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Reviews For: Chelsea radio room clock

Category: Ham Shack Clocks

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Review Summary For : Chelsea radio room clock
Reviews: 7MSRP: 200
Description:
The quintessential radio shack timekeeper of the Coast Guard, Navy, Merchant
Marine, for both shipboard as well as shore station. Special dial indicating
internationally observed silent periods on 500khz distress/calling frequency.
Product is in production
More Info: http://chelseaclock.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
1574.9
W9LBB Rating: 2023-02-16
A nostalgic bit of Old School radio hardware Time Owned: more than 12 months.
These clocks are a great piece of history, especially the WW2 and earlier versions. The prewar and wartime produced ones were denoted by not having the green silent period markings for 2182 KHz (00 - 03 and 30 - 33 minutes after the hour) voice distress frequency that the postwar versions got.

These clocks, like the myriad other military clocks that Chelsea produced during and for some years after WW2, were based on the robust Chelsea Type 12E movement, and were all fitted with jeweled bearings. The only differences between the various military clocks was (A) the faces, and (B) the gearing, which could be for 12 or 24 hour per face revolution, which can be changed by substituting one gear in the train.

These old war horses were well designed, quality built devices that were built to LAST. If you get hold of one and take care of it, this clock is still gonna be ticking away long after YOU'RE part of the ground system!

Mine is marked as made by M. Low. The Max Low Co. was a wartime subcontractor in New York City that Chelsea used to assemble some of their clocks to fulfill military contracts. Some clocks may have been marked as being made by another NYC subcontractor, Negus.

A lot of the clocks with silvered faces were produced for the US Maritime Administration, and wound up being issued as standard equipment used in the construction of the Liberty ships.

My radio room clock, just like my old US Army Message Center Clock M2, just keeps on ticking away, year after year, and keeps accurate time (within +/- 30 seconds a week for mine).

The prices on the originals just keep creeping upward these days; the radio room clocks are a rather scarce version, produced in relatively small numbers, and the clock collectors out there are pushing the prices steadily upward.
W8BYH Rating: 2019-12-13
A Great Tie Back To Our Radio History Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I own several Chelsea clocks from their Patriot line and they are all great. The Patriot series use German made quartz movements and have proven to be very accurate, keeping to +/- 1 minute over a six month period. The current radio room clock from Chelsea is marked out with both the HF and VHF silent periods. The black phenolic case these clocks come in are the same cases that Chelsea used for the clocks it provided on US military contracts for radio room, message center and deck clocks. Because of the manufacturing process and the fact that the cases are fiber reinforced the cases can look a little 'rough', but they are 100% waterproof so if you need to mount one of these in your personal submarine radio room, you are good to go :-)

One reviewer commented about the need to completely remove the movement from the case to set the time or change battery. Yes, this is true. Again, the case is completely waterproof, so having to pull the movement is not an unreasonable task given the nature of this clock. I'm guessing a quality battery should last at least a year, maybe more, so it's not that big of a deal.

Could Chelsea make some improvements? Yes. The battery holder is weak and I imagine that if you used this clock aboard ship (or on your land yacht) it is possible for the battery to pop out of the holder. Chelsea really needs to work with the movement manufacturer to incorporate a better battery holder. Next, the clock face is brushed aluminum and the reflection off the bright metal can make the clock difficult to read from some angles. I'd much prefer that they put down a white background before adding the numbers and silent period markings.

While the clock may seem expensive, with an average street price of $150, it does represent a unique and authentic piece of our radio history. I've contacted Chelsea to see if they could produce a replica of the old US Army Message Center clock to give us old Army guys some representation. They said they'd think about it...
KA5HIA Rating: 2018-10-09
Old & New models Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Chelsea Clock, based in Boston has produced the excellent mechanical spring radio room clock, for a number of years. They are now true collectors items. If you have one and use it regularly...you must have it properly serviced (by a clock smith who understands the Chelsea movement, etc.) BTW....this service is not inexpensive, but will ensure the clock will run properly, etc.

Chelsea...now offers a newer version....with the historic phenolic case and a quartz movement. This is the Patriot Deck clock series. They are available in both 8.5 and 6 inch sizes, with white or black faces. The Radio Room version.....has the white face, with the red and green silent / quiet times indicated (the 6" version is currently $150.) The also have a matching barometer. These have a quartz movement, do not strike and are not as expensive as the mechanical version (they bring a premium price $$.) But, the Patriot Series Deck Clocks.....are made by Chelsea and look great in the shack. fyi......
WC3O Rating: 2014-03-17
Nice Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Nice clock. Keeps good time. I wish the housing was a little nicer. It is just black plastic. To set the time there is no adjustment on the back. You need to remove the clock face plate to access the time adjust knob. I thought those two items could be improved. Other than that, nice clock, keeps accurate time. Looks great in the shack.
KK8ZZ Rating: 2012-03-12
History Revisited Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I was fortunate to have received this Chelsea radio room masterpiece from my staff upon the occasion of my retirement in January. It brought to mind long nights in an US Army radio shelter running encrypted RTTY nets over 40 years ago (I know, it's a maritime clock, but the history is there....) There is a real sense of history in this precision device, and I feel fortunate indeed to have it here in my ham radio shack.
KD6HUC Rating: 2011-04-26
Museum piece Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This was a gift to the radio room aboard the Lightship Columbia(WLV-604).Of course there was a perfect spot to mount it as there was once one on the boat before it was decommissioned and some scoundrel made off with it! The Lightship radio room is now active with the callsign W7BU and it is great to have such a fine piece of radio history in the shack again in it's rightful location! I am bestowed with the honor of winding it every Tuesday as that's the day I operate. Visitors to Astoria Oregon are welcome to come take a gander for yourself. it's located at 1792 Marine Drive in Astoria Oregon. Just look for the old boat that has Columbia in big white letters tied to the dock:)
KE7TPA Rating: 2011-01-23
Beloved time keeper Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Having spent 20 years in the Coast Guard as a radioman, this clock represents all the fond memories of the countless hours monitoring 500 khz......waiting to hear the call...SOS. In fact one evening on watch at NMW (Radio station Astoria, Oregon) I was the 500 khz op when a small Coast Guard vessel had taken a wave at the mouth of the Columbia river, and capsized, trapping 3 crewman inside as it remained afloat for several hours. I sent a DDD SOS right at the end of the silent period, using this clock to time the beginning of my message to all mariners. The 3 minute periods between 15-18 and 45-48 were to remind the operator to observe complete silence and listen for the faint SOS. We sometimes forgot, and if we did, someone always reminded us with a friendly "SP". Since leaving the Coast Guard, I have been on the lookout for a nice specimen for my shack. I finally found one, and will cherish it more than any other piece of gear in my shack. These pop up from time to time in varying states of condition. Chelsea will restore any of their clocks, but it can be quite expensive to re-silver a dial and rebuild the clock mechanism. An alternative is to buy one of their quartz versions at just under $200. This version has the green silent periods for the 2182khz international distress frequency as well. For me this is the only clock I will maintain in my shack. You have to wind her once a week, but she keeps pretty darn good time and with a WWV time tick at the beginning of my "watch", she's on the money. Forget the cheap imitations, get the real deal and search for one these gems. You will love it. 73 John/KE7TPA