CANADUINO DCF77 Atomic Clock Receiver Module 77.5kHz for Europe

Note: Schematic and dimensions are of the new version V3 but photographs and documents are still of version V2.

CANADUINO Atomic Clock AM Receiver module V3 for 60kHz and 77.5kHz is the most advanced and best-equipped AM Atomic Clock Receiver module for DIY projects available today.

We designed this product around the awesome receiver chip from Micro Analog Systems (Finland). This module is in particular designed for use with microcontrollers in an operating voltage range of 2 to 15V, and standard logic levels 3.3 / 5V.

The kit includes a better quality, fine-tuned 77.5kHz antenna with a Q-factor of at least 100.

This module can be used to receive the atomic clock signal transmitted by:
– DCF77 (Germany)

The advantages compared to other modules:
– wide operating voltage range 2* to 15V
– 60 mm tuned high-gain, high-Q antenna
– current consumption <100µA (LEDs off)
– super high sensitivity of 0.4V (RMS)
– power down control pin
– fast start-up
– AGC control on/off

This kit needs some soldering. Crystal, antenna, and pin header are not assembled for more flexible use. So is it possible to use a different crystal and different antenna, for example for a 40kHz setup for Japan, or a DCF77 setup for Europe.

If you don’t want to develop your own project, you can find many projects online, using 60kHz atomic clock receiver.

From Arduino data logger to Nixie Tube clocks. There are also libraries for Arduino IDE and other development sources online.

We highly recommend reading the official Wikipedia article about DCF77 time signal.

Download a detailed datasheet for the MAS6180C receiver IC.

Documentation CANADUINO Atomic Clock Receiver Kit

See the craziest DCF77 Atomic Clock project ever: Arduino DCF77 Analyzer Clock MK2 from oliverb on Hackster.io

Documentation for the old model is available here.

* The module will work as expected with a voltage of as low as 2V. But the LEDs might not work as expected. We recommend a minimum voltage of 3V.

Note: We are still working on updating the pictures and documentation for the V3 module. Currently, version V2 is still shown.