$19.95 (60% off) Marathon Atomic Travel Alarm Clock with Auto Back Light

The clock says 12:34 but the watch shows somewhere around 11:50 in the one photo, which is it

thedealhunter2000 wrote: ↑ https://www.amazon.ca/MARATHON-CL030036 ... JABYN&th=1

Was looking for an atomic clock for a family member and saw in google there was a price drop on this model on Amazon. Thought it was just the white color model that was on sale but all the other Colors are $19.95

So if the blue one is always 19.95, how is this a hot deal?

Do people not have phones?

What is an atomic clock?

Camel shows it mostly hovers in the $20-25 range, seems inflated MSRP to me.

techiedog wrote: ↑ What is an atomic clock?

It uses a radio signal to sync with the NIST-F1 cesium clock in Denver Colorado automatically at 2 AM each morning, thus giving exact time.

Strobz wrote: ↑ Do people not have phones?

Some aren't glued to their phones even in bed.

CyprusTM wrote: ↑ Some aren't glued to their phones even in bed.

yup. the first thing I do when I wake up is roll over to look at the digital clock I got. I ain't about to go fumbling for my phone in my half wake state causing it to drop. Then I'll actually need to get up and pick up the phone.

Clocks are old school, but they do one thing and they do it well.

Haven't heard mention of atomic clocks in forever. wow.

For travel, I don't know if I want to carry another item.

Anyways, I have an analogue Marathon clock beside my bed, which is great. I like the auto nightlight, so I can see what time it is in the dark. The one I have is quartz, so silent and keeps time accurately.

That tiny thing is not worth $50 lol. Thank goodness for CCC.

I have an alarm clock that talks,

Hey _________ shut the fck up let me sleep in.

This gimmick atomic clock always make me laugh.
The precision of a regular quartz clock is +/- 15 seconds a month which means that you will gain/loose 1 minute every 4 month, in one year your clock will be about 3 minutes inaccurate which doesn't matter even for the most important appointment you'll have in your life.
Unless you work on an airline and change time zone very often these things are useless - but even then you need to be in the range of Denver Colorado atomic clock range to receive the correct re-calibration.

But aaaaall clocks are atomic...they're made of atoms.

digger1 wrote: ↑ This gimmick atomic clock always make me laugh.
The precision of a regular quartz clock is +/- 15 seconds a month which means that you will gain/loose 1 minute every 4 month, in one year your clock will be about 3 minutes inaccurate which doesn't matter even for the most important appointment you'll have in your life.
Unless you work on an airline and change time zone very often these things are useless - but even then you need to be in the range of Denver Colorado atomic clock range to receive the correct re-calibration.

This is not an atomic clock. That is just marketing BS. It is a clock with a built-in small single purpose radio receiver that can receive the signal from the standard clock in Denver, which the clock then uses to set its time. This doesn't mean that this clock has some special accuracy. It just means that one doesn't have to fix the time now and then which is the case with cheap digital clocks because they tend to drift. It is possible to build a more accurate digital clock but the cost will be much higher. This is a more economical solution which is just as convenient. In my experience, it works well. I have used a Marathon clock with a radio receiver in Toronto and it worked fine. It received the signal and kept the time current. It helps if it is near a window, but even in an inside room it was able to catch the signal and set itself although that worked only on some days. It was quite convenient and the time always matched up with what my smartphone and laptop showed.

Correction: The signal is broadcast from Fort Collins, Colorado.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWVB
https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequ ... ation-wwvb

techiedog wrote: ↑ What is an atomic clock?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_clock

This is not an atomic clock. It is a radio controlled clock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_clock

Weird it's a travel alarm, but only works in 6 north American timezones.

digger1 wrote: ↑ This gimmick atomic clock always make me laugh.
The precision of a regular quartz clock is +/- 15 seconds a month which means that you will gain/loose 1 minute every 4 month, in one year your clock will be about 3 minutes inaccurate which doesn't matter even for the most important appointment you'll have in your life.
Unless you work on an airline and change time zone very often these things are useless - but even then you need to be in the range of Denver Colorado atomic clock range to receive the correct re-calibration.

I have 2 "atomic" clocks...I now adjust 2 clocks less due to daylight savings...

CyprusTM wrote: ↑ Some aren't glued to their phones even in bed.

Plus you shouldn’t be sleeping near your smartphone in bed…..

The light from the smartphone screen disrupts your sleep

I had a Marathon clock for over a decade. It worked fine in Toronto but it was having trouble picking up a signal within the GTA (outside Toronto).