SYNCHRONOUS ELECTRIC CLOCKS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14898, 29 July 1910, Page 3

SYNCHRONOUS ELECTRIC CLOCKS

■installation at dunedin RAILWAY STATION.

. The installation -of the synchronous system of .electric clocks at the Dunedin lvauway Station is -nowpractically completod, and in the future the public mat? depend npon net only absolutely correct time, but, perfcct uniformity in respect of e\ery clock throughout the building, including those in tho turret ami on the platform. The local installation comprises a master cock, and 20 small dials in the \ arious ofhees, and .included in the circuit is tho three-dial turret clock, in conjunction with whidn arp the two sft dials of the platform clock.

A representative of 'this paper called upon Mr Macandrow. to the Railway Department, and the following information on the ■ above subject was scourcd

[The master clock, or controller, which is situated in tho turret nf tlm station building. is a marvel of simplicity. As the result-of-many years' studv. the patentees have produced a perfect timekeeper, which requires no winding. Tlic spriii" wlrcli is associated with all key-wound cloaks is dispens.-d with entirely, and there is onlv one wheel. To the lay mind a clock with only one wheel and no spring js certainly mi innovation, but it is this reduction of moving parts to a minimum that has assured the perfect regulation wiiich is possible in tho " Synchronome " system. The " going" of the controller is secured by the fall of a weight of about halfv an ounce, and, this weight being constant and the fall uniform, the clock when onco adjusted will keep perfect, time from year's end to year's end,' as the variations or temperature have practically no edect cji it. The jjoz weight is raised by means of .ail elcctrical current, the contact for which is operated by a pendulum every half-minute, the duration of tho contact being one-thirtieth of a second. The same impulse propels the hands of all the clacks or dials in the circuit, and the effect is to be observed in the jumping forward of tho minute hand on tho dials of the de : pendent clocks «very half-minute. The binturret clock, with its threo dials, is wound automatically by a one-twelfth h.p. _ electric motor, and the old mechanism, which included a "going" woiglifc of about 1501'b and a pendulum about ISOlb,• lias been replaced, the " going" weight .reduced to about 151b and-the pendulum entirely dispensed with. The current for the whole system is obtained from a battery of 16 dry eells, which doss - not require "renewing for a period of two years. In New Zealand the Synchronomc Company has already ■fitted its system of electric, clocks int-j private residences warehouses, and-public buildings, and at present an extensive circuit is being fitted in Chrisfceliurch, the installation including tho jubilee memorial- turret clock, .the Post and Telegraph Office turret clock, with 30 dsjttndent- office dials, and the Christchurcli Council Chambers, and it is anticipated that the Fire Brigade and other buildings, will he included in the same circuit. For fire brigade work the company, has devised a system by which, immediately an.alarm is given, tho time is registered on one of the dials, thus obviating disputes and 'ensuring prompt attention to every call. Some of tho company's installations embrace close on 200 dials in a single circuit.' The want of -uniformity in the time given by the turret clocks in Dunedin has at times occasioned comment, and the adoption of a system similar to that just introduced at the Dunedin Railway Station ■would ensure morn accurate time-keeping awl absolute .- uniform it,v. Incidentally, there is a danger in tilie old style of weightdriven turret clocks, ag the rope is liable to break. This has actually occurred with the Town Hall clock" in Dunedin, and the ■effect of a_6Colb weight falling from 30ft to 40ft within tho tower can well be imagined. On account of continual breaking of the weight ropn and tho inflicting of considerable damage, one of the most, famous clocks in Great Britain, that, of the Christchuroh Cathedral, in .Dublin, was condemned and put out of con»ri°ct.-)ri somo years ago. In this clock the \v«islit aggregated 23001b, with a drop <•' -Vlft. In conjunction with the clock is a t-.Hiillon of 13 bells, playing 27 tunes, and the authorities, wishing to preserve to the citizens tho chimes which had been their pride for years, consulted "with the Synchronome Company, and the result is that the click and chimes, after a long period o( enf-jrosd silence.- aro again* in-coprmis* sion. -Tlic weight: has been roducod.. front 23001b to Mb, with a drop of "20in. the mechanism bsing driven by four J h.p. motors,-.

The \ work has been carried out under til© direction of M r R. E. Do war, of Auckland, tho company's expert.