[time-nuts] Chronometer contest sponsored by IEEE Spectrum

[Chuck Harris]

Hi Said,

It never ceases to amaze me what a creative mind
can come up with!

Be sure that you keep the temperature extremes down to
something that would be comfortable to your skin.

And reading the watch face might be one of those minor
details that kills the project.

-Chuck Harris

SAIDJACK at aol.com wrote:

> Hi guys,
>  
> no one should have to open their $xxx expensive writswatch without the  
> proper equipment. I have a watch that I gave to a less than exemplary  watchmaker, 
> and he actually managed to scratch the back significantly trying to  open it.
>  
> Us time-nuts should have better ways to do this!
>  
> Here is my proposal:
>  
> How about designing a thermal enclosure with Peltiers that can both heat  the 
> inside and cool it. It could look like one of those automatic high-end  
> watch-movers for mechanical watches.
>  
> Then design an electronic camera system that reads the face of the watch,  
> determines the time-offset, and adjusts the temperature inside the oven to  pull 
> or push the watches' crystal as needed to compensate for any drift that  
> happened on the previous day.
>  
> Every night when the watch is placed into the unit, it get's calibrated by  
> having the oven raise or lower the temperature as appropriate. The software  
> could even adjust for the next day's expected drift by advancing or retarding  
> the time as appropriate..
>  
> Doesn't seem too difficult to build.
>  
> Of course setting the trimmer so that the watch is as accurate as possible  
> would help this contraption by having to work less hard to pull the watch.
>  
> bye,
> Said