Watson W-8681 Solar

[JohnF]

Alan for your info. I have used some ductape to hold the solar panel at right angles to the antenna. The spigot of the solar panel fits into the socket with just enough overlap to hold it in place in that position Now I have a signal in daylight which I did not have before so the idea works.
Cheers
John

[JohnF]

Now that the receiving antenna is correctly orientated to the German clock the receiver has shown a lock 24/7.
I lost the Lux/UV reading on the screen but a change of batteries cured that.
Regards
John

[AllyCat]

Hi John,

Thanks for the information.

I lost the Lux/UV reading on the screen but a change of batteries cured that.

Which batteries were those, in the transmitter unit? If so, were they "rechargeable alkaline" supplied with the station? Did you try "resynchronising" the receiver first (press the <down arrow> button on the console for 4 seconds)? Or the reset button on the solar unit?

I ask because the batteries in a similar model which I installed were "low" (LCD icon on and measured low voltage) within three months, yet with solar charging I would expect at least 3 years. I'm wondering if there is a design or manufacturing defect with these units (or the batteries).

Cheers, Alan.

[JohnF]

Hi Alan
The batteries that were in the transmitter unit were not the rechargeables that came with the unit but some others I had.
I had given the original batteries a long charge, checked them with a meter and they were fully charged. So those are what I am using now. The ones I removed from the transmitter were quite flat. We have had grey skies here for some days so I don't know if that is why the batteries went flat?
After I replaced the batteries I pressed the down arrow on the console and all readings came alive - and still are
We'll see how long the supplied batteries last now.
Regards
John