CORRECT TIME

Northern Advocate, 15 January 1934, Page 8

CORRECT TIME

OBSERVATORY SIGNALS :n.z. check from overseas The former, well recognised metlio< of ascertaining the correct time b; asking a policeman has rather gon< out of fashion. . Public clocks an numerous in these days, over ninety out of every hundred people carry ; watch, and time correct to a second i< ascertainable from the time signal, broadcast at intervals throughout the day. ; The policeman’s services arc therefore ' not much in demand m the (I i re.ct i on., of .'time' fell mg. Accurate time telling plays }l .very important, part in modern civilisation probably more .so than many people realise, and especially necessary foi navigation are accurate time signals, Most 'people are aware that New Zealand’s time is regulated from ihc nonunion- Observatory at Kelburn, and cpdte familiar to radio listeners in the ‘-We are now standing by to receive the -time signals,” which announcement ■is followed by a series of etheric noises emanating from the Observatory. Some people may-think that these time signals ■ originate from the Greenwich Observatory,- London,-or i:rom the - trig broadcasting station -at- Rugby.--But tbcyM-doTnbt. The time «.signals scut over ' the*air in-New Zealand are local productions, based on those received from Bordeaux (France), Nauen (Germany), and various time signal sending stations elsewhere. The time signals arriving'from England reach New Zealand at the somewhat inconvenient hours of (5 a.m. and 10 p.m. (summer time), at- which hours the Observatory staff are not on duty. • At ihc Dominion Obsorvalorv the eorreet time is ascertained astronomically by means of the usual transit instrument. The result obtained is cheeked by the time signal i received from elsewhere, and the recording clock is altered jf necessary. The error of the signal clock seldom exceeds a <|iiarter of a second. . ' , Signals Sent Out. During a year well over 8000 time signals are sent out from the Observatory, the exact figure for lasi: year boiug 2'ISS. Automatic time signals from the Observatory are sent, on I as foldows:- ■ (1) To the Genera] Post Office and the Railway' Department, Wellington, by telegraph daily, except on Government holidays and 'Sundays; (2) to shins and to the general public at Wellington, by electric lights at the Observa-

lory daily: (d) to the Auckland Harbour Board, by electric lights, at Auckland, on Tuesdays and Fridays, except Government holidays; (4) to- -the South Island telegraph offices, by telegraph, on Tuesdays ami Fridays, except Government -holidays; (5) to the Lyttelton Harbour Board, by -dropping the timeball at Lyttelton, on Tuesdays and Fridays, except on Government holidays; . ((5) radio time signals through the radio broadcasting; . station, 2YA, at Wellington, daily at 4 ’ hours and S hours G.M.T.; (7) radio time signals through the Wellington radio, station ZLW, on Tuesday and Friday evenings at S..‘!o p.m. (9 hours G.M.T.), except on Government holidays; and (S) radio time signals through the Wellington .radio station ZLW, every day at 10..‘!0 non. (2b hours GALT.) Non-automatic time signals are: (.1) To ships and watchmakers in Wellington, and to the Public Works Department by telephone, on application, to the Observatory; (2) the Observatory automatic time signals sene to the General Post Office are distributed by telegraphic hand signals to some 2,°)0() telegraph and telephone offices distributed all over Now Zealand .fit 9 a.m. daily; and (-.’!) similar hand signals arc also sent to all railway offices in New Zealand at 9 a.m. daily—by telegraph to , 221, offices and by telephone, to 2.77 stations. Time signals by telephone included signals frequently given to Government House, to Trenlham Military Camp, and to the telegraph office or Public Works Department for the purpose of setting Parliament clocks. Correcting The Clocks. in addition to'the actual sending out of time signals, the Observatory undertakes the cheeking of various public clocks. The Government .Building’s clock last year showed a maximum variation from the correct time to the extent of once being 29 seconds fast, - ami on another occasion 3S seconds slow. The G.P.O. clock is apparently a better time-keeper, for its maximum errors were .1.1 seconds fast and 7 seconds slow.