[time-nuts] Watches

[Max Robinson]

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

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----- 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)
>
>
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