Watch Master watch timing machine
Datecirca 1960
Inventory Number2003-1-0171a
ClassificationFrequency Standard
Subject
Maker
American Time Products, Inc.
fl. 1950 - 1991
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions20 x 24 x 30 cm (7 7/8 x 9 7/16 x 11 13/16 in.)
Material
Accessoriesearphone; pickup (SPO 882-1); watch holder (2003-1-0171b); instruction manual (different make but explains use of this instrument, in library: Lib.6122)
Bibliography
DescriptionA grey metal case with ventilation holes on its sides and top, with a lid covering a paper reel with a printer bar above it. It has a control panel with three dials labelled "VOLUME", "CHART" AND "CONTROL". It has an input socket for a clock ticking sensor, and an output socket that can be connected to a microphone. Its electronic components are tube-based with a few transistors from the early 1950s.
Signednameplate under front cover: MODEL G-57 WATCH MASTER TYPE T-1, SERIAL 58500 AMERICAN TIME PRODUCTS, INC.
FunctionThis is a device used for calibrating wrist watches that charts the timing of their ticking on a paper tape. The rotation of the paper tape is controlled by a very accurate quartz frequency standard and the printer bar sweeps periodically from left to right very rapidly and prints a dot when it receives a signal from a ticking detector (a microphone optimized for listening in contact with solids and for the frequency of the noises made by watch escapements) that is amplified by the machine. The sweep frequency of the printer bar is adjusted such that when the watch is perfectly synchronized, the resulting plot should be a horizontal line. If the clock is ticking too slow or too fast, the line will have a slope, and irregular beating will be manifested by curving plot lines.
Look at the following YouTube video to see how it works.
Look at the following YouTube video to see how it works.
American Time Products, Inc.
Date: circa 1960
Object number: 2003-1-0171b
Pacher & Peithner
Date: dated 1950
Accessories: A nine page carbon copy, on thin smooth paper, of a type-written script is folded in quarters in the base of the canister. It explains the film, gives credits, and narrates the footage. A photocopy of each page is in the file for this instrument.
Object number: WJ1217
Hickok Electrical Instrument Company
Date: 1955-1965
Object number: 1998-1-0879
George Washington Pierce
Date: circa 1926
Accessories: 8 batteries (removed during FAE inventory).
Object number: RS1275
Zenith Radio Corporation
Date: 1961
Accessories: Operating guide, behind rear panel. There is a shoebox with a handle and an antenna.
Object number: RS0034
Department of Physics, Harvard University
Date: mid 20th-late 20th Century
Accessories: variety of spare parts cataloged as 2004-1-0408c-g
Object number: 2004-1-0408a
Western Electric Company
Date: 1925-1930
Accessories: chestpiece and earphones (2)
Object number: RS0790
Department of Physics, Harvard University
Date: mid 20th-late 20th Century
Object number: 2004-1-0411
Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company Ltd.
Date: 1922-1924
Accessories: Wireless earphone
Object number: RS0045
Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen)
Date: 1956-1958
Object number: 2015-1-0003
See also/See also
