Timegrapher is widely used in watch manufacturers, product quality inspection agencies and metrological verification departments. They are used to measure the time accuracy of various clocks, watches and stopwatches. They are usually expressed by the rate relative to the standard clock, and the unit is seconds/day (s /d) or second/month (s/m), referred to as daily difference or monthly difference.
The method of Timegrapher to measure the daily difference is to use acoustic, electrical and magnetic sensors to convert the oscillating signal sent by the clock into the corresponding electric signal, and use the counting method to measure the deviation of the period of the electric signal from the nominal value, and calculate the daily difference value. . The speed of the clock mainly depends on the deviation of the actual value of the frequency of the main oscillator used in the clock (electronic watch is crystal oscillator, mechanical watch is hairspring) from the nominal value, which is called frequency accuracy.
How to use the Timegrapher?
Take WeiShi 1000 as an example.
WEISHI 1000 TIMEGRAPHER consists of two parts:
The stand of the watch, which contains the micro microphone. Readout device with buttons and screen. These two components are linked together.
1. Put the watch on the stand
Look at the watch stand. There is a metal bracket on the left and a plastic bracket on the right, which you can slide back and forth. In this way, watches of different sizes can be placed on the shelf.
Place the watch on the stand, and then adjust the plastic components as needed to gently hold it in place. The top of the dial should face up. I suggest you use some tape or electrical tape to cover the metal. The surface of the tape is softer than the metal on which the watch rests and prevents scratches.
2. Turn on the Timegrapher
Plug in the power cord and find the power switch. Power on the device.
3. Adjust the settings
If you have adjusted the settings, all you need to do at this time is to keep it stable. The Timegrapher will automatically obtain its readings.
If you want to access the menu, click the red “Start/Stop” button to stop the device. Then, press the “Menu” button to enter the menu.
You will see four settings in the menu:
Beat rate
Raise angle
testing time
Language
The test time is the time the device will collect its readings before displaying the results. The more time you give it, the more data it can detect. Since the result you get is the average of the data measured by the device, the more data you include, the more accurate the reading will be. If you are in a hurry, you can use one of the shorter test cycle settings. However, if you want the most accurate readings, please choose the longest possible test time. We usually set it to 12 seconds.
The two available settings for the beat rate are automatic and manual. Generally speaking, automatic setting is fine.
Raise angle. If you are worried about getting an accurate reading of the watch’s amplitude, this is the most important setting. If the set lift angle is wrong, the swing reading will be inaccurate. If it is a modern watch, the lift angle is usually 52 degrees.
4. Press the start button
5. Wait a minute, check the reading
No matter which test time you choose, you should consider waiting for a while before checking the readings. You don’t need to do this if you leave the watch for a while, but you only need to place it or have been fiddling with it ever since. You need to make it stand still, otherwise the reading will be inaccurate.
6. Record the readings of various positions
You will notice that the watch frame can rotate. There are good reasons for this. Not only does the watch have to stand still all day long. When you move around, your watch will also stop in different positions. You want to know its accuracy in multiple locations. Therefore, you can test the data of multiple orientations of the watch.
The number you see on the display is aligned with the label on the top of the device: Rate, Amplitude, Beat and Error.
Ideally, the rate will fall within +/- 7 seconds per day. This means that your watch has an error of no more than 7 seconds in the forward or backward direction each day. If it is within +/- 20 seconds, it is still acceptable. Obviously, it is best to set it to 0 or as close to 0 as possible.
A good reading for swing will be between 270 and 310. If it is between 250-270, it is fine, but not ideal. If you get readings outside these ranges, what does that mean? This may mean that your watch needs to be wound, or it is time for the movement to be maintained.
Beat Error is another reading you want to set to 0 or as close to 0 as possible. If you see a time of 0.5 milliseconds or less, it means it’s in good condition. If it does not exceed 1 millisecond, it is not too bad. However, if you get a reading higher than 1 millisecond, there is a problem with the watch.
If you keep the device running and continue to observe, you may notice that a series of points form a straight line. If the dots are neatly close together and basically parallel to the horizontal line, it means that there is no error and the daily difference is zero; if the dots are neatly close but the straight line slopes downward, it means that the machine is running normally, but the travel time is fast; if the points are neatly close, but Slope upward in a straight line, which means that the machine works normally, but the travel time is slow;
The watch is not perfect, no matter how exquisite it is, and there may be small differences. The goal is just to get an average.
You will also notice differences between readings at different locations. This is also to be expected, for example, the amplitude reading of the face-up or face-down position may be higher than the amplitude reading when the watch is in other positions.
Everything is very open with a very clear description of the challenges. It was definitely informative. Your site is very useful. Thanks for sharing!