Observatory: The perfect observatory clock?

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I think I have finally found a perfect observatory clock after searching endlessly online:

 A relatively inexpensive, LED, wall mounted plate ~ 30 x 12cm, in black plastic. With large, 2" high, illuminated, red batten numerals and seconds indication.

Intended for public spaces like lecture theaters and classrooms, it runs on 5VDC from a mains wallwart. A DIY battery pack would be an ideal option to avoid having mains running constantly to keep the clock to time. I don't wear a watch any more and an unlit dial is just a complete waste of space in the dark. I hope to have the clock delivered in the next couple of days. Images and details to follow.

Now take a deep breath: Monday morning: I check the tracking for my clock parcel. For some reason the stockist had changed my postcode to another 30km away with the same street address but added a different village name! So I rang the parcel service and told them of the situation. They told me to contact my supplier. So I rang the supplier who said they would send an email to the parcel delivery company.

Since this freight company couldn't deliver, because the imaginary customer wasn't at home, they delivered it to the nearest parcel collection point. Still 30km from my home address for which service I had paid £10 equivalent for home delivery. Then I received the confirmation by both SMS and email that the parcel was waiting for me 30km away. Nice! So much for contacting two customer services.

What to do? Wait for another two, or more, days while they collected the parcel and resorted it to the correct delivery address? Still with the wrong village name and still with the wrong postcode and therefor very likely to be wrongly delivered ad infinitum.

So I rang the parcel collection point to confirm it was still there and then drove the first half of the 60k round trip to pick it up. To find that the staff had changed and they knew nothing of my earlier phone call.

I now have my clock at home but my camera can't cope and just shows bright orange-white numerals. The true colour is a very even, bright blood red with flashing colons. I'll try photographing it again in daylight tomorrow.

Somebody overlooked the fact that you can set the hours and minutes but you can't set the seconds. They keep changing whatever I do. Guess what? The clock doesn't stop when the 5V power supply is switched off. So I can't even reset the seconds by switching it off. Grr?

Further experimentation with the three setting buttons suggested there is a brief pause in the seconds while the minutes are being advanced on Button 'B' but this probably requires a 12 hour advance. Am I having fun yet? The numerals are actually 1.75" high so I was almost correct with my scale guesswork from the manufacturer's sales image.

The Maker's name is Manutan [of France] but the clocks are really made in China. The French website claims a 10 year guarantee but there was no paperwork to that effect in the box. Simply a multi-language instructions sheet.

Obviously intended to hang from a wall thanks to two large recesses on the back. Raised, perimeter studs on the back allow the PS cable to reach the socket without pushing the clock untidily off the wall.

The online cost was about £45 equivalent in Denmark plus postage, plus hair loss, plus petrol for 40 miles of unnecessary travel and numerous phone calls. I quite like the clock. A lot. I just hope it doesn't mind being frozen during the long Danish winters. The PS says "indoor use only." Is an unheated shed considered normal use?

I unplugged the PS overnight and discovered that it restarted to the same second when matched with the Windows clock. There must be a hidden battery somewhere inside to keep the chip running. It might be fun to convert it to read LST instead of "normal" time but I missed that class.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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