[time-nuts] How did they distribute time in the old days?

[Don Couch]

Hi, Brooke,

My self winding clock synchronizes fine on three volts. I built a 
synchronizer using a PIC controller with a 32KHz quartz crystal, running 
on three volts. You might want to carefully check the coil and 
connections on yours. By the way, the winding coils also are running on 
three volts.

Don Couch

On 10/14/2015 11:02 AM, Brooke Clarke wrote:
> Hi Nick:
>
> One of my Self Winding Clock Co. (WU) clocks was taken down yesterday 
> for painting.
> When put up one of the Ken's Clock Synchronizers was installed and the 
> hands moved to align with the heart shaped cam it uses, but it never 
> worked.
> The problem was it used a 4.5 Volt signal which can develop the 
> current needed to pull the sync electromagnet the time constant is far 
> too slow.
> I'm going to add a high voltage circuit with series resistor to get 
> the time constant down one or two orders of magnitude.  The key to 
> this is a PCB I make that holds 5 each 9V batteries connected in 
> series, so I'll use one, two or more of them to get the time constant 
> down.
> http://www.prc68.com/P/45VS.html
>
> Before I had the 45 Volt Stick I was considering getting the needed 
> high voltage by charging a cap a minute or two before the top of the 
> hour and discharging it through a resistor.  Here's a video showing 
> that would work.
> http://www.prc68.com/I/SWCC.shtml#Experiments_Feb_2014_
>
> Mail_Attachment --
> Have Fun,
>
> Brooke Clarke
> http://www.PRC68.com
> http://www.end2partygovernment.com/2012Issues.html
> http://www.prc68.com/I/DietNutrition.html
> Nick Sayer via time-nuts wrote:
>>> On Oct 14, 2015, at 4:42 AM, billriches <bill.riches at verizon.net> 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Not milisecond time distribution but time related!
>>>
>>> In the early half of the 1900s Western Union was in the time 
>>> business.  They
>>> would rent businesses such as banks, office buildings, etc clocks 
>>> for a few
>>> dollars a month.  These were pendulum wall clocks that had 2 #6 dry 
>>> cell
>>> batteries inside that would wind them every hour or so. The clocks were
>>> connected to the WU telegraph line and for a minute before and 
>>> after  the
>>> top of the hour all traffic on the circuit would stop. Exactly at 
>>> the top
>>> of the hour they would push a pulse of 50 ? volts or so over the 
>>> line and it
>>> would reset the clock to the top of the hour.
>> The WU standard time service goes back further than the turn of the 
>> 20th century. It started in 1870.
>>
>> I’ve always wanted to get my hands on one of those clocks and come up 
>> with a circuit to recreate the synchronization signal for it, 
>> probably with a Raspberry Pi running ntpd and a big ol’ MOSFET. The 
>> problem is that at this point, those clocks are quite expensive once 
>> they’re reconditioned.
>>
>> My understanding (perhaps incorrect) was that the sync pulse was once 
>> daily and, as you said, would cause the hands to “snap” to 12. The 
>> trailing edge of the pulse was synchronized and would release the 
>> clock to operate normally.
>>
>> That they had something as accurate and widespread as it was so early 
>> is astonishing.
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