Latest "NEW" Junghans Mega 1000

[rewolf]

lars, did you check the software version? It would be interesting to know if the versions of your current watch and the one they'll send you are diferent. Version check is described here.

@little1up: Yes, it's possible to set the Mega 1000 manually. It's not possible e.g. on the Mega 1 (world's 1st radio-controlled wristwatch) - when it's receiver fails, the only thing you can do is restart the watch exactly at midnight - and it still won't show the date.
BTW the time code transmitters are not satellites, they're on earth.

[grun]

What I found out is that not all of the "new generation" watches in the Mega 1000 line actually have revised movements. There apparently needs to be an M on the box for the watch to be of the "latest" generation.

Who told you about the M? As you know, I do have a new generation watch, and I can not detect an M on the box it came in, nor on the watch itself. Maybe the M stands for Modified and is only applicable for watches sold in the US? I live in Europe and the watch has no problems synchronizing. Two weeks ago we went back to wintertime and the watch switched as expected.

[lars]

Hi Guys,

To answer both of you at the same time.... No, I did not check the software version. I have been deliberately avoiding this since it requires a software reset. Since the watch won't synchronize in the US, I have not been willing to reset it.

I'm presently awaiting the replacement watch and when it arrives, I will compare the versions on both. At that time, I won't have a reason not to - after all; the replacement is purported to synchronize in the US.

I'm not sure where the notion of setting based on a satellite signal crept into this thread. Clearly, these watches use a terrestrial long wave signal at 77.5 kHz, 60 kHz or 40 kHz. I even constructed a passively coupled loop antenna in an effort to get more signal to the watch - all to no effect.

Regarding the M, it was in fact Junghans Germany that told me this. I will report on that aspect as well when I have the replacement watch. I should then be able compare the markings on the boxes.

BTW, the watch is not sold in the US. That's what the almost invisible and very rude US distributor told me. Junghans Germany confirmed this too - the replacement has to be sent from Germany. Therefore I'm still waiting for Deutsche Post to do their stuff :-)

As you can see from my original post, my watch also synchronized perfectly while I was in Germany, where I bought it. From the first day that I arrived in the US, it has not synched. Mysteriously, after about 15 tries with the passive antenna, it did change the display from DCF to WWVB but still did not synch.

More when the replacement arrives. If there is something helpful to the rest of the community that we can learn from this exercise, I will definitely post it.

Cheers,
Paul

[lars]

So, the next chapter in the saga unfolds. I have now had in my hands for the better part of a week the "latest" edition of the Mega 1000 directly from Junghans and indeed I have learned some things about these watches.

First of all, this is the original watch that I purchased in October 2006 in Germany:

http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.kierku ... 7820971026

This one carries the model number 026/4512.44 but on the watch back itself, it?s labeled 026/4512 604. According to Junghans in Germany, this means production on April 2006. This watch was purchased as the latest model ? ?received just yesterday? ? 21.October.2006 in a shop in Mannheim, Germany. It came in a round box but I don?t have a photo of it. The owner?s manual also has W 604.62 printed on the cover.

There are differences between the firmware in this watch (VER 02 JH) and the new one. For example, when attempting a manual synchronization, the 604 watch displays the identity of the currently received signal (here WWVB) and how many seconds it has been attempting to synchronize (at that point 00).

This watch has failed to synchronize here in North Carolina, USA in the last three weeks ? not even once.

This is the replacement, delivered directly from Junghans in Germany. It came in a square box.

http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.kierku ... 3878405138

http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.kierku ... 2093103122

I think what all of us really want to know is how to quickly distinguish the plainly defective older models from the new ones. The label is clear, there needs to be an M in front of the model number. This is just what Junghans Germany told me and there it is.

http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.kierku ... 1896574994

This is plain to see on the label M026/4512.44. The number on the back of the watch matches this convention also M026/4512 610, in this case indicating October 2006 production. At this point I was still unsure whether it would synchronize because it had not done so during the seven days of transit. Clearly some of that transit time had been in the US.

http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.kierku ... 1772901394

That?s what the display means in this case, DCF 77 was the last signal received 7 days before.

The obvious difference in the firmware, there are others that I noticed too, is that when one attempts a manual synchronization, the display shuts off, unlike in the 604 model. I recall reading somewhere that the display driver actually interfered with the reception of the LW signal. Perhaps there is more than a grain of truth in that.

http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.kierku ... 5765900306

The end result? Although the watch will not synchronize just any time anywhere in my area of the US, it has synchronized at least three times since I have had it here. This was successful only at night and happened automatically. That?s the meaning behind the display ? WWVB was the last signal received, 0 days ago.

http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.kierku ... 0054656018
So far so good! Now I need to resize the bracelet to my wrist, that the shop did for me in Mannheim when I bought the first one but now I?m on my own. Overall, I?m a bit optimistic that the watch will actually work in the US. It took Junghans long enough!!

That?s it, if you are interested to get one of these watches with the anticipation that it will actually do everything that the maker claims ? at least in the US, make sure that it has the ?M? prefix, a date code in October 2006 or later (it could actually be earlier but definitely after April 2006) and test that the display goes blank when you press and hold T1.

Best luck,
Paul

[rewolf]

Paul, thank you for this clarifying and detailed report.
Interesting to read how they solved the "LCD interferes with reception" problem - shut down the LCD during reception. Looks a bit like a dirty hack to me, not like a well engineered solution for a problem that has been known for 18 months now...

[lars]

I'm with you here. It's certainly not an elegant solution but it is an example of lateral thinking. Rather than working to improve the receiver, they elimnated the interference. I have read "somewhere" that this is an issue specifically of interference with reception of the 60 kHz frequency. I have however never read that it impacts the Japanese 60 kHz signal reception.

Actually, I have never read a report about how well this watch works in Asia. I was just in China and Japan earlier this year but didn't have the watch then - bad luck. Anyone had that experience? Does it work reliably with the Japanese signals? Any idea why reception of two different ones in Japan was considered important?

Cheers,
Paul

[lars]

Just a quick update...

Here in central North Carolina - Raleigh-Durham area - the watch is synchronizing nearly every night. Since the last post there have been perhaps 2 failures. I agree that it's perhaps not the well-engineered redesign of the receiver but it is effective. I do miss seeing that the receiver is getting a signal and the reception counter running.

I also like some of the revised firmware. Particularly, it's very nice to have the back light on as long as you are pressing buttons. In the earlier watch, the light would go out after 4 second - in mid press. Now, it stays on as longs as buttons are continuing to be pressed by the owner.

The other recommendation that I would have for prospective buyers to have the seller size the bracelet. The tolerances on the pins are so tight that even with the proper tools - i.e. a press - I absolutely could not get some of them out. Consequently, a replacement bracelet was necessary - pre-sized. Installing the band on the watch is easy though.

Paul

[jblin]

After I expressed my extreme frustration with Junghans in Germany about the DST issue and their customer support here in the U.S. they offered to send me a Mega 1000 for free. I typically don't like digital watches but I thought why not. I can always sell it.

So it arrived 3 days ago and I really like it. Problem is that it doesn't sync. It does have the M in front of the model number. I'm only 650 miles from the WWVB transmitter. When my atomic clock syncs it tells me whether it synced and how strong the signal was out of a possible 4 bars. It's been 4 bars the last 3 nights.

What do I have to do to get it to sync? Put the damn thing outside every night? It still says DCF77 and then it has a 6 in the upper right corner. I assume it means it last synced in Germany when it left the factory.

Any thoughts?

[rewolf]

Did you try manual synchronization?
If so, does the LCD shut down during maunal sync (like lars described in his earlier posting of 2006-11-23)? Firmware version?
You could try manual sync around midnight (best reception conditions), near a window.
All in all, it seems the watch still has big problems with WWVB.

BTW: Recently I had to change the battery in my Mega 1000, this means 2 years battery life (alarm never used and backlight about once per week).

[jblin]

I tried two manual syncs last night. One at 11:30 and another at 12:30. Nothing! The display shut off while syncing. I'm going to set it next to my LaCrosse atomic clock since it syncs every night which tells me there's a good signal. If that don't work then I'll try the window option.

Edit: Doesn't sync next to my LaCrosse clock or by the window. I guess the ultimate test will be to leave it outside tonight.

[jblin]

You know it's really sad when you leave the watch outside and it won't sync.

I'm contacting the Germany office AGAIN!

[rewolf]

After I expressed my extreme frustration with Junghans in Germany about the DST issue and their customer support here in the U.S. they offered to send me a Mega 1000 for free. I typically don't like digital watches but I thought why not. I can always sell it.

Do I understand it correctly: you contacted Junghans because your Mega MF 4405 (Apollo line, analogue) didn't switch to DST correctly (as you wrote here), then Junghans offered to send you a totally different watch for free? This won't save your actual problem, true? And then the replacement doesn't work at all?
They are really working hard to lose what is still left of their reputation .

[jblin]

That is correct. They claim this Mega 1000 (new module) will work with the new DST. That's great however, it doesn't sync.

My girlfriend has a cheap Casio that has always synced (even in my basement) and it switched over on the new DST date. I think she paid $70 for it a year ago.

Edit: Still waiting reply from Germany.

[jblin]

The reply I got was that I need to push all the buttons and do a reset and then set the location. I don't recall seeing in the manual anything about setting the location.

[rewolf]

At least in my version, doing a reset isn't different from a manual resync. No location to set.
If it can't find any signal for some minutes, it switches to the next time transmitter frequency (shown on display) - after manual sync as well as after reset - however you won't see which transmitter it is searching because the display is shut off during manual sync in the new version.

[jblin]

That's what I thought.

I took the watch outside about 9 PM last night. I did a manual sync (blank screen) and it did not sync as usual. So I pushed all the buttons at the same time and the screen went blank. Then DCF77 came up blinking on the screen with a zero in the upper right corner. Then it switched to WWVB and start counting seconds. Within 2 minutes it had synced and was indicating the correct time.

So I set my timezone. Considering I did a sync at 9 PM I wasn't sure if the watch would still try and sync like normal over night. I got up this morning and it still said WWVB with a zero. I'll check it tomorrow morning again.

[jblin]

BTW: Recently I had to change the battery in my Mega 1000, this means 2 years battery life (alarm never used and backlight about once per week).

Is it as easy as it looks? Just remove the four little screws, take the back off and replace it?

I've synced (indoors) two nights in a row. :D

[rewolf]

BTW: Recently I had to change the battery in my Mega 1000, this means 2 years battery life (alarm never used and backlight about once per week).

Is it as easy as it looks? Just remove the four little screws, take the back off and replace it?

I've synced (indoors) two nights in a row. :D

Yes, so easy.
Only watch out for the 2 little spiral springs that contact the piezo beeper. They are not fixed in any way, so if you turn the watch while the back is removed, they will fall out.

Good news that it finally syncs :)

[lars]

Reading all of the previous postings, it does have the "M" and that you are much closer to the transmitter site than I am :). That said, my watch synched to WWVB last night - just fine. My suggestion to you is to orient that watch so that the black dielectric pannel faces the transmitter in Colorado. You don't need to line it up to the degree but it does help. Also, place it far from any source of electical interference. That does not mean our on your deck, just not next to your PC, etc. It has worked in my experience.

BTW, I just returned from Germany where my Mega 1000 also refused to sych with DCF 77 just laying on the night stand in the Hotel - less than 100 km from Frnakfurt!! Wow, that's poor. On the plus side, moving it to a table in the hotel room enabled a manual synch even in the middle of the day. Let's just say it's sensitive to the conditions.

Paul

[retroleds]

Reading these posts, I have wondered whether you guys would benefit from some sort of "signal concentrator" like some people build for their WI-FI devices....I've seen a lot of people on the 'Net claiming they have made them out of cardboard containers wrapped in aluminum foil. Just a thought.

[jblin]

Some testing I've done:

I think the whole issue was solved by doing a reset. It has synced every night since. I put the watch in the basement last night just for kicks. It synced! The other night we had thunderstorms in the middle of the night and it still synced.

I did a manual sync at 1PM yesterday (inside the house) and it synced.

With all that, I'm quite satisfied with the watch. It syncs as good as my Mega Apollo did.

[superskib]

My Mega 1000 has the letters M26 at the start of its number, as such I assume it is the latest model.
When I first bought it (in the UK in late March 2007) I noticed that it was 3 seconds slow. I have several other watches/clocks that are radio controlled, one of them a solar powered Junghans analogue. All were synchronised compared with the BBC radio transmission. I tried manual synchronising the Maga 1000 to no avail. I returned it to the dealer in Lincoln who discovered that the other three watches he had in stock were also out of synch. He took it to his home where it picked up the signal. I have had it back for several days now and it seems OK - spot on time wise.

When I called the Junghans service centre in Scotland the technician told me he had not had any others reported to him with this problem. It would appear that this is not a unique problem in other countries. Apart from the Junghans Mega Solar Titanium, all my other watches/clocks are inexpensive items £10 ($20) for an alarmclock for instance that has kept perfect time for 3 years. My guess is that the case is the root of the problem. All the cheap items are encased in plastic. My Casio Wave Ceptor has a plastic back. The Mega Solar has what appears to be a mirrored glass back.

I am told my Mega 1000 has a back made of Carbon Fibre - maybe that is the magic ingredient. I don't know about the radio wave permeabilty of the varios materials. It would be helpful if the email address of the Junghans factory was published here so that we could appraise them of the scale of the problem. Then they could advise as to best action to take to resolve the apparent problem on non-synchronicity. Over to you all. Regards Gibbo:?:
[Site moderator interjects - first, welcome and a good post. Second, if you can locate addresses for Junghans for one or more country, I would gladly put them up as a "Sticky" at the top of this forum area]