red clock

As I try to make my home more astronomer friendly, I realised that my bedroom digital clock radio was not ideal, with a green LED segments. A bit retro, but I wanted a red display.

I shopped for a long time... and I finally settled on the Emerson dual-alarm clock radio (with LED projector to boot) from Canadian Tire for $30 (product #44-2015-0). It's a pretty amazing unit, actually.

It features a large red LED display with digits about 3.5 cm tall. Two brightness levels. It receives on AM and FM. I like how the alarms can distinguish between week days and weekends. The battery back up is rather efficient using coin-style batteries which simply keep a real-time clock up-to-date. This concept is most impressive. It means the clock knows the time, always, without a human having to set it. You just plug into a wall socket and, presto, it shows the correct time and date! It is very unusual knowing I'll never need to adjust it (unless it drifts). And yes, that also means it automagically changes for Daylight Saving Time! Finally!

I didn't set out to get a projector clock. But the more I thought about it, the more interested I became. I recall Cameron saying he really liked his. It is very convenient certainly, just glancing at the ceiling. I like how the image can be flipped.

There's an argument for not wanting to know the time. But then, the projector can be shut off.