Horological Meandering

alas if you get your time off of your mobile phone, you might not understand this obsession, but it comes from the saying "man who has two watches never knows what time it is" I resolved to solve this problem, with a "atomic clock" that turned out to be e...  

An impressive clock to say the least!

It could be our PST. Purists Standard Time! What a setup! Thanks for sharing.

... but I am happy enough with my SEIKO Quartgz Astron, which is rated 10 sec per year. Since my purchase several maonths ago, I check often with the internet time.gov , it hasn't divereted even a half second. And that is my reference "clock" for my watch... 

Hi Ken, Yes, you are right there is another way to use the term master clock . It also appears in a studio for recording or broadcasting. However now we are talking about master clocks that run equipment as opposed to the ones I described earlier which ar... 

I have modified all my digital equipments to accept single clock signal from the handmade master clock (not by me, though) so that each equipment runs on single clock signal. Note that the clock does not have to be accurate like Astron for this applicatio... 

I used to work in a broadcast station, a post production studio and the audio mixing room. Let me try to give a simple explanation to our reader why do we need all there crazy equipment. The purpose of having a 'master clock' although in the industry we o... 

This is the reason why you come to a forum like this! Awesome! I learnt something and you may have just inspired me to make contraption that wont work J.

Nice setup, I use to run a similar system. A friend of mine did some work at NIST on their Quantum Logic Clock. It takes something like 3.5 billion years before it'll lose or gain 1 second. That is a time keeping system I can get behind.

I am only slightly familiar with Master Clocks and their purpose, but my question concerns yours in particular. The correction signal comes from GPS satellites...but what is the 'escapement' in the unit itself? 'normal' quartz? Temp compensated quartz? Or... 

Not sure about the ESE unit cazalea has but the time servers I've managed in the past used a rubidium oscillators to maintain accuracy for several months in case of a GPS outage.

Got some reading and comprehending to do now.

Here's the answer: The normal radio-controlled clock queries the NIST RADIO signal once a night, usually 2-4am. It uses that signal to correct itself. It does this once a day (to save battery life) and doesn't care if it misses a day or three. In my case,... 

So the internal quartz is beating away at whatever frequency, with constant correction by comparing signals from GPS satellites. So in essence this is actually timed from the Rubidium oscillators (that romanv mentions above) that the GPS satellites carry.... 

I've been thinking about doing that. Especially since the time I found out that radio controlled clocks are not that entirely relable. Now I use two for reference + streming from the interne,t just to be dead shure when Im setting The time of my mechanica... 

and I am going to have to re-read your post to make sure I got everything straight. Best regards, George

cheers PAt

The men in white suits are coming for you as we speak. They have a nice padded cell waiting for you. By the way, this cell has 50 embedded wall clocks ALL showing different times. Regards, Richard.

Thank you for sharing it with me and showing me a possiblity as to how it can be done! Cheers Stephen

Wow! And my wife always rolls her eyes when I time my pieces (and hers) to the time.gov or emerald time app on the iphone! What a setup and thanks for the detailed info. This leads to another discussion during our lunch at Arry's with Dr. No. With wat... 

I still wonder where I could put this kind of stuff at my home, where I don't even find a place for an hyopthetic Atmos. Best, Nicolas. This message has been edited by amanico on 2011-04-06 08:45:12

for all the satellite clock displays. Remember now I have to find a way to place them everywhere in rooms without ruining the house decor... a much harder task!

No message body

I envy your setup. You took precision to a new level. Just when I was so happy with an app for my iPhone (Emerald Time - is free) that averages the time of four NTP time servers!! Cheers

I'll have to a review of my new Bulova Precisionist one of these days, spot on after a week. A quartz without thermo-compensation, just high frequency accuracy. Makes me wonder how long the battery will last. Thanks for the 'atomic' timeout, very cool...i... 

Congratulations - a fantastic set up. I am in full obsessive respect of your set up! It might be fun if you could tap that internal oscillator to show you fractions of a second; say a run-up in hundredths...but then what is the best method to sync analog ... 

I can't wait to show this to my wife, so that she knows that I am not NEARLY as crazy as some others. Of course, she knows about this forum, and will simply pool all of us together as being equally obsessed. thanks for the post, can't wait to hear your ne... 

That is awesome! I set my watches to a computer, and will wait until the seconds hit zero in order to synch up as accurately as possible. My wife makes fun of me constantly, but now I can show her this to prove I am not as nuts as she thinks. Very cool, a... 

and can warehoused with current hi-fi system and disguise them as hifi equipment!! if i am looking for time and date accurancy, but not to the fanatical level as you, and have space for just one "stack", with a budget not exceeding usd1500....what should ... 

i find a website with atomic time specific to my postcode is accurate enough for me, but i'm not in your league Mike. if thats your time telling kit i dont want to see your audio equipment have fun G

Although I use this MIH-powered tube amp at times, I normally rely on Luxman components, Klipsch speakers, and my iPods Mike This message has been edited by cazalea on 2011-04-07 16:58:56...  

LOL!! like i said, your insane G...  

but in a good, obsessive way.