15

Its illegal to chop the plug off the end of a cord and reterminate it if you are not licensed to do so.

Ria your biggest concern as stated earlier is the frequency. A device built to run a clock on 60Hz will not be accurate on a 50 Hz supply. this doesn't matter too much for toasters/hairdryers etc. but given you will want this particular alarm clock to be accurate, you need to convert 120V 60Hz to 240V 50hz.
It will be cheaper to just buy something in australia, unless you want a transformer/frequency convertor sitting by your bed.

16

I found one that might be ok but I'm not sure if it's the right kind.

17

Ria, just trying to confirm to you if it does change the frequency from 60Hz to 50 Hz.....
otherwise your clock will run slow or fast (i can't remember which way right now).

18

I'm looking for a few travel things right now, If I see one, I'll let you know, but it looks like it outputs 50Hz also which will work for just about everything, that doesn't need or keep time.

However when I looki at the specs, it looks like it will output 110V but also at 50Hz, which if you use this will mean your clock will be out everyday. Not sure if my maths is spot on, but for every 60 minutes, your clock on this adaptor will only tick 50 minutes.

19

I might be a bit dense but what happens to the other 10? Do the seconds and minutes go slower or what??

20

@westwood
check out this wiki - under the heading "Long-term stability and clock synchronization"

21

The clock gets its time from the frequency of the AC supply. If it expects a 60 Hz signal, all the electronics inside will be designed for a 60Hz Ac supply. If you feed in a a 50 HZ supply it will all still work but the circuitry is built for 60Hz thus a slow down of time on the clock of (60-50)/60 = 16.66%

Another way of explaining this is the clock is based on say 60 ticks a second. However in Australia it takes 1.16 seconds for 60 clicks to occur (as we only get 50 ticks per second), thus the clock won't change the second count on the display.

Anyway Ria, as the OP to this thread, I don't think you can find an adaptor that is convenient in price and size for your alarm clock. You can spend $50 on the adaptor you found, but i think it will be useless for your alarm clock.

22

A step down transformer doesn't change the frequency of the AC power.

23

(Perth is experiencing very adverse weather, strong cat 2 winds, tornadoes, lashing rains and frightening lighting. There were power outtages and in my area longest power outtage lasted 19 hrs.) Out of boredom, I looked at the "Philips Wake Up Light" again and would like to post more complications.

This device works with two motors rather than one!
One motor provides 'time' which is dependent of cycle of current.
A second stepping motor drives a rheostat which controls resistance causing the light to go from dim to bright and from bright to dim. This device is also dependent on cycle but less critical than the device providing time.

A third complication is the light globe.
Not all energy saving light globes are 'dimmable'. there are sepcial electronics within dimmable globes which tolerates/respond to changes in amp due to increase in resistance in the rheostat thus the dimming effect.

IF light dimming is not controlled using rudimentary 'rheostat' than the electronic version is more complex and likely to be cycle and voltage dependent.

OP, have you consider giving up on the idea of using the US version and source the Aussie version in Australia.

24

I thought the problem was that Ria couldn't find one in Aus..?

but just had a look and we can get them in NZ, and surely one that works here would work fine in Aus.

25

Travelling bands and exhibitions sometimes have problems with US lights brought over so maybe exhibition firms or music equipment places can help.