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Resetting MSF radio-controlled clock after refitting hands.

Hi,

Can anyone tell me the secret of how to reset a ZEON TECH MSF radio- controlled clock after removing the hands to lubricate a sticky mechanism and then replacing them?

The clock mechanism is marked UTS MSF Radio Control and runs on a single AA cell. When first purchased, the fitting of the AA battery caused the clock to motor round until it eventually displayed the correct time, but when I now power it up it does that again but the final time displayed is inaccurate. This is obviously because I don't know what time the mechanism thinks it is and therefore cannot put the hands back in the correct places. If a small label in the top left hand corner of the mechanism is removed, two pins are visible so I guess that after manufacture the setting of the time must involve fitting the hands to a known time (EXACTLY mid-day maybe ?) and then doing something involving linking the pins but, so far, I have been unable to find the correct way to set, and maintain, an accurate time display.

Any ideas anyone?

TIA - Dave

David C.Chapman - Chartered Engineer. FIEE. ( snipped-for-privacy@minda.co.uk)

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Reply to
David Chapman
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Maybe Zeon can?

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Power it up and let it run for a few days so you're sure it has acquired the radio signal. Then, look at another radio-controlled clock, take the hands off of the Zeon, and reposition them at the correct time.

Matt Roberds

Reply to
mroberds

If you can get a handeld GPS unit, the time displayed is within a few microseconds on a cheap one. As the other reply offered, let your mechanical clock run a few days so that it should be synced up with it's own idea of the time and the remove the hands and replace them so that they agree with the GPS unit's time.

Good Luck, Bob

Reply to
MetalHead

Thanks to this who have replied for their suggestions.

I tried e-mailing them - they haven't replied.

I have two of these clocks so I tried to do that - a number of times. The main problem is that if you try to put the hands back on while the clock is running, your finger pressure stops the delicate clock mechanism from moving for long enough for it to be inaccurate when the hands do start moving again. Trying to anticipate the amount of delay hasn't worked for me either. I just don't like having a Radio-Controlled clock that displays an inaccurate time - even by half a minute or so.

There MUST be a procedure used in the factory when the hands are initially fitted. Maybe they are positioned to display a certain time and then the simple electronics are 're-set' or 'zeroed' to start the clock from that point, but I've tried a number of ideas without success.

It's probably simpler just to buy a new clock and retire the inaccurate one but I'm sure that the start-up procedure CAN'T be that hard to discover - or can it?

ATB - Dave

David C.Chapman - Chartered Engineer. FIEE. ( snipped-for-privacy@minda.co.uk)

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Reply to
David Chapman

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