WT-8005U-S Atomic Digital Wall Clock with Indoor Temperature, Silver

Purchased to replace my trusted old Atomic clock (different brand) that worked for 5+ years. Good and no frill design. Bought it at around $20. Positives --------- - Large and high contrast display, easy to read from far across a room - Receiver is more sensitive (getting atomic clock signal immediately and during the day, when my old one was only correcting at night (Atomic clock RF signals travel better at night) about 10' from the nearest window). BTW, if you want to get the right clock immediately and during the day, go near a window with clear view to the outside and press clock sync button on the back for manual sync. - Easy to follow instruction, and the web address for the instruction is printed right next to the battery compartment (handy, since we need to refer to instruction when we change the batteries) - Simple timezone setting (one button to toggle four USA time zones) -- more on this on Neutral (below) also. - Daylight Savings Time reflects the correct calendar period -- some of the older products somehow does not understand the new daylight savings time period in USA, but this one does. - If you care about accuracy of the temperature display, mine was correct within 0.5 oF, compared to my lab instrument -- your clock's accuracy may vary :-). Negative ---------- - Instruction is not clear for the first initialization. Could only select the timezone AFTER the clock searched for the Atomic clock signal... (a few minutes), but the instruction does not say that. I thought I had a faulty unit at first. Better instruction needed. Neutral -------- - MAKE SURE that you plan to use this clock in continental USA (ONLY the 4 time zones, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific). But then again, I don't think you could receive the atomic clock signal if you are outside of these zones in North America. Helpful Hints -------------- - Fold up the instruction booklet and tape it near the battery compartment on the back -- you'll be glad you did in about 18+ months. - I am a big fan of Atomic clocks -- one in almost every room in my house -- and found that most of the external temp sensor version needs battery changes every 6 month or so, while the non-external temp version, like this one, needs battery change every 12~24 months (all using alkaline batteries). So I use rechargeable for the clocks with external temp sensor (both the clock and the sensor) now, and alkaline batteries otherwise.

I own four of these clocks, three with the silver color frame, and one with the black color frame, and each of them works perfectly. Of course, since these are radio controlled clocks (aka RCC), which need to be able to reliably receive time signals each night from time signal station WWVB in Fort Collins, Colorado, they do need to be mounted with one of the broad sides (front or rear) facing roughly in the direction of Fort Collins, and they also need to be mounted at least 7 feet from any sources of radio-frequency interference, such as electrical or electronic devices, including fluorescent, CFL and LED bulbs/lamps. I find that AA alkaline batteries last well over one year in these clocks, and in some settings (i.e, that are not too warm), well over two years. I must confess that I have two of these clocks mounted in very unhospitable (if not downright hostile) locations, despite the manufacturer's recommendations against doing so: These two clocks are each mounted in usually-unheated outdoor buildings (one is a workshop, the other an outdoor office that is only heated for a few hours each day when in use), and these buildings each get very cold, and also very damp, at night, and despite these rather hostile conditions, both of the WT-8005 clocks work great! Of course, since the average yearly temperature in these two outdoor buildings is rather cold, it is true that the alkaline AA batteries in these two clocks do last considerably longer than do the batteries in the two indoor clocks (the two indoor clocks seem to average about 20 months of battery life, if not longer). By the way, I have noticed that several people have mentioned (at least one in the Q&A section) that they sometimes find the time on their clocks off by exactly one hour when they get up in the morning. There is a reason for this, and I have witnessed this problem here a few times myself, and I will explain more about what causes this very infrequent problem below: When you find the time on your radio-controlled clock off by exactly one hour in the morning (remember, the clock resets its time/date at 1:00 AM local time using the time signal from WWVB every night), this means that the WWVB radio signal was likaly a bit weak that night, and thus while the clock's WWVB radio receiver was able to read the time correctly (WWVB transmits the time in UTC, aka Coordinated Universal Time), it was not able to correctly receive the DST (Daylignt Savings Time in effect/not in effect) part of the signal, and thus, it may display the time as one hour earlier or later than it really is in your area. This problem will usually correct itself over the next one, two or three nights, whenever the WWVB signal strength improves sufficiently. Alternatively, to correct this problem sooner, you can take the clock outside, far from any sources of electrical interference (i.e., electrical and electronic equipment, including fluorescent and LED lamps), and lean its back against a tree or other wooden object, so that its broad side (front or back) is facing Fort Collins, Colorado (the location of the WWVB transmitter), and then press the WWVB Search button on the back of the clock and let it search for the WWVB signal for the next 7 minutes; it will hopefully correct the time setting during this period. When doing this, please remember that in most parts of North America, the WWVB signal is usually far stronger at night than it is during the daytime. And one more point, speaking/writing as an engineer and scientist: Many people tend to refer to such radio-controlled clocks (RCCs) as "atomic clocks". This is technically not true, as these clocks do not contain an atomic clock (i.e., an expensive rubidium or ceisum atomic oscillator and related atomic clock circuitry) inside them, and rather, these radio controlled clocks simply receive a time signal from NTIS's time signal radio station WWVB, which is controlled by an atomic clock. So, it is fine to call such clocks radio controlled clocks, and it is fine to say that they are "calibrated to an atomic clock source via the WWVB time signal" and it is even okay to say that they access atomic timekeeping, but they are not atomic clocks! Incidentally, I have always found the indoor digital thermometer on these clocks to be very accurate. BTW, I find that I can easily read the large digits on the LCD display that show the time from across the length of my kitchen or bedroom, each of which is a distance of 24 feet. Lastly, for those many persons who have asked on Amazon about where in the world the WWVB time signal radio receiver part of this radio controlled clock will work, here are some guidelines: The radio controlled features of this clock that access the NTIS time signal station WWVB in Fort Collins, Colorado can be used almost anywhere in North America, and, with a bit of luck, perhaps in Central America and perhaps even in parts of northern South America as well. To see the exact coverage area of the NTIS WWVB time signal radio station, visit the following page at NTIS's website: [...] Of course, you need to realize that the WWVB radio signal does not reach Hawaii, and even if it did, the clock, when operating in radio-controlled mode (versus in manual setting mode) can only be set to the four mainland North American time zones, and so even if, by some dint of magic, you could manage to get this clock to somehow receive the WWVB time signal in Hawaii, you would then face the problem that the clock has not been programmed to display the time in the Hawaiian time zone format. (Of course, the clock can still be used as a manaully-set clock in Hawaii, and also anywhere else in the world...!)

This is an excellent digital clock that sets itself against the atomic clock in Colorado. I had no problem getting the clock to initially set itself, but it had to be left overnight. I own a few different atomic clocks, and I know from experience that in my area (South Florida) the clock will only set itself between midnight and daybreak. There was a slight problem with one of the legs for the stand coming off the clock that needed to be reattached. They're on a simple plastic hinge and it is easy to overextend it and cause it to come off the body of the clock. It's easy to reattach, but it is annoying. If it happened on a carpet, you might not even be aware that it became detached. From a styling viewpoint, you either like the way this clock looks, or you don't. It comes in 3 different colors (black, white and silver) but they're all the same design. I personally think the border is a bit wide, but I was less concerned with styling with this purchase than I was with price and functionality. Obviously, if you don't like the way it looks, pass it by. I would stress what La Crosse does in their instructions. They claim that battery problems account for 80% of their warranty issues. They are clear that the only battery they recommend is an alkaline battery, like a normal Duracell. I thought I'd do it one better by using a couple lithium batteries. Unfortunately, that causes the clock to display a significant shadow of the unused portions of the numbers and letters. I guess this is caused by too much voltage compared to a normal pair of AAs. It wasn't until I switched out the batteries that the display looked like the one accompanying the product on the packaging and on Amazon, e.g., no shadows. I'm deducting a star due to the leg coming off and the battery issue. If the use of a particular battery is so critical, and obviously it is, then La Crosse should include a set of batteries with the clock, even if they have to raise the price of it by 50¢ to cover the cost. I would also conjecture that doing so would lower their support volume by, say, 80%?? Maybe even save a few dollars on Help Desk staffing?? Seems like a no-brainer to me. Anyway, good item that works as it should when used with 2 normal AAs. As I said, I wish they had included a set of alkaline batteries with it.

This is the best clock!! I like it keeps time, has a date, and is battery operated. It was easy to set up and is very accurate. The visibility is great! The durability is wonderful even in a high humidity area.

Since 2009 I have bought 8 of these, deploying 2 inside, one on a screened porch, and 1 in my garage. Of the 8, I gifted 2 to my grown children. The 2 that eventually failed were the one outside (a couple of years ago) and most recently the one in the garage. I would guess too many freezes got the one outside and the beastly heat that sometimes afflicts my garage probably did that one in. After all those years they still look like they did out of the box, which is really impressive. The automatic feature is very dependent on whether or not the clock can pick up the signal from Colorado, but works fine on 2 of them. Using the manual setting procedure is simple enough. Do it once and you can discard the directions. It's only once every year or so anyway, when the 2 AA batteries give out.

UPDATE 9/2014: Stopped working. Wires still appear attached but no longer can pick up a signal, so it has to be manually set. Even when manually set, it periodically gets confused and tries to connect to a radio signal, fails, and reverts to 12:00. Great clock, great price, but stupid design flaw inside. The good news is, there's a ridiculously easy fix. Some of the previous reviewers mentioned the clock made rattling noises if you shook it, and, if you open it up, the antenna (AKA the AM aerial) (AKA the iron bar with a wire wrapped around it) has come loose from its glue prison. I can confirm this problem. The antenna is held in place by one piece of plastic and some glue, and the glue gets brittle and breaks. So the antenna falls out of its cubby and flops around inside your clock making worrisome noises and possibly deteriorating your radio signal. Here's how to fix it. 1. Make sure the clock can pick up a signal at all (it takes a while, and you may need to move it around your room). If it can't pick up a signal at all, the wire may have come detached, or the wire may have unwound from the iron bar, causing it to tune to the wrong frequency band. IN THIS CASE, unless you want to learn about soldering and/or tuning AM aerial antennas, I'd avoid the hassle and just order a replacement. 2. Ok, so your clock picks up the signal, but it's still rattling. Flip the clock upside down on your work surface, and remove the batteries. 3. Keeping the clock flipped over, grab a small (00) phillips head screwdriver and pop off the screws on the back. 4. Remove the back cover, and set it aside. Pick out the half dozen pieces of dried glue rattling around inside and throw them away. 5a. Notice the metal bar with the wire wrapped around it. That's the antenna. It is tuned to the atomic clock radio frequency. The wires are very thin, so be careful not to snag them on anything or they may break. 5b. Now, notice the plastic notched area on the upper left side (same corner as where the satellite dish icon would show up if the LCD was on). This is where the antenna was detached from. 6. Glue or duct tape that sucker back in. It doesn't take a lot of force to keep it in place. Don't use tape made out of metal (aluminum tape, kapton tape, etc) 7. Reassemble. 8. Enjoy!

I bought this unit in February 2021. It is still working on the original battery, accurate data. Large display. I normally don’t review products, But this unit is worthy of my time.

Update 7/3/12 After several months of owning this clock, it has functioned reliably - but it took about a week to get there. It sync's correctly and did adjust for daylight savings time. It keeps time and the temperature seems close to accurate. For the price, it's a reasonable investment, but it does take several days to get "in sync" with the satellite and work well. So, be patient. ------- "You get what you pay for" definitely applies to this clock. The price is good but that is about all that is. When we first got the clock we stuck the batteries in and it pretended to make a successful connection. I say pretended because the little dish went solid and the time and date changed. However the time was several hours and minutes behind (even with correct time zone and dst) and the date changed from 1-1 to 12-31 (it was actually 4-22). Lacking a Delorean with a functioning Flux Capacitor, a clock that works in reverse helps me not at all. Many attempts to re-connect to Boulder and try to get a correct time and date all failed. It seemed that whatever wormhole time bending signal the clock had first received was now gone and it was not interested in the actual one. Needless to say I was about to send this useless thing back. Then I got it working.. The manual says the clock does an automatic sync at 1am. I thought this was a very arbitrary time so as an experiment I manually set the clock to the correct time and date and waited. Sure enough at 1am it made its attempt and my mouth dropped open when the connection indicator stayed lit (meaning it was successful). And this time it was for real because instead of dropping me 4 months in to the past, it kept the date and hour and only changed the minute up by 2. It hasn't lost connection since. I can only guess that this clock connects to one specific satellite and that satellite is only over North America for contact at around 1am. Or maybe not. Who knows. But it is very very weird. Overall I have to say I'm fairly disappointed with this clock. You get an atomic clock because you want that feature so when it doesn't work or is just darn flakey then you start asking yourself why keep it? But this is a caution to everyone considering this clock and maybe even a helpful tip to those stuck with it also trying to make it work. If my clock really could help me go back in time I think I would look for another brand. Also of note is the temp gauge. I have this clock very near to the house thermostat and they disagree as to what the room temp is by about 5 degrees on average with sometimes spiking as high as a 10 degree difference. I don't know which one is right but with the clock's other flaws I thought I should mention it.

Very poor viewing angles. Too small for a wall clock.

buen producto desde su compra

Not suitable to Australian time zones. Only has 4 set American time zones. Unable to switch off automatic function.

Before you buy this check that you are in an area which receives atomic clock signals. Most likely you are not. It is a normal device. It seems to work when not synched to any external clock signal. I should have read closer before I ordered it.

The first one lasted from 2000 until this month, when a set of "copper top" batteries leaked and wrecked it. Bought exactly the same one for that reason - they last and last. No, we live in a "dead zone" so the radio time set function didn't connect, but I'm used to manually setting this clock. This newer one does have time zone feature, which is nice. BUT DON'T EVER PUT "COPPER TOP" BATTERIES IN ANYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT!!!