NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Accurate quartz watches
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2005 Mar 19, 13:01 +1100
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2005 Mar 19, 13:01 +1100
Everyone seems to be concentrating on how accurate a timepiece might be, but what is more important is how stable the gain/loss rate turns out to be. A watch that seems very accurate, ie, only gains/loses little BUT is adversely affected by, for example, changes in temperature is inferior for the purpose of knowing the correct time (using a log of past performance) than a watch that may gain/lose much more but does so at a stable and predictable rate. This is especially relevant to the discussion of quartz watches, which in my personal experience can be very accurate but unfortunately prone to swings, perhaps explained by recent postings. No, they were not particularly expensive models. In practice (a minimum of) 3 (perhaps quite ordinary) time pieces are needed, PLUS (more vital than individual accuracy) a log for the three of sufficient duration to be assured of their predictability. With one it is the sole and indisputable authority; with two it is indeterminate which is the authority, with three the logs can be compared for useful information - especially regarding changes in rate of gain/loss.
