13th Mar 2018, 10:12 am | #101 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
The point is that (at least in the UK) the Teletext system (including the data packet used to set timers) broadcast with the analogue transmissions (referred to as "analogue teletext" for brevity) was replaced by a different and incompatible system with the move to digital programme transmission and anything relying on its time signal ceased to be kept in synchrony.
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Mending is better than Ending (cf Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) Last edited by Dave Moll; 13th Mar 2018 at 10:14 am. Reason: quote added for clarity |
15th Mar 2018, 12:22 am | #102 |
Octode
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Noting that my synchronous clocks are about 2 minutes slow relative to GMT as has been generally observed, I have also noticed that these clocks now agree almost exactly with the time (?) signal broadcast via my phone.
Could this just be a big c**k up, with the grid having run slow due to demand with insufficient margin, to the point where it now agrees with an " alternative" time standard? So, no action needed..... Good grief, Leon. |
15th Mar 2018, 12:33 am | #103 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Phone clocks can be very unreliable. I don't know about iPhones, but Android phones set their clocks using the mobile phone network rather than the internet, and they only do it when the phone boots. You can get quite a lot of clock drift if you never reboot.
There are apps which will get the time from an NTP server, but an unrooted Android phone doesn't allow apps to set the system time so you have to do it manually, which is usually more of a faff than just rebooting every few days. |
15th Mar 2018, 5:12 am | #104 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Maybe it's a different, if slow, way of switching to British Summer Time
23 hours of drift, going the long way round. Easier in the Autumn.... David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
15th Mar 2018, 9:48 am | #105 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Bright side of it: we now have an excuse for being late.
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15th Mar 2018, 10:30 am | #106 |
Hexode
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Why are you late for school?
Sir, my phone must use a different time standard to the bus driver's so I missed the bus and had to wait for the next one. |
15th Mar 2018, 10:37 am | #107 |
Heptode
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
And don't rely on the pips on a DAB radio!
Stuart |
15th Mar 2018, 10:44 am | #108 |
Octode
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
I should have said that it was BBC radio via my 'phone which now virtually agrees with "grid time".
Broadcasting time pips wrongly via various distribution systems is at best plain stupid and is in my view negligent - but then I'm probably now just an old f**t used to doing things properly. Leon. |
15th Mar 2018, 11:05 am | #109 |
Octode
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
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15th Mar 2018, 12:30 pm | #110 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
It is impossible to get anything meaningful if you have a DAB radio in one room and an FM set in another.
FM matches a desk top computer with a web time server set up on it. |
30th Mar 2018, 12:02 pm | #111 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
I re-set all my mains synchronous clocks last weekend when BST started - there are at least 6 running in the house at any one time.
I've just noticed that they're all over a minute slow already - very disappointing in less than 7 days. At this rate, they could be half an hour out by the time we change them back to GMT! This is the first year I have every noticed anything like this happen. Can anyone offer any inside knowledge about what's going on? Should I now be going round every week and re-setting them, rather like I have to do with my spring-driven 1930s mantel clocks when I wind them? Nick. Last edited by Nickthedentist; 30th Mar 2018 at 12:08 pm. |
30th Mar 2018, 12:10 pm | #112 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Mine are the same, as you'd expect.
I can only assume the commitment to overall frequency stability has been quietly dropped, maybe because of the changing generation mix. |
30th Mar 2018, 12:20 pm | #113 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Interesting that Google turns up lots of news stories about clocks on the continent running slow, but the only thing about slow UK clocks is this thread! Surely someone else must have noticed, and someone must know the inside story.
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30th Mar 2018, 12:28 pm | #114 |
Nonode
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Hi
Around the time of the fairly recent cold spell (beast from the east Mk1) at the beginning of the month, I noticed some variations in the mains supply as you'd expect when there's a heavy demand. Something I found was strange operation from the microwave oven, it occasionally failed to start and appeared to be very delayed in it's operation. What I was wondering is, are microwave ovens very sensitive to fluctuations in mains supply frequency? Regards Symon. |
30th Mar 2018, 12:53 pm | #115 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Can you not ask your electricity provider? They should be able to provide an answer.
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30th Mar 2018, 12:59 pm | #116 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
All of my house clocks stayed correct during the cold spell. My Peugeot car clock however which had been correct lost five minutes over a week.
There is a way to set it up to keep in time via its GPS system but I don't know how to do it. |
30th Mar 2018, 1:21 pm | #117 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Sounds like we all need to continue to wear a Casio LCD watch, the price of which has been fairly stable since the late 'eighties! Spec. is +/- 30 seconds a month, but in reality is far better. Only problem is i am swiftly getting too long-sighted for the display..
Go for the electro luminescence one, the lesser backlight is no good. Not to be worn when putting up a fence or changing a wheel- the straps aren't up to it. My bedside LED clock radios have lost a minute since we went to BST, but i don't know if they rely on frequency. |
30th Mar 2018, 1:23 pm | #118 |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
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30th Mar 2018, 1:44 pm | #119 |
Octode
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
I`m pretty sure mine does, it`s also lost a minute since I reset it for BST. We don`t have any synchronous motor driven mains clocks but I would expect the same result.
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30th Mar 2018, 1:56 pm | #120 | |
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Re: Electric clocks running slow warning
Quote:
[Strangely, power-outages don't cause the radio's presets to lose their presettedness though!] |
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