[time-nuts] 1937 Time Standard

[Tom Van Baak]

Thanks Paul.

I accumulate a pile of PDF's over time and when the right question shows up in the list I dig them out. It turns out Thomas, the OP, is doing a report on public clocks, including synchronous motor clocks. He added another source:
https://clockhistory.com/telechron/company/documents/warren_1937/index.html

The idea of time standards and time transfer methods has not changed over the centuries. What these guys did way back with telegraph (Western Union) or with 60 Hz (Telechron) we now do with WWVB, NTP, GPS, etc. The decimal point moves.

The history of 60 Hz mains frequency, in particular, is extremely fascinating.
There's some basic intro here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency#History
Have a look at that table of frequencies used in 1897!

There's a great article (free, IEEE) on the use of 25 Hz at Niagara Falls:
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=4412948

And some wonderful information here:
http://ethw.org/Early_Electrification_of_Buffalo

Finally, this 3 part masterpiece:
http://ethw.org/Archives:Transformers_at_Pittsfield,_part_1
http://ethw.org/Archives:Transformers_at_Pittsfield,_part_2
http://ethw.org/Archives:Transformers_at_Pittsfield,_part_3

If nothing else, everyone should take a quick look at the photos in the above 3 URL's. Mini-Circuit transformers these are not.

/tvb
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: paul swed 
  To: Tom Van Baak ; Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement 
  Sent: Monday, May 23, 2016 4:23 PM
  Subject: Re: [time-nuts] 1937 Time Standard


  Some good articles I have read several that you sent Tom. Its funny such great information if you just search on the right terms.
  But then I appreciate the fact that you sent great links. No guessing.
  More to go and read.
  Regards
  Paul
  WB8TSL


  On Sat, May 21, 2016 at 4:50 PM, Tom Van Baak <tvb at leapsecond.com> wrote:

    Hi Thomas,

    > I was wondering if anyone knew what the "state of the art" time standard was in the 1937 ?

    The 1930's were an exciting time in this regard.

    The best time standards (in vacuum pendulum clocks) were those used by astronomers. Google: Shortt-Synchronome.

    Laboratory quartz clocks had just been developed. During this decade the best pendulum clocks were compared to the best quartz clocks. Google: Marrison Loomis Shortt

    And in the race between these two technologies, it was shown in 1936 by Scheibe and Adelsberger that irregularities seen by astronomers were due to the earth itself and not the pendulum or quartz clocks. This eventually led to the leap second. It was common to use a set of 3 clocks to do the comparison (sound familiar)

    To get a sense of the world of precise time in the 1930's I would recommend reading the following, each of which mentions something about the past century of timekeeping.

    The Evolution of the Quartz Crystal Clock
    http://www.ieee-uffc.org/main/history-marrison.asp
    https://ia902701.us.archive.org/25/items/bstj27-3-510/bstj27-3-510.pdf

    Time – the SI Base Unit “Second”, by Andreas Bauch
    https://www.ptb.de/cms/fileadmin/internet/fachabteilungen/abteilung_4/4.4_zeit_und_frequenz/pdf/2012_Bauch_PTBM_125a_en.pdf

    The Evolution of Time Measurement, Part 2: Quartz Clocks
    http://tf.boulder.nist.gov/general/pdf/2533.pdf

    Atomichron: The Atomic Clock from Concept to Commercial Product
    http://www.ieee-uffc.org/main/history-atomichron.asp

    Precision time and the rotation of the Earth, by Dennis McCarthy
    http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FIAU%2FIAU2004_IAUC196%2FS1743921305001377a.pdf

    Some Aspects of Precision Time Measurement -- 1930's German quartz, Lothar Rohde, etc.
    http://pubs-newcomen.com/tfiles/75ap119.pdf
    http://www.cdvandt.org/PTR%20quartz-clock.pdf
    http://www.cdvandt.org/CFQ.pdf
    http://www.cdvandt.org/BIOS-1316.pdf

    I have more links and PDF's to share. But let's first find out how deep an answer you actually want.

    Thanks,
    /tvb


    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Thomas D. Erb" <tde at electrictime.com>
    To: <time-nuts at febo.com>
    Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2016 11:40 AM
    Subject: [time-nuts] 1937 Time Standard


    >I was wondering if anyone knew what the "state of the art" time standard was in the 1937 ?
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > _______________________________________________
    > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
    > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
    > and follow the instructions there.
    _______________________________________________
    time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
    To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
    and follow the instructions there.