Customer Reviews

La Crosse Technology WT-3122J 12-1/2-Inch Atomic Analog Clock, Natural Wood

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

The automatic time-setting function worked perfectly for me, with the clock hung on a livingroom wall approximately 10' from the nearest window (facing SSE) in a suburb near Philadelphia, PA. No need to mount the clock next to a window; out of the box, I inserted a rechargeable AA battery, pressed 1 of 4 buttons corresponding to the four different time zones, and hung the clock on the wall. The next morning, the clock was showing the correct time.

As for the quality of the clock simply as a clock: it's exactly what I expected for a wall clock of this price. It is constructed of cheap plastic and cheap wood...however, I chose this clock because of its face design and the convenience of the automatic time-setting function. I have no complaints about either aspect of the clock, so it does the job. There was some dust on the inside of the clock's glass face when it first arrived, but the front panel was easily removed, cleaned, and replaced.

The clock stands about 1.5~2" from the wall, and the second hand is not particularly loud (a pet peeve of mine regarding many affordable wall clocks.) The contrast in hues between the 2 different wood grains is fairly muted in typical indoor lighting conditions.

Received one as a gift around 12/2005. Worked reasonably well in New England for several months. Would occasionally forget its time and resync. Seemed to eat batteries. After 6 months or so it would not sync reliably. After multiple resets and battery changes, gave up and sent it back for repair but they returned it saying it worked fine for them. I would guess that it might work better if closer to Colorado and the radio signal source, but I've given up on it in New England. Nice looking clock and I was happy with it when it was working.

Very nice clock. Appears that it won't 'eat' batteries like typical analog clocks. This one moves the minute hand 1/4 of a minute every 15 seconds vs. regular analog clocks. It 'locked' onto the correct time automatically within about 4 minutes. The book said it would set itself overnight and be ready the next morning. A bit more expensive than what I wanted to spend, but probably worth it!

I just received this clock about one week ago. I am pleased with the look and quality. It has a medium nutmeg finish. It synconized within seconds of my putting in the AA battery and setting it to my time zone. It has kept perfect time ever since. Of course I only live about 35 miles from Boulder so I'm sure I would have no problem with the signal. I wanted a clock in my kitchen that was more "upscale" than the traditional fruit type kitchen clock. This has simple lines and would look nice in the bathroom and perhapes the bedroom as well. Best of all it keeps perfect time and I will never have to reset it for daylight saving time changes. You can, however, not use the "daylight-saving-time" feature if you live in an area that does not have DST.

I bought two of these for my workplace. The company has spent more paying people for their time dealing with theses clocks than their original cost.

This clock is a piece of cr*p. Buy it if you want a week-long project of resetting it every time DST changes. Check out what their website says about this procedure: (I find it annoyingly laughable)

1. To properly Restart your analog clock
Remove the battery and press the "manual" set tab 20 times. This clears any electricity out of the clock.
2. Verify that the Alkaline Batteries are dated at least 6 years in advance.
Without proper batteries, the antenna will have a harder time picking up the signal..
3. Insert the battery into the clock. Do not touch any buttons.
The second hand should advance 6-10 seconds then stop.
4. Wait 5 minutes.
If the WWVB signal is not received, the clock hands will automatically spin to
4, 8, or 12:00 and stay there until the WWVB signal is received.
5. Place the clock in a window facing Ft. Collins , Colorado and leave overnight. The front or the back of the clock can face Colorado. (If you do not have a window facing this direction, locate the timepiece near an outside wall and point the unit in this general direction.)
6. Check the clock in the morning.
If the WWVB signal was received, the clock will be set to Pacific Time (default). At this time, press the appropriate Time Zone Button and the clock will correct itself.
7. If the clock still displays the incorrect time in the morning...
Allow the device 3-4 more nights to set correctly.
8. Please note, this clock defaults to DST being ON.
If you do not observe DST, press the small-unmarked button between the ET and CT buttons, one time to turn DST to "OFF".

The clock may show erroneous readings during the first few days. The WWVB tower in Colorado increases the signal power, which sometimes causes the clock to reset itself.

If it has not received a signal after the 5th night, please contact Customer Service.

I've owned this clock for 6 months and it's still working and syncing but the second hand stopped moving 1 month into it. It's kind of odd to look at this clock because everyone thinks time has stopped. That's why I took off my first star. But the second was very loud anyway, just like a real ticking clock, so it was nice that it stopped because now there's no sound from this clock whatsoever.

The other reason I took another star off was syncing was an issue at the beginning. It took me a week to sync because in California we had daylight savings and the clock was always an hour behind or ahead for a few weeks until it finally synced correctly.

Otherwise the wood finish on the clock looks nice and the numbers are nice and big so I can tell the time easily from across the room.

The clock set itself perfectly overnight. It's a very easy-to-read face and attractive on the wall. LaCrosse clocks tick more quietly than most others, so I use this one in my home recording studio. This is the only genuine wood-framed analog wall clock that La Crosse makes that I've seen. The only drawback, which the instructions fail to mention, is when you change the battery the clock automatically advances to 4:00 and you have to wait overnight for it to sync up to the signal again. For me, that slight inconvenience is worth the accuracy.
Addendum: the second hand froze at :51 seconds within the first week and has not moved since. I decided it was not worth the hassle of returning it and swapped it with another clock in a less-used room. The other 2 hands still keep perfect time, but the frozen second hand ruins it for any room where guests would see it. Instant downgrade from 4 stars to 1.

Nothing wrong with the clockworks itself but I returned it for another because the wood was too blond for my personal taste.

Received the clock within the specified shipping time. Very easy to set with clear directions. As stated, clock set to correct time zone over night.

Six months later (June 2010). The second hand stopped! Clock hour and minute hands still functioning as advertised. No movement on the second hand. Requested assistance from manufacturer.

Although it says it resets itself every night, it failed to reset when it came time to go off of daylight savings time, and had to be done manually. Another atomic type clock further down on the same wall in the same room had no problem getting a time signal and resetting itself. I would say that the receiver chip in the clock of of poor quality. It does look good and keeps good time so twice a year resetting isn't worth the expense of sending it back. However would NOT purchase another one.