The JUNGHANS MEGA was "the world's first radio-controlled wristwatch with hands"[1] (analog watch) in 1991. It was produced by the German watchmaker Junghans, who had already introduced a digital watch called Mega 1 to the market in 1990.[2]
Overview
editDescription
editThe Junghans MEGA has a stainless steel case with partially gold-overlay. The white dial with two gold hands and a rectangular LC-display is protected by a circular, scratch-resistant mineral glass. The antenna for receiving the time signal from the DCF77 transmitter in Mainflingen is housed in a leather strap (brown or black) with a folding clasp. The watch is equipped with time zone setting, perpetual calendar (day of the week, date, month), digital second, internal time memory, reception control display, and transmitter call button.[3]
Technical Specifications
edit"The Junghans MEGA watch receives long wave time telegrams (77.5 kHz) from the official German standard ... time signal transmitter DCF77"[4] with a wristband antenna. This allows for Europe-wide reception within a 1,500 km radius.
A time synchronization with the time signal transmitter is performed at 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. In case of reception issues, the synchronization is repeated every hour until 6:00 a.m.[4] This ensures that the time accuracy of Junghans MEGA radio-controlled wristwatches is... 1 second in 1 million years.
The movement is a quartz mechanism of the w605 type with a quartz time base of 32 kHz and a light barrier for hand position control. The power supply comes from a lithium metal battery in the from of a button cell with 3V[4] nominal voltage.
History
editIn 1985, Junghans introduced the first radio-controlled table clock to the market.
By 1990, Junghans engineers had miniaturized this technology to fit into the case of the digital wristwatch MEGA 1. The following year, in 1991, Junghans launched the analog version MEGA with hands.
In 1994, there was "another premiere: Junghans presented the first radio-controlled watch for women."[5].
References
edit- ^ Neuheiten-Katalog 1991/92, Junghans Uhren GmbH at the Wayback Machine (archived February 18, 2022) JUNGHANS UHREN GmbH, Schramberg
- ^ "UHRENGESCHICHTE" (pdf>). junghansarchiv.de/. Junghans Uhren GmbH. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
1990 Market launch of world's first radio-controlled wristwatch, Mega 1
- ^ "JUNGHANS Timely innovation" (pdf>). junghansarchiv.de/. Junghans Uhren GmbH. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ a b c Radio-controlled wrist watch (operating manual). Schramberg: JUNGHANS UHREN GmbH. p. 22 - 30. 42.712-0226/0591.
- ^ Das aktuelle Funkuhren-Programm 1994, Junghans Uhren GmbH at the Wayback Machine (archived February 18, 2022) JUNGHANS UHREN GmbH, Schramberg