BTW, in spite of everything you have read, there are actually 25 standard time zones not 24!
The zone descriptions run from +1 to + 12 (12 time zones); -1 to -12 (another 12 time zones); plus the zero time zone (GMT or Zulu time) for a total of 25 time zones. Using the military time zones designations, they run from "A" to "Z" (Alpha to Zulu) omitting only "J" (Juliette.) There are 26 letters in the alphabet, take away "J" and you are left with the same answer, 25 time zones.
gl
--- On Sun, 10/30/11, Gary LaPook <garylapook@pacbell.net> wrote:
From: Gary LaPook <garylapook@pacbell.net> Subject: [NavList] Re: The time zone of Greenwich To: NavList@fer3.com Date: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 1:06
PM
I never got your question but perhaps this will help, I previously posted it on the TIGHAR website which is devoted to the Amelia Earhart search, Itasca was the Coast Guard vessel waiting for the plane at Howland island: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Time" is a human construct so has no meaning on an uninhabited island
since the land crabs do not wear watches. People choose whatever "time"
is convenient for them. In the olden days every town kept its own time
with towns further east seeing the sun rise before towns further west so
their clocks were ahead and displayed a later time. With the arrival of
railroads it became necessary to coordinate schedules across distances
east and west so the concept of "zone time" was invented. Standard time
zones are 15 ° wide because the sun travels 15° west every hour so this
makes the "zone times" differ by exact hours. They extend 7.5 degrees
(7° 30') each way from the standard meridians (which are spaced every
15° starting with the Greenwich Meridian) for that zone. This is the
system used at sea but is often modified on land for convenience by not
using the exact dividing lines between zones so that entire political
units, such as states , can be on the same time and also some countries
change their time to "daylight savings time" in the summer. So, for
example, the standard meridian for the time in California is 120° west
longitude and the zone extends from 112.5° (112° 30') to 127.5° (127°
30') west. To make it easy to convert from a zone time to GMT ("Z" time,
or Zulu time) the zones are given numbers (called "Zone Descriptions,
Z.D.) that you add to the zone time to find GMT. For California time it
is + 8 so you add eight hours to California clocks to find Zulu time.
(It changes for daylight savings time to + 7, but only in the U.S. It
remains + 8 at sea.)
There is an exception in that there are two
zones, each only 7.5° wide (7° 30'), abutting the 180th meridian. To the
east the Z.D. is + 12 while to the west it is - 12 to account for the
clocks saying the same time in each of these zones but the date being
different. An example will make this clear. If you are at 174° 30'east
longitude (west of the 180th, Z.D. - 12) on July 3rd and your clock says
2100 you subtract 12 hours and the GMT is 0900 on July 3rd. If you are
at 174° 30' west longitude (east of the 180th, Z.D. + 12)
your clock also says 2100 but your calender says July 2nd. You add 12
hours and and find the same answer, 0900 the next day, July 3rd.
The Navy regulation in force since 1920 required that their ships
maintain standard zone times but provided exceptions when it was
operationally convenient to use a different, non-standard, offset from
Zulu time. The standard correction factors for converting one time to
another used by navigators and, by regulation, the Navy is to use the
sign that will convert local time to Zulu time, this is called the "Zone
Description" (Z.D.) and must be recorded in the log book and next to
the clocks. Itasca kept their clock set to 11:30 slow on Zulu so to
convert Itasca time to Zulu their Z.D. was +11.30. Other users however
see the problem in the reverse sense and use a correction factor that
will convert Zulu time to local time so they would call to correction
factor for Itasca time as -11:30 which added to Zulu time will produce
the local time kept on Itasca. That is what I meant by the different
"sign conventions." Either method will work as long as you keep it
straight and don't get confused.
gl
--- On Sun, 10/30/11, John Brown <jdb0302@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: John Brown <jdb0302@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: [NavList] Re: The time zone of Greenwich To: NavList@fer3.com Date: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 12:36 PM
Hello Frank As a non-Scot Living in Scotland, I am aware of a certain amount of heat generated by this proposal, which originates in the south of England and is thus deeply suspect hereabouts. None of the arguments, either for or against, seem to me to carry much weight. For those who believe fervently in devolved government there are also apparently serious suggestions that we have different time zones within the UK. As I have long understood that the the land area of the UK is one seventh that of
Texas and with a population of 60 million, this seems to be a non-starter. It does bring us back to the beginning of standard time in this country. Before the advent of the steam engine, rail travel and timetables, every town, village and hamlet in this country kept its own local time, with no apparent ill effects on farmers' health, road safety or livestock. Hello Gary I was interested to follow your link to the time zone map of the world, where I saw an example of westerly zones being named negative. I did post a follow up to my original query and the reasons for it a few days ago, but it disappeared into the ether. Maybe this one will get through. Anyway, thanks to all who responded. John ---------------------------------------------------------------- NavList message boards and member settings: www.fer3.com/NavList Members may optionally receive posts by email. To cancel email delivery, send a message to
NoMail[at]fer3.com ----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|