E, I, S, F, G -- what can it mean??

[Rooster_Ties]

OK, so I've got this really cheap travel alarm clock -- an "Atomic Clock" that can get its time from Colorado (or broadcast from some such place).

But you can also set it manually (which is good, cuz it often takes 24 hours before the signal from Colorado is received, for whatever reason).

So I'm setting the clock manually (which I've owned for years, but long ago lost the instructions for), and in the cycle of settings, I can't figure out what the last setting refers to. Here's the cycle...

1) 12 hr / 24 hr mode

2) Hour (1-12 or 1-24)

3) Minute (00-59)

4) year (2002 and up)

5) month (1-12)

6) day (1-31) -- from which it automatically gets the correct day of the week

7) "F" or "C" (temperature units of measure display, yeah it has a thermometer in it too)

8) "E", "I", "S", "F", "G" ???????????

What in the devil does the last setting stand for?? What setting/feature does it set?? And what do those settings stand for??

It's NOT related to time zone, because there's a separate time zone button, which cycles through all four of the U.S. time zones (without changing the internal time of the clock -- it just changes how the time is displayed).

My memory is that the clock automatically (supposedly) changes to Daylight Savings time (and back) from the signal it gets from Colorado (when/if it gets it). So I don't think it's related to that.

I have the strong feeling that the answer is something so obvious that I'll end up looking like the biggest idiot in the entire world when it is finally revealed to me. (In which case, thank god I have the power to delete this thread whole thread! )

I'm hoping it's not so obvious. Anybody know??

It's a pretty cheap clock. No brand name is even written on the thing, it says "made in China", and I think I paid $9 for it in a Walgreens or something like that.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Rooster_Ties

[Big Wheel]

Does the clock display words on it for anything? And have you tried playing with "E, I, F, S, G" to see what happens when you set it? My guess is that it's a language setting: English, Italian, French, Spanish, German. (I know, German speakers would want a D instead of a G and Spanish speakers would want an E instead of an S....but as you said, the thing cost $9.)

Here's a more expensive version: http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp...;id=prod3253526

Note the language selections available.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Big Wheel

[Rooster_Ties]

Yup, that appears to be it.

The name of the day of the week is just a "two letters long" abbreviation, but it does indeed change depending on which (apparently) language I select.

Thanks!!

Edited January 22, 2008 by Rooster_Ties

[Jazzmoose]

What a killjoy; he doesn't even give us time to come up with the usual lame joke responses before he gives the right answer...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I lost the instructions to my current watch about a week after I bought it, perhaps ten years ago. I know which button to press to see the date. I know how to use it as a stopwatch. But buggered if I can remember how to change the date and time! When I travel abroad, or when daylight saving begins or ends here, I just press buttons in random order and eventually, usually after about twenty minutes have been taken out of my life, the seconds start flashing, so I know I've made it into change date & time mode.

But I still don't know how I did it, so it's the same next time.

MG