Gemstar VCRPLUS clock accuracy

And temperature drift, and age-related drift, and shock, and ...

Dead nuts over the long term (absent power failures, of course); usually not so good hour-by-hour. The guys at the powerhouse use their own power line output to run a synchronous wall clock, which they compare with an external reference (this can be done by, say, listening to WWV while watching the clock). If the second hand leads or lags, they slow down or speed up their alternators.

That's how they used to do it; things are probably automated now, but still, the alternators inevitably run a bit slower under heavy load and faster when unloaded, so the long term-short term issue still applies.

Isaac

The unit shows the time/date, but the display on mine has lost so many segments you have to know what it is to read it.

When you first get the unit you program it for the VCR and cable box. At the designated time the unit sends an IR signal to turn on the VCR, then it sends a signal to the cable box to set the channel, then it sends a REC signal to the recorder. At the end of REC the units sends a STOP then PWR signal to the VCR. At the time it was a slick idea and the company did very well.

The company nosedived: first after it bought TV Guide, then after the CEO and other officers pulled some swindle for which they went to jail.

None of the time functions come from the VCR or the cable box.

I'd guess from your original post it has to have one of those "atomic clocks" built in, the ones that listen to one of the WWV signals.

I have a bedroom clock that basically runs on a couple AA cells (there is an adapter if you want to use the project time on ceiling feature) so making one that fits in a remote isn't any stretch of the imagination.

You said you only needed to set the hour, not minutes or seconds. It's the same for my clock, you sort of set the TZ and nothing else.

Being it "wakes up" at some interval (no clue, every 10 minutes, once an hour, no idea) to get the current time, I can see battery life as pretty long.

It probably would have to be that, no other choice. I used to have that GEMSTAR crap in a few vcr's and I sort of remember the stand alone remotes, if the feature wasn't built into the vcr.

That whole system would fail if it couldn't keep time accurately, so resorting to a more expensive WWV type only makes sense.

I remember the big deal was with people trying to crack the algorithm they used to create the codes. Last time I looked it seemed a couple people came up with a 90% answer but still didn't work on the longer codes (7 or 8 digits?).

-bruce snipped-for-privacy@ripco.com

The encryption algorithm was implemented by a guy from Caltech (Gemstar's CEO) so that only Gemstar could create the schedules published in seleted newspapers. You and a previous poster may be correct in the wwv option, but I have an "atomic watch" which is sensitive to orientation when it is receiving the update. The watch might be too small to have an omnidirectional antenna.

I dunno at this point what to think. Guess the answer depends on when that remote you have was made. I had a couple of them in the past, but don't remember anything about setting the time on them. The point to making that statement is, I'm pretty sure I had them in early/mid 90's.

After using my google finger for a bit, I can't find any reference to them having one of those wwv/wwvb clocks built into them. That feature (radio clocks as they are called) seem to have gained ground starting in 1999 and becoming common in home use by 2003 or so.

So I'm going to venture to guess, if it was made before 2000, it's not likely the "atomic clock" is built into it.

It's pretty obvious the vcrplus+ remote was introduced in november of 1990, looking at the various product reviews for the next few years, no mention of it/them having a radio type clock is made, which seems to me would of been a major selling point.

The problem is, by the late 90's, there is basically no mention of "the remote" anymore, being the function was already incorporated in most brands of vcr's.

I'm sure they probably had a stand alone remote until they cratered, so if that thing is in the "within 10 years" age, the radio clock is likely but can't be proven by me.

The thing that bothers me is, from the pictures of the VIP-18 I could find, it seems to be the same one I had in the early/mid 90's. Then again, I could be wrong about that too. One of them (from the dozens of remotes I've own in the past) had a "large head" on it, and might of even had some kind of plate or base it velcro'ed into.

Point was, it wouldn't go any good if you left it on the couch or in a different room, the base was intended so it was aimed at the vcr when it was needed.

-bruce snipped-for-privacy@ripco.com