Nick Daniels Use the washer and nut to secure the mechanism to the clock face. the mechanism comes with a "nail" in a "pin hole" in the back. This locks the mechanism so you stick the hands on pointing as close as you can to 12 o'clock then remove the "pin" or "nail" and insert the battery. The hands will rotate around through a complete cycle hopefully ending back at 12:00. After about 5 minutes the clock will start running. Eventually, usually overnight, it finds the time signal (WWVB 60 KHz) and sets the correct time. Make sure you set the switches at the back for the proper time zone (PMCE pacific, mountain, central or eastern standard) and daylight savings (On Off). Press the reset button (the equivalent of removing and reinserting the battery) the hands will rotate back to 12, you can re-insert the pin to fine adjust the placement of the hands if needed. Press and hold the M Set button (manual set) and the clock can be moved manually to the correct time and the clock will operate without the radio. Press and hold the REC button seems to be the same as pressing "reset", the hands rotate to "12" and the clock will again start looking for the radio signal. Hope this helps...