Clocktime

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Having just opened the April 2024 issue of Horological Journal, I thought I must share this:

https://clocktime.co.uk/

… A splendid ‘Online Museum’ recently launched by Dr. John C. Taylor

Enjoy !

MichaelG.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Splendid link Micheal thanks for sharing will view it more detail when I have more time on my hands ….

H

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Looks like the site doesn’t work unless you accept all their cookies.

[Bazyle]

On Bazyle Said:

Looks like the site doesn’t work unless you accept all their cookies.

Not from here it doesn’t

I have selected only Necessary cookies, and it’s working fine for me.

Please don’t feel obliged to look at it though.

MichaelG.

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[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Excellent, and fascinating – thank you for sharing that Michael..

 

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Ah, got through it, the ‘save’ settings was off the bottom of the page and not scrolling properly.
Very interesting but seems to finish at 1800 so not covering electric clocks. Maybe later.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I heard a fascinating lecture by John Taylor some years ago.  He spoke a lot about his background including that his father ran a textile company in Derbyshire that got a contract to supply heated flying suits to the RAF for bomber flight crews at the start of WW2.  For some reason the company also made bimetal thermostats and had a novel design with a snap toggle action that made or broke the contact very quickly to minimise arcing.  Each suit had one thermostat.  They worked very well.  When the USA joined the war in Europe USAF bomber crews had their own suit design which had a non-snap action bimetal in each section, so at least 5 per suit.  When these broke the contact it took some time to fully open during which the contact arced, generating copious RFI.  So a crew of 6 in a bomber carried 30 RFI sources and German night fighters found that their radio d/f equipment easily allowed them to home in.  USAF losses were very high until they worked out it was actually safer to fly missions during the day.

The rest of the talk was mainly about clocks and I recall it was interesting but that’s the part that stuck with me!

[Michael Gilligan]

On 2 April 2024 at 18:38 Michael Gilligan Said:

Having just opened the April 2024 issue of Horological Journal, I thought I must share this:

https://clocktime.co.uk/

… A splendid ‘Online Museum’ recently launched by Dr. John C. Taylor

Enjoy !

MichaelG.

Thank you for the link Michael.

I got off to a bad start with that site.

On opening it I was informed that my browser is out of date and to please update Safari.

My Safari was already up to date so will have to try on some other device later today.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

I just tried it on an Android tablet and it works fine!

Looks very interesting to check out fully later today.

 

[John Haine]

On John Haine Said:

…….. .  So a crew of 6 in a bomber carried 30 RFI sources and German night fighters found that their radio d/f equipment easily allowed them to home in.  USAF losses were very high until they worked out it was actually safer to fly missions during the day…….

According to a book I read, RAF bomber crews used to leave the IFF switched on over Germany in the belief that it confused the radar. It didn’t, but it provided a homing signal for night fighters.

[V8Eng]

On V8Eng Said

… On opening it I was informed that my browser is out of date and to please update Safari. My Safari was already up to date so will have to try on some other device later today.

Sorry … can’t explain that : it works fine on my iPad

MichaelG.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Ha yes the wonders of technology.

Thank you for the link to that site it is really interesting

I now find clocks and watches more fascinating previously regarding them pretty much as just functional devices.

[David NobleParticipant @davidnoble71990]

That is a brilliant site. Thank you Michael.

David

[David NobleParticipant @davidnoble71990]

The astronomical clock by Vallin is remarkable.

David

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Agreed, David … and his little video is just enough to tease us into wanting to investigate further.

MichaelG.

[Swarf MakerParticipant @swarfmaker85383]

I must admit that clocks are not my thing, but I do admire the effort and enthusiasm of you guys.  I suspect that the announcment in 6th April New Scientist of the new clock at the University of Colorado Boulder that will lose less than 1 second in 40 billion years, probably has you trumped!  Just like some of the efforts related here, preventing room temperature from influencing the performance is a feature!

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I received the first ‘Newsletter’ via eMail this morning

… What a magnificent venture this is !

MichaelG.

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Thank you Michael a most absorbing site — even after a very brief look !

It will for sure absorb more of my time in the future

John

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

For those who are interested in clocks the catalogues for the sale of his collection are available on line at Carter Marsh in Winchester. There is also a longish introduction about him.

Part 1 is here, go to publications/catalogues in the top bar for the other parts.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Briefly resurrecting this thread, to mention that I have just received the fourth Clocktime eMail newsletter.

It is wonderful to see the rich folks at play … and the altruism

MichaelG.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Thanks for pointing out that there is a newsletter. I didn’t look at all the links at the bottom. I’m not seeing a way of getting past newsletters though.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Sign-up page for the Newsletter:

https://clocktime.co.uk/newsletter

and if you want the early ones, I’m happy to forward them by eMail

MichaelG.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Thanks, I did sign up and will see if their system thinks about catching me up before troubling you.

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