A 60kHz WWVB Atomic Clock Receiver is a device that receives the time signals transmitted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) radio station WWVB located in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. The receiver decodes the time signals to synchronize the time and date on atomic clocks, which are accurate to within a few microseconds. WWVB broadcasts time signals on a frequency of 60kHz and provides a continuous, reliable source of coordinated Universal Time (UTC) for the US and other regions of the world.
Our WWVB Atomic Clock AM Receiver module for 60kHz is the most advanced and best-equipped AM Atomic Clock Receiver module for DIY projects available.
We designed this product around the awesome receiver chip MAS6180 from Micro Analog Systems (Finland). This module is in particular designed for use with microcontrollers in an operating voltage range of 3.3 or 5V.
The kit includes a high-quality, fine-tuned 60kHz antenna with a Q-factor of over 100.
The WWVB Atomic Clock AM Receiver module can also receive any other 60kHz atomic clock AM signal, like:
– JJY60 (Japan)
– MSF (England)
Features
– operating voltage range 2V to 5.5V
– 60 mm tuned high-gain, high-Q antenna
– current consumption <100µA (LEDs off)
– super high sensitivity of 0.4V (RMS)
– power down control pin
– fast start-up
– AGC control on/off
– dimensions 25 x 20mm (18% smaller than V2)
The kit needs soldering: Crystal, antenna, and pin header are not factory assembled.
Downloads and Documentation
Download the CANADUINO® Atomic Clock AM Receiver V4 datasheet (PDF)
If you don’t want to develop your own code, you can find many projects online, using our receiver kit, like for example Bruce Hall’s perfectly documented WWVB Clock with TFT color display:
Bruce Hall’s Atomic Clock Project Description, Instructions and Code on GitHub
Please also check Andrew Hooper’s WWVB Atomic Clock Arduino project and Benjamin Russel’s AVR-ASM-WWVB-Atomic-Clock on GitHub.
We highly recommend reading the official Wikipedia article about WWVB (Fort Collins) time signal to better understand how these clocks work.
Download a detailed datasheet for the MAS6180C receiver IC.
Please find the Atomic Clock Radio Signal Map on NIST website to learn about the signal coverage.
