NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Cell phone time, etc
From: Dan Allen
Date: 2005 Apr 18, 14:38 -0600
From: Dan Allen
Date: 2005 Apr 18, 14:38 -0600
On Apr 18, 2005, at 6:54 AM, Dan Allen wrote: > Now I have a new toy: a Swatch watch which automatically tracks WWV > stations and other unspecified satellite or cell tower sources to > handle DST, time zones, and so forth. It did not work too well as I > crossed America by air yesterday until right before I landed - then the > time zone changed from Eastern to Mountain. I need more technical > details about how it obtains position information (no GPS in it). Having done more research, I have learned that my new Swatch Paparazzi watch uses FM radio frequency channels for its location, news, weather, and stock quote services. (See direct.msn.com for more info about the services.) It only works in the 100 largest metro areas of the USA so far. The sales person told me it worked by satellite anywhere in the country, but of course when I got back to my ranch (not in the 100 MTAs) it only tells time and does not get the other info because I am out of FM range. An info page shows that it gets time from WWVB or WWV PR (I assume Porto Rico) but it has not yet found such a station for me here in Utah. The basic services are free for the price of the watch ($150) but to get full stock quotes for any stock you want and other info there is an annual fee of $50-60, not too bad if you are mainly in populated areas - but you will want to check several of your common zip codes first! Dan
