[time-nuts] Non electrical time-nuttery

[Bob Camp]

Hi

A pendulum in a vacuum clock is nothing to look down at. They are amazingly stable. Lots of machine work to build one from scratch, even if you use an off the shelf vacuum pump. Of course they are not purely mechanical. I'd hate to think about making a wind up vacuum pump ....

If I remember correctly without the vacuum, pressure and pressure / temperature effects get to you pretty fast.

Bob


On Jan 9, 2010, at 2:07 PM, Lux, Jim (337C) wrote:

> OK.. So we're moving back in electrical technology....
> But what about mechanical?  Could modern technology get a substantial (>order of magnitude) improvement over 19th century chronometers (either pendulum or balance wheel or whatever).  I know there's some really good quartz fiber torsional spring schemes, but I think they still need electrical means to keep them moving and to read it out.
> 
> So how good can one do with a mechanical, hydraulic, (or chemical, I suppose) system?  Let's assume it has to have a "direct" readout that is human readable by a causal bystander.  (this starts to sound like the 10,000 year clock or whatever it is..)
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