Try moving it to near a window or an outside wall (non aliminum sided).

It may take a few hours, or overnight to lock onto the signal.

It worked. I moved the clock four feet to an outside wall and the icon came back in abut 18-24 hours.

Now -- why -- why would it hang there on an inside wall for 11 months with an icon, then lose it's icon for several weeks, and the icon returns when the clock is moved four feet?

"Or is the battery about to go or some such?"

or the battery is a little low after 11 MONTHS :)

Maybe it is the inside/outside wall thing. It lasted for another three months on an inside wall with no "radio" icon but the other features working. I moved it four feet to the outside wall Friday, got the icon back and last night it incremented to Daylight Savings Time.

Curious how four feet can make a difference.

4 feet can make a 'no-bar' to 'three-bar' difference on my cell phone around metal structures and rock formations.

I just talked to a friend who has a wrist watch that has to left in a window for several hours before it will pick up the signal and switch to daylight silly time.

My clock has a temperature display connected wirelessly to a remote outside thermometer. That works all the time. Some wireless signals do get through several walls.

Back about the 7th of March I moved the clock to a window and the radio signal icon returned and the clock reset itself and I moved it back to the wall and the radio signal icon disappeared.

Sometime last week the radio signal icon reappeared.

I wonder, could atmospheric conditions have anything to do with this?

Well, the original batteries and without moving it around or anything, it worked last night.

Curious and, perhaps, interesting.

FWI, update: the inside batteries last about three years and failure is visible, the display fades.

The outside batteries last only about one winter and fail suddenly - the transmission stops abruptly.

The radio icon disappears for several hours to several days from time to time.

Atmospherics, batteries or perhaps new construction nearby has affected the signal?

Radio is a funny animal. Perhaps a neighbour has parked (or moved) an RV - someone had a chainlink (quite a good aerial) fence which they replaced with wood?

All of this has a bearing on it.

I'm in British Columbia and have wondered for some time if we can receive these signals because I like my clocks to be accurate...or if we have our own repeaters here.

The time transmissions are at a very very long wavelength - 60 khz (compare to 540 - 1750 khz AM broadcast band.) At such a low frequency, the signals are easily interfered with. Noisy light dimmers, electric motors with bad brushes, cheap fluorescent lights, metal siding on your house, metal mesh in stucco, radiant barrier in your roof, and so on, all take their toll.

So most of these clocks listen for the signal in the middle of the night - when electrical interference is at a minimum. It is also the best time of day for low frequency radio propagation from Colorado - where the transmitter is located. Some will try once, at, say, 1:00 AM. Others may try several times per night in order to get success.

This is why the instructions say to place the clock near a window (no metal) and wait overnight (lower electrical noise, plus that is when they are designed to listen for the signal.)

It is usually not a problem if it misses a few nights. Cheap quartz clocks usually have an accuracy of about 10-15 seconds per month, so the time doesn't drift very quickly. It is kind of a pain when the DST switch happens, and it takes a couple of days for the clock to notice.

Also, if it has been a couple of years since the battery was changed, a fresh battery might be a good thing to try.

Good suggestions. I also suspect the removal and reinsertion of batteries will force the clock to seek the signal.

Eight years have passed and I don't remember ever having an ''atomic clock'' whatever that may be. February 2013 I did a nine day stretch in the hospital, died once. Will that sort of thing cause one to forget one's clock?

Hey Albert, this is probably far out of line for an internet home forum but I think it would be a good idea to get a cognitive function assessment from your doctor. Forgetting you had the clock is one thing, whatever. But your statement that it's been eight years...well, actually it's been 11 years since your original post. And losing track of the passage of time is another little warning tick.

From one internet stranger to another, it wouldn't be a bad idea to mention it. <3