Casio Atomic Wave Ceptor Watches

I'm just nuts about watches, so I sell a bunch of them here on eBay and have a lot of fun with it.  My ID is sun-bits and I provide great service (like setting the watch for your time zone before shipping it).  I've really grown to like the Atomic Watches I've seen since last Fall.

What is an Atomic Watch?

In a nutshell, an Atomic Watch is any wristwatch that uses a special radio signal to synch up with a government maintained atomic clock.  Some manufacturers also call this a Radio Controlled watch.  Either way, you end up with a highly accurate watch.

For the last handful of years manufacturers have been offering small clocks that can receive and interpret the radio signal sent from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Fort Collins, Colorado.  NIST broadcasts at 60,000 cycles per second (Hz) and the radio station has the call letters of WWVB.  This signal reaches the majority of the contiguous 48 United States and huge portions of Canada and Mexico.

Today the electronics for doing this job have become small enough to be packaged in a wristwatch.  And Casio is a key manufacturer who has embraced this technology and now offers a variety of watches that utilize this signal to set and maintain highly accurate time.

Note: there are atomic clocks located around the world that have similar radio broadcasts, but they operate on different radio frequencies.  So in most cases your Atomic Watch only synchs up with the signal offered by your home country.  There are transmitters in Japan, the United Kingdom, and in Europe. PS - In June 2006 I added an update to this topic on my eBay Blog.

Different Types of Atomic Watches

Types of watch faces:

• All Digital - LCD panels that usually have some form of backlight that can be used to read the watch in dark locations

• Analog - The watch will primarily use a pair of analog hands, but it will also have a small LCD window that is used for setting the watch and can also be used for different display modes.  These may also have a backlight for use in the dark, and sometimes the light only illuminates the analog hands or digital display (but not both).

Types of watch bands:

• Soft - Leather, resin, or plastic
• Metals - Titanium and steel

Casio Watch Families Offering Atomic Timing

• Wave Ceptor - This is the name Casio has given to their Atomic Watch technology and some of the watches are marketed as being in the Wave Ceptor family if they don't fit neatly into one of the other family groups.
• Baby-G - This part of the Casio watch family is typically colorful and fun.  Some of them are aimed at women based on size or color scheme, but many Baby-G's are unisex models as long as your wrist isn't too large.  The Atomic Baby-G models currently have large cases so they don't work well on petite wrists.
• G-Shock - This is one of the most famous of the Casio watch families and is characterized as being shock resistant.

Notable Features

• Signal Indicator - All Casio Atomic Watches offer a way for you to know if the watch was able to receive and interpret the time synchronization signal.  On this all-digital model, the LCD has a Satellite Antenna symbol that tells you all is good.

• Setting the Time Zone - In most cases all you have to do is tell the watch what time zone you are in, and it will do the rest for you.
• Daylight Saving Time - By default your Casio Atomic Watch will automatically adjust for Daylight Saving Time twice a year.  If you happen to live in one of the areas that does not observe Daylight Saving Time, there is a watch setting to ignore the twice-a-year change.
• Analog Hands - Casio Atomic Watches are setup so the Analog hands automatically synchronize themselves with the Digital time.  During normal operation the minute hand advances every 20-seconds.  There is also a setting mode that allows you to manually advance the Analog hands.
• Leaving signal range - Don't worry if you will be leaving signal range for a trip.  All that typically  happens is the Signal Indicator goes blank and the watch uses its internal quartz timing until you are back home.
• Other features - Like most modern digital watches, Casio Atomic Watches have features that go beyond just telling time.  Depending on the model you select, you may have a stopwatch, world time, water resistant, shock resist

Ownership Tips

1. My Top Atomic Watch Tip - Maybe once a week, leave your Casio Atomic Watch overnight near a window.  You'll probably understand why after reading the rest of these tips.
2. Note the signal reception cycle - Each watch is pre-programmed to check the time synchronization radio signal 3-4 times per day.  And because the antenna in the watch is so small and the signals are easiest to receive at night, Casio Atomic watches typically do their magic between midnight and 5 AM.
3. Check signal indicator in the mornings - This lets you know if you are keeping the watch in a location where it can read the radio signal on a reliable basis.
4. Daylight Saving Time - If your Casio Atomic watch is kept in a location with somewhat weak signal reception, it can cause it to miss DST being turned on or off.  This creates a 1-hour difference and is best corrected by following Tip #1 (leave the watch near a window overnight).
5. Solar charging - If you have a Casio Atomic Watch that uses the Tough Solar method of recharging the batteries, it will go into Power Save mode if kept in the dark.  Power Save mode may cause Analog hands to stop moving until the watch is exposed to bright light.
6. Changes cause loss of signal indicator - This is normal behavior.  If you tell the watch you have changed time zones, the radio signal indicator typically goes blank until the next synch cycle.
7. Manual receive - You can force the watch to look for the synchronization radio signal and update itself.  If you do this, I have two recommendations.  First plan on setting the watch on a window sill and leave it alone for 5 minutes immediately after triggering the manual receive.  Second, you'll have a greater chance of success if you do this at night when the signal is strongest.

Selection Tips:

• The battery powered Atomic models tend to be smaller than the ones that also include Solar charging.
  Even the Baby-G models are pretty large, so get dimensions of the watch you will be buying so you aren't surprised.
• Metal watch bands are adjusted for size by removing links.  Be prepared to take your new watch to a local watch repair shop or jeweler to have this done right.  The professionals know to remove links from both sides of the buckle so the buckle stays centered on your wrist.
• Have Fun! - Many people now keep a selection of watches available to fit their mood and where they are going.  I always have at least a half dozen from my collection (of over 20 watches) ready to wear with fresh batteries.

Please take a look at my current offerings of Casio Atomic Watches and Timex Radio Controlled Watches

This guide and photos copyright 2006 Sun-Bits