Talk:Quartz clock/Archive 1

Page Title/Subject[edit]

I think these could all be merged: Timing crystal, Quartz oscillator, Crystal oscillator. If no one objects, I will put them all under Crystal oscillator. And maybe Quartz clock, also. - Omegatron 20:14, May 4, 2004 (UTC)

I guess quartz clock and crystal oscillator should be separate articles. One is a specific application of the other. I will move some material from each to the other, though. - Omegatron 15:16, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

Should it be mentioned that some quartz clocks are in fact user-adjustable in terms of frequency in a similar way to mechanical clocks? For example, I have a Casio W-780 (eletronic module 549) made around 1986 witch features a small screw that adjusts a variable capacitor in series with the crystal. This allows frequency adjustement and timing within 1 second per month for a good adjustement. -- rnbc December 25 2005

I have to ask - how on earth do you know how to adjust it, though? Do you have to wait a month and then see if you need to turn it a quarter screw counter-clockwise, or a half screw clockwise??? I do understand that there are many many applications where great accuracy are vital, and that there is something cool about having the most accurate watch possible, even if it will never make a difference in whether you are on time for meetings or when meeting your girlfriend for dinner. Just curious. -Fitzhugh 04:36, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Well... basically you wait a week or so, until you have the perception where it's drifting, and slightly bump the screw in the right direction. In fact a 90 degrees adjustment is more like 10 seconds a month. My question is if the existence of such mechanisms should be mentioned, not if they are practical. Well, they work, and keep working in 2006, since the watch is still in good shape. Has not been adjusted in a few years and still drifts less than a second per month. At this magnitude the drifting is more temperature-related than really a drifting and can't be corrected, as far as I can see. This is just a curiousity, I think. I never saw another quartz watch featuring an adjustment screw. --Rnbc 18:34, 30 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Link[edit]

You should link to Crystal_oscillator. 83.181.84.3 19:32, 3 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

History[edit]

There is an article in the Feb/Mar issue of History magazine ("The Timeless Appeal of Clocks") that states that Warren A. Marrison developed the first quartz clock, which is in agreement with this article. It states that this happened in New York, though. This is most likely correct since Bell Labs was New York based (city or state?) until the 40's, according to the wikipedia article on same. AFAIK Bell Labs has never been here in Canada (not the same as BNR Bell Northern Research). Does somebody have more info on Marrison? A search for him is how I got to this page.216.210.101.131 14:12, 13 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think you're right. I put the location in as Canada because I had read it in some reference, even though I had never heard of Bell Labs research facilities in Canada. I can't find the reference now, so I've taken out the word Canada until I can nail down the location. Thanks. --Chetvorno^TALK 22:07, 27 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please explain the concept of "rating" mentioned under heading "Accuracy"[edit]

I'm afraid I just don't get what is meant by "rating" (as in "self rating")... clocks that compare their current time against an epoch or whatever. Funny, cause I'm usually very good at picking up concepts from context and have a decent education and understanding of how things work. I'd really like to learn what is meant here, so if someone knows, please explain! Maybe I'm just misreading it and it makes perfect sense to all others, I don't know. Thank you! -Fitzhugh 04:31, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think whoever wrote those paragraphs was confused and they just meant "regulating". I'm amazed that they have been there for so long without some knowledgeable editor sorting out the confusion. Only clocks that pick up the long-wave time signal can be self-regulating. Dbfirs 18:10, 31 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

From what I understood (and I had to re-read it), the clock scales its own vibrations (which are generally a bit fast or slow) to how much time has actually elapsed between factory and recent set-point. For example, if the difference of the time you last set it to and the factory time is 2 years and 3 seconds, but the clock's vibration count tells it it has clocked 2 yr 14 sec, it will calculate the ratio between them (=1.0000002) and in the future compensate accordingly, now enlightened to its fastness or slowness. jellyturtle (talk) 23:41, 11 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, this is certainly possible, but how does it know the true time? And does it just flash a message saying "I am eleven seconds fast"? This would be self-rating. Or does it actually adjust the vibrations (or more likely the circuitry counting the vibrations)? This would be self-regulation. In either case, this does not happen in the quartz clocks with which most people are familiar. The ones that you can buy in the shops are just self-correcting if they pick up the long-wave time signal. In any case, the method that you outline does not take account of changes in the vibration rate of the crystal. A high-quality crystal will be stable and the clock can be regulated before it is sold, but the "self-regulating" algorithm would need to monitor recent changes in the vibration rate more than just time elapsed since it was released from the factory. We need someone knowledgeable to expand and clarify this section. Dbfirs 07:03, 12 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]