[ale] [Semi-OT] Building a WWVB receiver for ntp or similar

[Jim Lynch]

Michael B. Trausch wrote:
> Recently, I have become fascinated with the idea of keeping my server
> with /really/ accurate time by making use of the WWVB radio signal that
> transmits time and frequency information.[1]  The only real problem that
> I have is that I know next to nothing when it comes to low-level
> electronics and I would like to find a starting point for building such
> a device relatively inexpensively.  I have seen that there are devices
> for sale that are already assembled and do the task, but they seem to
> cost >$100, and that would be way more than I could reasonably justify
> spending on this little project.
>
> The main things that I would like to get out of the project, of course,
> is a bit of a better knowledge of radio signals and electronics, a
> completely reliable reference clock for my server that the server keeps
> up-to-date from on a continual basis, and the ability to build such
> devices for things that I do in the future that may or may not be
> permitted/able to use NTP to keep time for various reasons.  Of course,
> I also just think that it is absolutely fascinating that such a thing
> can be built and eliminate the dependency on the Internet for supplying
> time to the server.
>
> I noticed that there is a reference on the Internet for building a
> device using a pre-assembled tuner and some additional circuitry,[2]
> (and that this works with the "radioclk" package available in Debian and
> Ubuntu) but I would like to avoid even buying the tuner if I can
> reasonably build one myself.  Does anyone here have any ideas on where
> to start with something like this?  Also, any ideas on how long this
> would take someone like me who is a complete noob when it comes to
> electronics and understanding the concepts that go into building
> something like this?  I would like to do this for no other reason than
> it would be absolutely fascinating to do and be able to say that I have
> done it; I really have no absolute need to keeping my server so close to
> the "actual" time, other than to say that I can and that I built the
> hardware that does it.  I would assume that I need to learn more about
> how radio signals work with relation to electronics that would be
> receiving them so that I could actually understand the electronic
> components that go into the setup, as well as a lot about electronics to
> find out the hows and whys of what goes into the tuner and radio
> decoding mechanism to send the bits to, say, a serial or USB port.
>
> 	--- Mike
>
> [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWVB
> [2] http://www.buzzard.me.uk/jonathan/radioclock.html
>
>   
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Found this, which might help:

http://www.fatman.org/projects/wwvbclock/
Jim.