For the record, I do not own the featured image.  I give credit to whoever credit is due…

In some (but not all) aspects of my life, I carry myself with fervent precision.

Case in point, I always wear a watch and I strive to keep that watch synchronized with The American Atomic Time.

To do this, I synchronize it with an Atomic Clock receiver at the beginning of every month.

I have been doing this since 2008 when I would synchronize my watch with the time on my GPS device.

I do this usually on the first over every month, but sometimes I am late with it.

I was late this month with all that is going on.

I synchronized my watches and clocks in the wee hours of the morning on May 7, 2020.

When I was thinking about that, I was prompted to write this piece.

My now ex-wife always had an alarm clock of some sort and always heeded that alarm, mostly to wake everyone else up in her family.

She still pretty much got up at a set time every morning when she and I lived together.

She probably still does to this day, though I am not sure.

Because of this, in August of 2010, I wanted to get her an Atomic Clock receiver for her twenty-third birthday.

There was one being sold at my local grocer, Rouse’s, and for only ~$10.

It was a Datexx DRC-604.

Money was so tight in those days though that I couldn’t afford it for her.

Well all of my disability pension and then some went towards rent and I was working part-time, maybe 15 hours a week at $8 an hour which almost all went towards groceries and utilities.

Our financial situation improved in December of 2010 when my disability pension got bumped up and in January of 2011 for our first anniversary, I bought her a different Atomic Clock receiver, from Wal*Mart, a Westclox, though I’m not sure of the exact model number.

I know I frequently talk ill of that marriage but there were some good times, believe it or not.

And I think what was the ultimate ruination of it was brain damage from my then wife’s chronic hydrocephalus that altered her personality and made her so gosh durn mean, so it’s not entirely her fault either, just a very messed up circumstance.

I tried, for years in fact, but there’s only so much a human being can take.

She did indeed enjoy it, though whenever she got angry at me she would give it back to me, but then take it back when she was no longer angry at me.

I used it as well to synchronize my watch and any other clocks that didn’t automatically synchronize itself.

I left her in January of 2018. And I made sure that she kept that clock.

I also gave back to her almost everything she ever gave me, yes even a Weather Radio, which hopefully she still uses.

I moved into my current residence in May of 2018 but for about one hundred days, I stayed with a friend.

On a stormy day in the Summer of 2018, I was shopping with my Dad at Rouse’s and discovered that the Atomic Clock receiver that I initially wanted to give my then-wife as a birthday present almost eight years prior was now on clearance.

I know Rouse’s is primarily a grocer, but they used to sell some pretty neat housewares, electronics, and even flashlights.

Anyway, instead of ~$10, it was now ~$5.

I had a little bit of cash on me, so I happily purchased it.

As previously stated the Atomic Clock receiver is a Datexx DRC-604 and is what this piece will be a review of.

Between January 2018 and the following Summer, I was unable to synchronize my watches or my other clocks with the Atomic time and that did irritate me tremendously. But somehow I managed.

So, I was super happy to have an accurate clock once again.

It’s not the best of Atomic Clock receivers, but I’d like to think it gets the job done.

There are three major strikes against it:

This clock only works in the Continental United States.

It is difficult to properly set.

AND

It has a difficult time acquiring the signal, even when placed by a window.

Still, it manages to accurately keep time and it synchronizes every morning with the Atomic Clock in Fort Collins, Colorado.

I especially like how it is efficient on batteries, which it runs on two AAA Alkalines and will run for at least a year before needing them to be changed.

Other features are:
Time Zone Setting.
Month, Date, and Day of the Week.
Two Separate Alarms that can be independently turned on or off.
Moon Phase.
Indoor Thermometer.
Bold Faced Clock indicating Hour, Minute, Second, and AM or PM.
Green LED Backlight activated by pressing the Snooze Button.

My biggest complaint is that I wish it could update more often and that it didn’t have such a hard time acquiring the signal but maybe it has a hard time because of all the electrical noise associated with modern technology and apartment dwelling.

Other than that, it has a plethora of nice features and it eventually does get the right time.

My main reason for owning this is so I can properly synchronize my watch and other non-automatic clocks to the most accurate time possible.

By the way, I give this product a 4.45 out of 5 stars, because of the issues with settings, frequency of synchronization, and reception issues.

I suppose this, therefore, concludes my review of the Datexx DRC-604.

I hope you, the reader, have been informed and entertained.

May God richly bless you!

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