THE NEWEST CLOCK

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 110, 5 November 1926, Page 9

THE NEWEST CLOCK

fTIME FROM MANGAHAO

SET THE HANDS AND PLUG IN

NO WINDING AND NO TICKING.

Telephone subscribers can obtain cor

_--.. xeet time, or correct within a- minute, - by- dialling 396 and listening. The ■/X thi"g to do then is to rush over to the ;^~family alarm clock and make tho neces- *•" sary adjustments. Next morning this if}" done all over again, for thia is the ', ■ age; of tad time-keepers. The grand_j_ fo.ther clock was passed on when the rr.^^rhomestead* was sold up, but the family alarm goes to the dust-bin sev--'..••'•eral' times, while the family grows up. .''-/ V.-'A new idea in clocks may shortly be ...—.invsailable in Wellington, clocks which :::;do" keep time, correct time, which do not tick and which need no winding '••"•'from one year to the next. These are clever electrical clocks, one of ' "-Which was shown and explained to a I;:,u.Post" reporter by Mr. M. Cable, "'-"general manager of the Electricity De- ""' partinent, to-day. These electric clocks "•■■■fere'' operated direct from the house ,H lighting circuit, and take their time, <~'"iiK>t- from the swing of a pendulum or ' a hair-spring escapement movement, ~" !ViiF from the alterations or cycles of '" '"She' lighting current. "'■"' The works, whether the clock face "•^".eWdcase are large or small, plain Jane - "cr'elaborate, are very simple, and all of one pattern, consisting of a small :■-* motor and suitable gearing to operate " 'ibne handsJ From the clock a "flex" *. "is. carried to any lighting or heating 'IT'plug or socket, the hands are set to ...'.^corncct time, and the clock does the jesf;. as long as the current flows. Should the power be shut off then this "•''• 'simple form of clock will step, but it "-'--starts up again when the power is ..,switched on once more; the hands, of .:,-., course, have to be reset. .briefly, the principle is this: The al- ; tejn-ations in the flow of lighting current are theoretically regular fifty to every second. Practically there is variation; but this is adjusted eVery ten minutes, or at any other interval, in accord, with an accurate master clock lit" power-house, so that on the average exact time is given. The clock • Bu>sor is so built to make one revolution' to so many alternations, and bo runs with (average) absolute regularity. „'./:..Synchronised electrical clocks are in general use at the present time—the ;many clocks in the G.P.O. building are ;•/■; synchronised with a master clock —hut l- : in^-this system the operation is alto- - - aether different. The master clock ~: sends oufr single electrical impulses - ■„ every half or quarter minute, and all -„s . i.slodka on the circuit tick ahead half or „ I'quarter of a minute. This jumping of .•;.;: hands can be seen on all tho Post Office "-clocks. This system requires a speciai -.-<■-/wiring to connect branch with master ■- ■•clocks, whereas tho system for the new clocks needs no wiring beyond the 'lighting circuit. The hands of the clock move steadily, for the little motor inside runs steadily. One of the first applications of the -'*ow clock, said Mr. Cable, would probably be to tramway clocks about the v'.ieity.T Absolutely correct time was es- , [Hential in ihesa clocks, and at the pre- '■:;,: ,<eat;time it took a man's full time goU; ing: round attending to the pendulum ■;-;.--<k>cks at present installed. Some little time ago a start was made with the .M-.-vgetting out' of special wiring for a ,■;-1 synchronised clock system, taking its o< ■.■■■•time from the master clock in tho Gov- ;*;-.•■ :*rnmont. Observatory at Kelburn; tho r Hew idea, however, had put a new •; complexion on time-keeping, and the ■■synchronised system would probably apt. be proceeded with. '.''•-'..Jn the ease of household clocks, an i occasional stoppage due to tho cutting <3ff,.of power through a breakdown or •"other interruption would not bring any great trouble, but official clocks ■had to keep going, breakdown or not. ;In. order to guard against stoppages, ■j Me.refore, the makers had added a ret' _???1" lent' to 'clocks intended for ssch ...Ip'wppses, the extra movement carrying ;,.,,ijie clock ahead for fourteen hours,' and V. .fS'Jjridging any ordinary interruption. .-~.; — . ° Mew elcetl'ic clocks were quite : JgaP; said Mr. Cable, varying accord- "?.-••% to the design of the face and case, J-^aatt.the operating expense could be put .■..T.r-dQiwn as not much more than nil. The catalogued operating rate was stated at ,;.„, J hXe(? cents a month (ljd) in America i.:.,: a?ld^oll Wellington's lighting rates ..'...-v-would work out at something like that figure, a couple of shillings a year. Samples of the new clocks now in VfZ.m the city power stations were (quite satisfactory, said Mr. Cable, and ... a iU,tle later on he would be able to ' t say-whether they could be made avail- ■■> - able to householders, End upon what terms.