La Crosse WS-8256U-AL Digital Atomic Clock

The La Crosse WS-8256U-AL Digital Atomic Clock shows the hour and minutes in numbers 2 1/4 inches tall. The bottom portion of the display shows a weather forecast icon, day, month and date, indoor temperature and humidity, and outdoor temperature.

Optionally, you can choose to display seconds in place of indoor temperature, indoor humidity or outdoor temperature (especially helpful if you are in a location that doesn't allow mounting the remote temperature sensor). The indoor temperature degrees, indoor humidity, month, and weekday are about 1/2 inch tall. The outdoor temperature and numeric date are about 5/8 inch tall. Indoor temperature tenths are about 3/8 inch.

The outdoor temperature is transmitted to the clock by an included TX6U wireless remote thermo sensor/transmitter. Maximum transmission range in open areas is 330 feet (100 meters). 

Being an atomic clock, the time will always be accurate to within a split second, as long as the clock is mounted in a location where WWVB radio waves can reach the clock*. A tower and waves icon appears in the upper left corner of the top (hour and minutes) section of the LCD panel to indicate successful reception of the atomic clock time-synchronization radio signal.

The three weather forecast icons that can be displayed by the WS-8256U-AL are:

• Sunny: The weather is expected to improve (not that it will be sunny).
• Sun with Clouds: The weather is expected to be fair (not that it will be partly cloudy).
• Clouds with Rain: The weather is expected to worsen (not that it will actually rain or snow).

If the barometric pressure is currently changing, an up or down weather tendency arrow is displayed along with the forecast icon. The up arrow indicates increasing pressure and that the weather is expected to improve or remain good. The down arrow indicates decreasing pressure and that the weather is expected to worsen or remain poor. No arrow indicates stable air pressure.

This digital atomic clock with alarm and snooze is ideal for medium to large rooms, conference rooms, reception areas, and also for folks whose vision is less than perfect.

*The clock calibrates itself to the world's most accurate clock every night by receiving WWVB radio transmissions. These transmissions contain time information from the U.S. atomic clock source, operated by the U.S. Commerce Department near Boulder, Colorado. The built-in antenna ensures reliable signal reception up to 2000 miles (3200km) from the WWVB transmitter. The time zone can be set for GMT +/-12 hours, and a time zone map display is provided for the 4 "lower-48" U.S. time zones. The factory-default time zone is EST, or -5 hours from GMT. A radio icon indicates reception of radio-controlled timing signals.

Note: As is typical of large-display digital LCD clocks, this one does not have a backlight for its displays.

For additional information, please see the WS-8256U manual.

Features:

• Sets automatically to WWVB (60 kHz) radio signal from U.S. atomic clock in Colorado. Manual setting is also possible.
• Radio tower and waves icon indicates WWVB signal reception.
• Giant time display in 12-hour format:
  • Hour and minutes digits are 2 1/2 inches tall and separated by a flashing colon (:) that indicates the passage of seconds.
  • PM is displayed along with time from noon to midnight.
• Hour, minutes, month, date, and weekday are continuously displayed (as is the weather forecast).
• Four user-selectable display modes let you display digital seconds in place of indoor humidity, indoor temperature, or outdoor temperature.
• Any of 13 time zones can be set. Select Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or -1 to -12 hours.
• Time zones from -4 to -10 hours and GMT (0) are displayed with 3-letter abbreviations: ATL (Atlantic), EST (Eastern, the default setting), CST (Central), MST (Mountain), PAC (Pacific), ALA (Alaska), HAW (Hawaii), and GMT.
• Daylight Saving Time (DST) on/off option.
• Full auto-calendar for year 2003 to 2029 (default setting is 2004).
• Three-letter month and weekday abbreviations are user-selectable for any of 3 languages: English, French, or Spanish.
• One daily alarm. Pressing SNZ (snooze) button suspends alarm for 10 minutes.
• Alarm time can be displayed in the lower section of the display.
• Three forecast icons predict the weather for 12 to 24 hours in the future with 70% to 75% accuracy.
• A trend arrow (up or down) is displayed when the barometric pressure is rising or falling.
• LCD panel contrast is user-adjustable for 8 levels for optimum viewing.
• Maximum transmission range for remote temperature is 330 feet (100 meters).
• Clock can be wall mounted, or integral foldout stand can be extended for placement on a table or shelf.
• TX6U remote transmitter is wall mounted via an included bracket into which transmitter snaps.
• Clock is powered by three AA (1.5V) alkaline batteries (not included), with normal life of about 1 year.
• TX6U is powered by two AA (1.5V) alkaline batteries (not included), with normal life of about 1 year.

WS-8256U-AL Clock Specifications:

• Time source and frequency: WWVB, 60 kHz
• Indoor temperature measuring range:
  +14.1°F to +99.8°F with 0.2°F resolution
  ("OFL" is displayed if outside this range)
• Outdoor temperature measuring range:
  -21.8° to 157.8°F with 0.2°F resolution
  ("OFL" is displayed if outside this range)
• Temperature checking interval:
  • Indoor: every 10 seconds
  • Outdoor: every 5 minutes
• Indoor humidity measuring range: 1% to 99% relative humidity
• Dimensions:
  9.44 inches (240 mm) wide
  9.25 inches (236 mm) high
  1.22 inches (29.5 mm) deep

• Remote transmission of outdoor temperature to station via 433.92 MHz signals
• Temperature checking interval: every 1 minute, with reception by WS-8256U-AL clock every 5 minutes
• Splash-resistant case
• Wall mounting (remote unit snaps into its own wall-mounted bracket)
• Dimensions:
  1.57 inches (40 mm) wide
  5.04 inches (128 mm) high
  0.9 inch (23 mm) deep