I have a love/hate relationship with these atomic clocks from LA CROSSE. I must have gone through a dozen of them.The good:They keep accurate time. You cannot get more accurate than a radio controlled clock. The newer model is called ATOMIC CLOCK, the older model is called RADIO CONTROLLED (see picture). I am a day-trader and I need the accuracy.The bad:1. LA CROSSE clocks tick loud enough to hear. I don't like audible clocks. BRAUN clocks don't tick and they are accurate. I love them, but they have their own shortcomings (I don't know if I have a review for them on Amazon.)2. An ordinary battery lasts only about 6 months. The manual says that Alkaline batteries last for two years. I must try it--I don't stock alkaline batteries but it might be worth the extra cost if it lasts 4 times as long.The Ugly:Pay attention. I am writing this for your benefit. If you think you will pop in a cell and have the clock do the rest, you have another think coming. You have to follow a ritual (for several days sometimes) to get them to work.1. Start with a brand-new alkaline battery. It's worth the cost.2. Plug in the battery. The clock will come alive--one or both hands will start moving. Usually they will move and stop at the 12 o'clock position (or sometimes the 4 o'clock position.) There it will wait till it can capture a radio signal from Radio Station WWVB, in Fort Collins, CO. My signal is notoriously feeble and I have to place the clock upstairs till it catches the signal, sometimes a couple of nights later.The old clocks would stay at the 12 o'clock position until it captured the radio signal (as shown in the picture). But that is unsettling. So, the company redesigned the capture ritual in the newer clocks. If it cannot capture the signal in the first ten minutes, it will start moving WITH THE WRONG TIME. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RESET THE CLOCK TO THE CORRECT TIME. Give it time, sometimes as long as 5 nights. Both situations are shown in the picture.3. Once the clock latches onto the signal, it will not let go. You can now place it anywhere in the house. But wait! There is a caveat. The clock will adjust the time to the time-zone you will set by pushing one of four buttons PT/MT/CT/ET on the back of the clock. You push the time-zone button as soon as you insert the battery. Otherwise, you get the time from another time zone. You then have to push the right time-zone button. No big deal, but it's a nuisance. The newer clocks have a slider instead of push buttons and the slider stays in place. I like that. The old clocks had Daylight Savings Time programmed in by default, but the newer ones have a mechanical slider switch to set the DST.When daylight savings occurs, the clock will automatically reset itself. BUT, the next day or so, it will go berserk till it can recapture the revised signal. The NIST signal from Colorado is notoriously weak. There is nothing you or the company can do about it. It is recommended that you stay 6 feet away from electrical equipment (cordless phones, routers, TVs, microwaves, baby monitors, etc.) In my experience, once the clock latches onto a signal, it will not let go. So, stay away from noise sources when it is in capture mode. Then you can place it (almost) anywhere you like.Why do I put up with the startup ritual of atomic clocks? Because I'm a day-trader and I need the accuracy. Also, from now on I will stock high-powered alkaline batteries and see it it makes a difference. If you live in a radio hole, you can push the SET button, and use the clock as a regular clock. But the protocol for setting it is not straight-forward and I have never had to use it.