter of this type in Mainflingen near Frankfurt, in Great Britain there is one in Anthorn, in the USA in Fort Collins and in Japan on the Otakadoya mountains in the North East and Hagane in the South West. The radio tower in Mainflingen reaches a watch with radio technology within a radius of up to 1,500 km depending on the model. A unique feature of some CASIO radio watches is that they can even receive the signals of all five transmitters.

What kind of signal is transmitted?
In Germany, the time signal DCF77 is transmitted on the frequency 77.5 kHz. MSF is the signal from Great Britain and WWVB is the signal in the USA - both are transmitted with a frequency of 60 kHz. The two Japanese signals JJY are transmitted with 40 kHz and 60 kHz. The radio-controlled watch decodes the relevant signal and displays the exact local time.

 

What happens when I travel?
All CASIO radio-controlled watches are easy to set to the relevant time zones. This means they will always show the precise local time in most parts of Europe. When they are out of the reach of their transmitters, CASIO radio-controlled watches still work like a standard quartz watch.