[time-nuts] Watches

Chuck Harris cfharris at erols.com
Sun Dec 2 00:39:56 EST 2007


Yes, it could, but it would probably be more work than it would be worth.
There are timing machines available that do just that.

I still use one of those old machines, a Vibrograf B100.  It is full of
miniature tubes, and still works great.

I use a coil of wire with a hundred or so turns, and a capacitor
to resonate.  I connect it to the input of a vertical amp plug in on my
scope, and trigger the scope with a HP3336B.

-Chuck Harris

Max Robinson wrote:
> I once saw one of the original machines used for adjusting balance wheel 
> watches.  It used an audio frequency tuning fork oscillator and a series of 
> count downs to drive a drum at the rate the watch ticked.  The watch was 
> placed on top of a microphone that picked up its ticks and caused a pen to 
> ink a paper chart on the drum.  The pen moved along the axis of the drum at 
> a constant rate.  The slope of the line showed how many seconds a watch 
> would gain or loose in 24 hours.  I wonder if you could use an induction 
> coil to pick up the 32678 Hz from the quartz oscillator and trim it up. 
> Only in an older watch, I guess.
> 
> Regards.
> 
> Max.  K 4 O D S.
> 
> Email: max at maxsmusicplace.com
> 
> Transistor site http://www.funwithtransistors.net
> Vacuum tube site: http://www.funwithtubes.net
> Music site: http://www.maxsmusicplace.com
> 
> To subscribe to the fun with tubes group send an email to,
> funwithtubes-subscribe at yahoogroups.com
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Didier Juges" <didier at cox.net>
> To: "'Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement'" 
> <time-nuts at febo.com>
> Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 9:17 AM
> Subject: [time-nuts] Watches
> 
> 
>> I believe watchmakers have a device they use to measure the vibration from
>> the stepper motor or the escape mechanism and indicate if the watch gains 
>> or
>> looses time. I am not sure how accurate that system is, and if something
>> equivalent is in use on crystal watches.
>>
>> Chuck, can you tell us?
>>
>> My son's Bulova was at the repair shop for something like 3 months
>> (August-November, I got it back last week) for what I initially thought 
>> was
>> a dead battery (the watch was erratic). The watchmaker said a capacitor 
>> had
>> to be replaced (did not ask which, I assumed it was the trimmer 
>> capacitor).
>> He further said the factory sent the wrong capacitor 3 times, after which 
>> he
>> decided to replace the entire movement instead, hence the 3 months and $60
>> repair (after discount).
>>
>> I am not sure if my son's watch is crystal controlled or some other 
>> system,
>> I know some Bulovas used to use a mechanical tuning fork resonator
>> (Accutron?) His watch is only 2 or 3 years old.
>>
>> Didier
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com
>>> [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Harris
>>> Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 8:45 AM
>>> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
>>> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Chronometer contest sponsored by
>>> IEEE Spectrum
>>>
>>> Hi Max,
>>>
>>> I haven't seen a quartz watch with a trimmer capacitor in
>>> something like 20 years.
>>>
>>> What they do now days is use a microprocessor with flash ram,
>>> and the timing machine reprograms the microprocessor's second
>>> counter to trip at the right time.
>>>
>>> -Chuck Harris (amateur watchmaker)
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
>> To unsubscribe, go to 
>> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>> and follow the instructions there.
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.12/1163 - Release Date: 
>> 12/1/2007 12:05 PM
>>
>>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.
> 



More information about the time-nuts mailing list