NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Time and cel nav, a stupid question
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2008 Apr 24, 00:12 -0400
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2008 Apr 24, 00:12 -0400
Fred, you wrote: "How does that reconcile with my wife's AT&T phone being identical in time to mine?" Your guess is as good as mine. It's nearly impossible to find out what these things are doing internally. Even people who develop software for cell phones often have to guess on some behaviors. And: "I don't think either have been set, other than to adjust time zone in mine. Can you set the time in your new phone?" Yes, I can set the time. Windows Mobile phones usually let the user set the time. But there's just enormous variety among cell phones, and I'm afraid that the only viable conclusion is that the days of highly accurate cell phone time are over. After all, there's no market demand for it. It was fun while it lasted! On the other hand, they're still good clocks. The rate of mine (even when I take it off the network) is only about one second per day and it seems stable. "If so, more precise experimentation might be interesting, such as a video of 3-6 phones changing minutes." Darn. I did that three years ago one night at a bar to prove my point! We had five phones set side-by-side from a few different service providers. I made a video of the roll-over and it appeared to be exact to a fraction of a second. I don't think I have the video anymore. I'll dig around and see if I can find it... You wrote: "I have visions of Frank walking down the street in Chicago buried in the internet when he bumps into somebody. Frank: "Oops, pardon me." Other guy, real big and mean: "What are you doing? Watch where you're going. You shouldn't be walking while playing with your phone. Let me see that thing!" Bye-bye phone." Oh, no, not to worry. Once I explain that I was merely checking for new messages on NavList, doing my part to preserve the legacy and practice of celestial navigation and other traditional methods of position-finding, I am sure he will understand. I'll probably have to sign him up for the group. ;-) -FER --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Navigation List archive: www.fer3.com/arc To post, email NavList@fer3.com To , email NavList-@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---