Odd request
Time-nuts
I appreciate the comments regarding horological obsession. Mine started with a desire for an accurate master
oscillator for my ham shack (built and use a couple Shera GPSDO's) and has blossomed into a much broader interest
in time (Ex tempus, sapientia?)
This has led me to a silly quest. I'd like to use a traditional clock face and hands as an output device for a
1PPS signal from my GPSDO.
I know this is a very broad question, but does anyone have advice on where I might start hacking (or making) a
mechanical clock face to accomplish this? Is there a simple clock design that I could start with to build my own?
Maybe replacing a pendulum or escapement with a solenoid? Any examples to work from?
Mark
I am going the same route and have discovered slave clocks which are
solenoid driven clocks. The clocks were once very popular in schools and
factories. The hands typically step in one minute steps.
See: http://www.clockhistory.com/setclocks/index.html
I plan to use one of the clock movements to display minutes and hours and a
two digit LED digital display for the seconds. I will divide the 1PPS
output from a Z3801A by 60 to get 1PPM.
John WA4WDL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Amos" mark.amos@toast.net
To: time-nuts@febo.com
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 4:50 PM
Subject: [time-nuts] Odd request
Time-nuts
I appreciate the comments regarding horological obsession. Mine started
with a desire for an accurate master
oscillator for my ham shack (built and use a couple Shera GPSDO's) and has
blossomed into a much broader interest
in time (Ex tempus, sapientia?)
This has led me to a silly quest. I'd like to use a traditional clock
face and hands as an output device for a
1PPS signal from my GPSDO.
I know this is a very broad question, but does anyone have advice on where
I might start hacking (or making) a
mechanical clock face to accomplish this? Is there a simple clock design
that I could start with to build my own?
Maybe replacing a pendulum or escapement with a solenoid? Any examples to
work from?
Mark
time-nuts mailing list
time-nuts@febo.com
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
Time-nuts
I appreciate the comments regarding horological obsession. Mine started with a desire for an accurate master
oscillator for my ham shack (built and use a couple Shera GPSDO's) and has blossomed into a much broader interest
in time (Ex tempus, sapientia?)
This has led me to a silly quest. I'd like to use a traditional clock face and hands as an output device for a
1PPS signal from my GPSDO.
I know this is a very broad question, but does anyone have advice on where I might start hacking (or making) a
mechanical clock face to accomplish this? Is there a simple clock design that I could start with to build my own?
Maybe replacing a pendulum or escapement with a solenoid? Any examples to work from?
Mark
This is one reason the older model HP 5065A and 5061A
with Patek analog clocks are so desirable; they pre-date
LED, LCD, or VFD clock displays.
But one easy way to do it today is start with a $5 standard
quartz clock display. 1) Either run a precise synthesized
32 kHz signal into it (replacing the xtal), or drive the little
bipolar stepper yourself.
A 50 millisecond +1.5 VDC pulse is all you need; next
second give it a -1.5 VDC pulse, etc. This is a few lines
of code for a microcontroller. I've got pictures of this
somewhere on my web site, I think.
See also Bryan's cool stuff at:
http://www.bmumford.com/clocks/emindex.html
Some of us have driven traditional pendulum clocks with
GPS or atomic 1PPS. Another cute one is to take an
old Western Union, US Naval Observatory, SWCC
(Self-winding Clock Company) clocks and sync them
using a GPS-divided 1PPH (one pulse per hour) pulse.
See Mitchell's SWCC page at:
http://www.telechron.com/
Also, here's what "USNO time" meant in the 1930's...
http://www.leapsecond.com/history/usno.htm
/tvb
Hi Mark:
There may be some other approaches.
Start from an electric clock that's battery powered and replace all the
driving electronics and just drive the coil directly with the proper
pulse rate.
Start from an electric clock and replace just the crystal with a 32768
kHz signal.
In the above cases I think you can find clocks with second hands.
I've been thinking that it should be possible us use synchro motors (3
phase drive) to allow smooth movement of the hands and also to have
continuous 360 degree rotation unlike model RC servo motors that don't
have 360 degree rotation.
I'm still working on packaging my Precision Clock, see:
http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/PRC68COM.shtml#PC3
Have Fun,
Brooke Clarke
w/Java http://www.PRC68.com
w/o Java http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/PRC68COM.shtml
http://www.precisionclock.com
Mark Amos wrote:
Time-nuts
I appreciate the comments regarding horological obsession. Mine started with a desire for an accurate master
oscillator for my ham shack (built and use a couple Shera GPSDO's) and has blossomed into a much broader interest
in time (Ex tempus, sapientia?)
This has led me to a silly quest. I'd like to use a traditional clock face and hands as an output device for a
1PPS signal from my GPSDO.
I know this is a very broad question, but does anyone have advice on where I might start hacking (or making) a
mechanical clock face to accomplish this? Is there a simple clock design that I could start with to build my own?
Maybe replacing a pendulum or escapement with a solenoid? Any examples to work from?
Mark
Tom Van Baak (mobile) wrote:
But one easy way to do it today is start with a $5 standard
quartz clock display. 1) Either run a precise synthesized
32 kHz signal into it (replacing the xtal), or drive the little
bipolar stepper yourself.
A 50 millisecond +1.5 VDC pulse is all you need; next
second give it a -1.5 VDC pulse, etc. This is a few lines
of code for a microcontroller. I've got pictures of this
somewhere on my web site, I think.
Tom,
With all due respect to your love of software, a microcontroller is a
bit of overkill for this application.
Use a 74HC74 D flip-flop connected as a divide-by-two toggle register:
connect Q-not to the D input and feed the 1PPS into the C input; connect
S and R to +5V.
The drive pulse to the coil is generated very simply with a capacitor
(~0.1 uf?) in series with the clock solenoid. This will produce a
positive pulse when the flip-flop flips and a negative pulse when it flops.
You don't need to worry about the 1.5V coil voltage rating - the
capacitor will absorb the blow. I'd start out with a smaller capacitor
(.001uf maybe) and increase it until it pulses reliably, then select
perhaps twice that capacitance for reliability.
"Mark Amos" mark.amos@toast.net wrote:
I appreciate the comments regarding horological obsession. Mine started with a desire for an accurate master
oscillator for my ham shack (built and use a couple Shera GPSDO's) and has blossomed into a much broader interest
in time (Ex tempus, sapientia?)
Mine is obviously inherited. Mixed in among all the pictures of me
as a baby are pictures of hundreds of pocketwatches (mostly railroad
watches) that my dad collected :-).
This has led me to a silly quest. I'd like to use a traditional clock face and hands as an output device for a
1PPS signal from my GPSDO.
Quartz clock movements with a second hand do exactly what you want. Deliver
1PPS and the second hand goes forward a tick a second.
Multiply up to 60Hz and drive a traditional 60Hz AC clock (TVB or
someone else illustrates
this with test equipment supplies driven from atomic clocks,
but this is, let's just say, overkill, but what isn't? :-) )
There are Bulova and other brands of instrumentation clocks that
are driven at more than 1PPS for smoother second hand movement.
Some of this shows up in the surplus stream. Most used Tuning forks
for the original frequency standard.
There are various synchronized clock movements out there that
show up on the surplus market but they usually have once-per-hour
and once-per-day sync pulses, not once-per-second.
Tim.
There are some clocks like the ones in schools that use a 1PPS, 1PPM or faster.
On eBay
230081995247 nice
110082857347 neat!!
250076726064
110081232209
180076563718
This guy is selling a master simulator 200071362893
-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf
Of Mark Amos
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 3:51 PM
To: time-nuts@febo.com
Subject: [time-nuts] Odd request
Time-nuts
I appreciate the comments regarding horological obsession. Mine started with a
desire for an accurate master
oscillator for my ham shack (built and use a couple Shera GPSDO's) and has
blossomed into a much broader interest
in time (Ex tempus, sapientia?)
This has led me to a silly quest. I'd like to use a traditional clock face and
hands as an output device for a
1PPS signal from my GPSDO.
I know this is a very broad question, but does anyone have advice on where I
might start hacking (or making) a
mechanical clock face to accomplish this? Is there a simple clock design that I
could start with to build my own?
Maybe replacing a pendulum or escapement with a solenoid? Any examples to work
from?
Mark
time-nuts mailing list
time-nuts@febo.com
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
Mark Amos wrote:
Time-nuts
I appreciate the comments regarding horological obsession. Mine started with a desire for an accurate master
oscillator for my ham shack (built and use a couple Shera GPSDO's) and has blossomed into a much broader interest
in time (Ex tempus, sapientia?)
This has led me to a silly quest. I'd like to use a traditional clock face and hands as an output device for a
1PPS signal from my GPSDO.
I know this is a very broad question, but does anyone have advice on where I might start hacking (or making) a
mechanical clock face to accomplish this? Is there a simple clock design that I could start with to build my own?
Maybe replacing a pendulum or escapement with a solenoid? Any examples to work from?
Mark
Battery powered clocks are available in hobby shops especially those
that cater to woodworkers. They have a wide selection
of hands for every application. You would have to hack the electric part
but I think that is do-able.
Bill K7NOM
----- Original Message -----
From: "jmfranke" jmfranke@cox.net
To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement"
time-nuts@febo.com
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 10:57 AM
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Odd request
I am going the same route and have discovered slave clocks which are
solenoid driven clocks. The clocks were once very popular in
schools and
factories. The hands typically step in one minute steps.
See: http://www.clockhistory.com/setclocks/index.html
I plan to use one of the clock movements to display minutes and
hours and a
two digit LED digital display for the seconds. I will divide the
1PPS
output from a Z3801A by 60 to get 1PPM.
John WA4WDL
Some used a 30 second pulse as well - might pay to check the
particular slave you have before you make the divider! I have a
Gents master clock here- I DID want to put it in the lounge but it was
considerd too 'industrial' so its been relegated to 'outer darkness'!
Personally I think it's rather elegant, but......
Picture here-
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~tractorb/gents%20master.gif
These were made in two pendulum lengths-this is the longer case (3
foot pendulum) model.
DaveB, NZ
It is elegant! Was that the XYL's opinion?
-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf
Of Dave Brown
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 5:07 PM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Odd request
----- Original Message -----
From: "jmfranke" jmfranke@cox.net
To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement"
time-nuts@febo.com
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 10:57 AM
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Odd request
I am going the same route and have discovered slave clocks which are
solenoid driven clocks. The clocks were once very popular in
schools and
factories. The hands typically step in one minute steps.
See: http://www.clockhistory.com/setclocks/index.html
I plan to use one of the clock movements to display minutes and
hours and a
two digit LED digital display for the seconds. I will divide the
1PPS
output from a Z3801A by 60 to get 1PPM.
John WA4WDL
Some used a 30 second pulse as well - might pay to check the
particular slave you have before you make the divider! I have a
Gents master clock here- I DID want to put it in the lounge but it was
considerd too 'industrial' so its been relegated to 'outer darkness'!
Personally I think it's rather elegant, but......
Picture here-
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~tractorb/gents%20master.gif
These were made in two pendulum lengths-this is the longer case (3
foot pendulum) model.
DaveB, NZ
time-nuts mailing list
time-nuts@febo.com
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts