Why are clock radios such a dog?

[F5 Dave]

Thanks Pixie, I had one of the old ones apart last night (with the old red LED display). Where's the soddin Crystal sez I? I was thinking 'surely they can't rely on 50Hz'. But I suppose that explains why they all seem to run fast since we moved & the new ones do as well.

Man they are tragic inside. Look like they've been made in some 3rd world grotto, hand assembled complete with no silk screening & 3D skidmods with 2 resistors soldered together above the board. I'll try to Iso scrub the old clock for the sake of it.

I linked off the buzzer position on the switch as you could hear it through the speaker while on radio, only enough to piss you off. Almost worked, but not quite.

[Scouse]

ok apart from the usual don't want to get up part;

Well I'm getting pissed off at me alarm clocks radios. Yes more than one. Both my old one & the wife's had started gaining time, like a min a day which is pretty rank. OK so they're old & the crystals will have aged.

So out we goes & buys some new ones, both Zip of diff models. Problem is they are bright green LED displays & it lights up the room like an alien spacecraft landing (don't even start me up on those)

So I dig in & try & turn them down by adding in some resistors to the LED feeds. I get it so you can't read them in daylight but they are still like search lights. Oh & both of them gain time like crazy. Sheesh!

I bought a Philips big screen on as it had a dimmer button. Looked fine in shop, too damn bright, same with more adjusting. Green LEDs just seem too bright, old Red displays cast less illumination.

Is it too much to ask for a alarm that keeps ok time & doesn’t light up too much?

Is there a decent one on the market?

Buy some red sellophane and tape it over the display

[F5 Dave]

Yeah putting a pillow (or cardboard) in front of it makes it pretty useless as a clock, if you have to wake up enough to move something to read it. Also wife will get pissy with a Beep beep alarm, has to be radio. I'm slow to wake up so that suits.

[F5 Dave]

Buy some red sellophane and tape it over the display

Where would find cellophane, sounds so 70s. Tried several other things always gets heaps of light through.

[Beemer]

Where would find cellophane, sounds so 70s. Tried several other things always gets heaps of light through.

Most bookshops still sell it!

[xwhatsit]

LEDs in general are the plague of modern consumer electronics. They insist on putting them everywhere -- PCMCIA wifi cards in laptops, printers, top of mobile phones while charging, stereo systems, even the frigging vacuum cleaner charging station.

OK, I could unplug everything before I go to bed, but stuff that.

I've heard of people opening things up and desoldering the LEDs out, but I just keep a roll of black duct tape around.

[Mrs Shrek]

Yeah putting a pillow (or cardboard) in front of it makes it pretty useless as a clock, if you have to wake up enough to move something to read it. Also wife will get pissy with a Beep beep alarm, has to be radio. I'm slow to wake up so that suits.

You think the bright light on yours is bad.
What I want to know is who is the sadistic person that put a buzzer in Shreks alarm that buzz's from loud to soft when he turns the light on to check the time

[vifferman]

Where would find cellophane, sounds so 70s. Tried several other things always gets heaps of light through.

That's why I used glass. I work with stained glass, so it was just a matter of trying several offcuts till I found something satisfactorily dimming, then cut a piece to suit. Some grunty double-sided tape has held it in place for the last 8 or 9 years.

This thread has got me all interested in the idea of a fancier clock-radio though. I could just use the alarm function on the old stereo, but that measn it would have to be left switched on at night, so we're back to the "irritating LED of doom problem" again.
A clock/radio with an LCD display and "push to illuminate" button'd be the go, if there is such a thing.
Who designs these things, or they just another example of "consumer electronics" that are dreamed up by some engineer or marketing person, with no commonsense, and absolutely no fucking idea of what people actually want?!?

[bungbung]

You won't need an alarm once your child is born

[Bend-it]

Man, you're a whinger... a Pom by any chance?? ;P

Both my old one & the wife's had started gaining time, like a min a day which is pretty rank.
...

So out we goes & buys some new ones .... & both of them gain time like crazy. Sheesh!

Most of them use the mains (50 Hz) for timing,not crystals.

And looks like it's not a problem with your clock, it's a problem with the electicalities in your house... Buy a new one, that'll sort things out...

[F5 Dave]

I see I've touched a chord here.

Having a dark place of sleep is really nice. But I kinda want to know the time & get woken up at the right time. Most of the screens have real curved faces too.

Me bleedin heater has a blue screen but that is covered over now (almost). Soddin' Asian designers, do they think we all want to sleep in somewhere approximating downtown Toyko?


Yeah real Funny Ola, everyone says that, but being in a Zombie state I'm likely to go back to sleep again making a clock doubly important.

[Burtha]

My hubz and I went through the same prob as you and then one day I found a great solution - a talking clock.

This one is basically a padded looking soft box. Quite mod / retro looking.
You press the top and it tells you the time.
Theres also a small lcd at the bottom that you use when setting the time and alarm etc.
You have a few choices of alarm calls, a chook, monkey, ringtone (not an annoying one) and a couple of others.
If you want to see the time, sleep with your watch on and press the elumination button.
And because its a spongey type box, if it ever annoys me, I can turf it across the room!
Fantastic


You can also still buy cellophane from the red shed.

[cc rider]

I cut my teeth fixing Sanyo clock radios when I was an apprentice.

I'm sure there are OH&S regulations on treatment of apprentices
did they at least provide a mouth guard?

Well I'm getting pissed off at me alarm clocks radios. Yes more than one. Both my old one & the wife's had started gaining time, like a min a day which is pretty rank. OK so they're old & the crystals will have aged.
Is there a decent one on the market?

I think this might do the trick


[YOUTUBE]alC64ZT8vTw[/youtube]

(did youtube thingy work? First try, I'm on dial-up, so it could all turn to shight)

[pete376403]

Got one of these from DSE http://www.getfrank.co.nz/gadget-of-...philips-ajl30/ can turn down the screen brightness but still readable in a dark room. Also has auto dim / autobright (set the times you want it to go dim or bright), reasonable radio, takes USB and camera flash cards so you can load up pics of your bike, etc.

[davebullet]

I've got the same problem. Sony alarm clock radio and the thing is F*&#ing nuclear radioactive green. Lights up the whole room. Would be better if red (at least bedroom mood light colour).

Anyway, I just use some shitty kiwisaver guide I never read to block it off. Pretty low tech but it works.