RED EYE ALARM CLOCK

Red Eye Alarm Clock, retail $24.95 (www.whatonearthcatalog.com...)
Manufactured by Bluesky Designs (www.blueskydesigns.co.uk)
Last updated 07-17-10




(In reference to the package I received from WhatOnEarth at ~2:47pm PDT on 08-13-07):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}
Feels like a flaaaaaash-liiiight...feels like a FLAAAA-aaaash-liiiight!!!
Feels like a flaaaaaash-liiiight...feels like a FL

BREAK IN 32769
READY.
CONT

?OUT OF DATA ERROR IN 49152
READY.
Let's try that again...as soon as I saw the address on the package, I *knew* it wasn't a flashlight...

CONT

?CAN'T CONTINUE ERROR
READY.
LIST

10 POKE53280,15:POKE53281,15:PRINT CHR$(147);
32767 READ A$
32768 PRINT A$
32769 PRINT A$
40960 END
49152 DATA "{b}Feels like a flaaaaaash-liiiight...feels like a {i}FLAAAA-aaaash-{/i}liiiight!!!{/b}"

READY.
49152 DTTA "{b}Feels like an alarrrm clock...feels like an {i}ALLLLLAAAaarm{/i} clock!!!{/b}"
RUN

?SYNTAX ERROR IN 49152
READY.
49152 DATA "{b}Feels like an alarrrm clock...feels like an {i}ALLLLLAAAaarm{/i} clock!!!{/b}"
RUN

Feels like an alarrrm clock...feels like an ALLLLLAAAaarm clock!!!
Feels like an alarrrm clock...feels like an ALLLLLAAAaarm clock!!!

READY.
This is an alarm clock that looks like a little baby airplane, and it has a unique way of telling you the time: it is displayed in red digits on the spinning propeller while airplane motor sounds are produced. A small LCD on the base allows you to see what time it is without having to initiate a propeller start sequence and without the motor noise.

It comes in a plastic body on a stand, and feeds from three AA cells - which are included & already installed for you - so you'll be ready to "fly, fly fly away" (as Seattle Mariners baseball announcer Dave Neihaus would say whenever somebody got a home run) as soon as you remove it from the box.


SIZE



To use the Time Flyer (as it is called in the instructional materials and shown printed on the product's base itself), set the time and alarm (see directly below) first, and THEN you can pretend to be flying high.

To read the time at any time, just look at the LCD (liquid crystal display) on the base. To read the time in subdued lighting, press the large red button on the base marked "ENGINE START". The propeller will begin to turn, and you'll hear the sound of an airplane motor turning over, starting, and running. Approximately three seconds later, the time will appear in red digits in front of the airplane, appearing to float in mid-air. It will be displayed like this for ~15 seconds, then the motor sound will change to the sound of a motor being turned off, the propeller will stop spinning, and the time readout on the propeller will also turn off.

If you want to turn the time display off before the ~15 seconds are up, just press the "ENGINE START" button again.


On the base (below the cockpit) there are three small red buttons.
To set the time, press & release the rightmost button until "ST" is shown on the clock's display, press & release the leftmost button one or more times to advance the hours, and press & release the center button one or more times to advance the minutes.
Then press & release the rightmost button again.

To set the alarm time, press & release the rightmost button until "SA" is shown on the clock's display, press & release the leftmost button one or more times to advance the hours, and press & release the center button one or more times to advance the minutes.
Then press & release the rightmost button again.



To install the batteries, on the underside of the clock is a battery door. Use a small phillips screwdriver to unscrew & remove the screw. Set it aside. Remove the battery door, gently place it on the ground, and kick it into the garden so the hungry, hungry praying mantids will think it's something yummy for their insect tummies and subsequently strike at it...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

If necessary, remove from the compartment & dispose of or recycle the three used AA cells as you see fit.

Insert three new AAA cells into this chamber, orienting each one so its flat-end (-) negative faces a spring for it in its chamber.

Place the battery door back on, screw that screw back in, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad you didn't kick that battery door into the garden with all those hungry, hungry praying mantids now?


Here is what a praying mantis looks like.
I found this guy on the morning of 09-08-06 clinging to the basket of my scooter.

The product has a female receptacle for an AC adapter on the left side of its base. The adapter (not included) must output 4.5 volts DC at 500mA.
Center of plug (+) positive, barrel (-) negative.

***IMPORTANT***
The time & alarm settings will become lost when you change the batteries - even if you're quick.
So you'll need to set the time & alarm again every time the batteries are changed.
This is one reason that you might want to procure an AC adapter for it.



The Red Eye Alarm Clock is not waterproof or drop-resistant; it was meant to be put somewhere and not abused, so I won't throw it against the wall, stomp on it, try to drown it in the toilet bowl or the cistern, run over it, swing it against the concrete floor of a patio, bash it open with a small ball peen hammer in order to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a scanner-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piņata Central), with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, with a "pack-of-cards"-sized instrument that Fergy Fudgehog uses, and the cannoņata (also located at Piņata Central) is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or inflict upon it punishments that flashlights may have inflicted upon them. Therefore, this section of the web page will be significantly more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

O NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Mine has already pooped out (quit functioning), so I cannot finish this evaluation.
The LCD still works, but the LED readout on the propeller no longer displays.
I did not drop, manhandle, or abuse this product in any fashion; I was quite gentle with it actually.
Therefore, because of this failure, that dreadful "" icon will appear next to its listing on this website.
Since this product is not designed to emit light, and is therefore not going to be rated, that dreadful "Zero Stars: Whip Out Your Ding Dong or Sit On the Commode and Uranate On It" rating will not be applied.



Photograph of the LED display; showing the time (2:54pm in this case).


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of its wings when irradiated with a Handheld ~412nm Blu-ray (Violet-Emitting) Laser.



Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of the red body of this product when irradiated with the Yellow DPSS Laser Module.


WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the product displaying the time on its propeller.
This clip is approximately 5.2 megabytes (5,364,118 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twenty five minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.




Video on YourTube showing that this clock has gone to pot.

This clip is approximately 4.956778896736 megabytes (5,138,424 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twenty four minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.

I cannot provide them in other formats, so please do not ask.

The sound of the airplane's motor is audible; the product is designed to do this.





TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased at the What On Earth website on 08-02-07 and was received on the afternoon of 08-13-07.

You can use a wall wart AC adapter (not included) that outputs 4.5 volts DC at 500mA.
Center of plug (+) positive, barrel (-) negative.

Product was made in the China.
A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.

Test unit has already pooped out (quit functioning), so I cannot finish this evaluation.
The LCD still works, but the LED readout on the propeller no longer displays.
I did not drop, manhandle, or abuse this product in any fashion; I was quite gentle with it actually.
Since this product is not designed to emit light, and is therefore not going to be rated, that dreadful "Zero Stars. Whip Out Your {vulgar term for male urinator/inseminator; rhymes with 'wrecker'} or Run to the Lavatory, Sit Down, and Uranate On It!" rating will not be used. I will however, put the "" icon next to its listing on this website.


UPDATE: 08-18-07
The propeller comes off; when the motor is activated, there is no voltage present between the metal shaft and the spring on the side - this tells me the fault is inside the clock itself, rather than in the display (propeller).


UPDATE: 08-18-07
No, you aren't seeing things.
Yes, a same-day update.
After rechecking, I did find voltage where there's supposed to be voltage (between the contact spring and the metal plate surrounding the motor shaft), so the problem indeed appears to be in the propeller.


UPDATE: 08-20-07
I tried several fixes, including "percussive maintenence" on the propeller while it was running, and that failed to fix it. I didn't even note a slight flicker out of the display while I was tapping it with the handle of a folding knife.


UPDATE: 10-05-07
I purchased a replacement on 10-01-07, and it arrived today.
It appears to function as intended.


UPDATE: 06-12-08
The defective unit has been disposed of (primarily because of insufficient space available when we move in mid-July); however I still have the functional one.
Therefore, the dreadful "*" icon has been added next to its listings on this website.


UPDATE: 05-03-09
The clock has pooped out in the same manner as the original did - that is, when the propeller turns, nothing is displayed on it.

Therefore, that dreadful "" icon must now be displayed next to its listings on this website.
The video directly below shows what's going on.

WMP movie (.avi extension) showing that the product has really failed.
This clip is approximately 4.555 megabytes (4,623,706 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twenty three minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.




Video clip on YourTube showing how my poor litle Red Eye Flyer has gone to pot.

This clip is approximately 5.000566342346 megabytes (5,138,424 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twenty five minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.

I cannot provide either one of these videos in other formats, so please do not ask.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.





PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Digital alarm clock
    LAMP TYPE: Red chip-type LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 6
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton to read time; pushbuttons to set time/alarm
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: N/A
    BATTERY: 3xAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER- AND PEE-RESISTANT: No
    SUBMERSIBLE: NO WAY HOZAY!!!
    ACCESSORIES: 3xAA cells, set of stickers for airplane
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Because this product is not intended to emit
    light, the standard "star" rating will not be used.





Red Eye Alarm Clock * www.whatonearthcatalog.com...






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