Where is the Webs most accurate time?
 

Hi, I did search this forum before I posted this thread but could not find the answer.
Does anyone out there know of a web site that has a very accurate clock. I want this as I am trying to figure out how much time my new sub gains or looses over say a week.
Before anyone shouts at me, I did notice the clock on the home page of this site. Does that one keep good time?

Jas

I use time.gov here in the US.

x2:thumbsup:

It appears that time.gov is running about 6 seconds fast compared the TRF clock.

Try the Canadian NRC ( National Research Counsel ) atomic clock. You can get UTC on part of the map to get you somewhat close to your local time. Once the Java applet starts, it will show the correct time and how much your computer clock is off by.

http://time5.nrc.ca/webclock_e.shtml

United States Naval Observatory Time

Google it and get the link.

Truth be told, the best way is to acquire a cheapo Citizen atomic. It doesn't have to be a neato-spiffy show-off piece; a simple $30.00 ~ $50.00 usd piece would work just fine.

This watch would (hopefully) sync every night with the closest transmitter, and you'd never have to do math to see how far off your computer is ....

Check on some of the other watch forums that are more closely associated with Seiko/Citizen; study up on the watches available, and how well the reception is in your part of Wales.

Whatever you do, have fun! And please don't set dinner by the results; a few seconds here-and-there really means little in the grand scheme of things .... :thumbsup:

Cheers!
Bill

The TRF clock is not independent.......... it gets it's sync from your computer, so if your computer is off by a bit (and many are) it is a poor choice to use on a regular basis for calibraton..

The USNO clock is a world standard that other standards adjust their clocks to... your computer will also sync to it when you log on to the site (check your auto settings)

http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/time/d...cks/simpletime

Any of the web based sites listed above are good, but are affected by the latency of your internet connection. time.gov gives an appoximation of it on the site. It can be as much as 1.5 seconds or so. Just something to keep in mind.

I think the NRC site I linked shows the time corrected for the latencey. When I just checked it, it said my computer was off by .008 seconds, which is probably close enough for setting a mechanical watch :)

http://time5.nrc.ca/JavaClock/timeDisplayWE.shtml

Robert

Many thanks guys.
I'll check these out, it was only to kep a track of how my new watch was doing.
My dinner is always ready at exactly the same time everyday.
When the wife puts it on the table.

I hope she doesn't read this........

Not sure about online... but I use this to set mine...:chuckle:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/...e70df0b9_o.jpg

Hasn't lost a second in 5000 years!! And it doesn't need winding.:rofl:

www.greenwichmeantime.com

I just dial Tim. :dummy:

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

By the way, latency does not affect the time readings as this is compensated for via packet stamping. (even that is just milliseconds anyway) You can be certain that you will see a consistent and accurate time reading at the above site.

As someone explained, the TRF clock simply displays the time setting of your local machine. If you set the time sync setting on your PC to time.nist.gov, it will be almost perfectly accurate to the above site, at least at the time of sync. PCs are notoriously bad clocks and lose or gain time very quickly.

I use:

www.timeanddate.com

Checked with the US time website... my Computer/TRF time is exact to the second :dude:

The interweb does not operate at the speed of light re; latency.

In the U S of A your tax dollars support the Bureau of Standards; the final ultimate say of "what time is it".

They broadcast every second of every day of every week of every month of every year for your listening pleasure on 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz and 20 MHz. . The best time to listen is when they broadcast a leap second.

Let us not hold our breath waiting for Swiss watchmakers to put that into the ultra high end perpetual calendar watches. They can't even do daylight savings time; my two hundred dollar Casio can easily do daylight savings time as well as any leap second the Bureau decides to add.

Good news for mechanical watch owners; no leap second in 2010.

P.S. So you guys rely on digital timing to set your analog master pieces; your secret is safe with me.

P.P.S. the official time for the U S of A is http://www.time.gov. It may not be correct but it is the legal time and that is what counts in a court of law.

gmt247.com is the most consistent source that I have found. I have noticed some fluctuation, "maybe +-1 second at time.gov". That's not really enough to get to exited about though.

:cheers:

I agree, I use this and it is very good!

Rolex.com :chuckle: really

I bought a $45 digital clock that updates by satellite twice a day. I got it at Levenger.com. So I just sinc my watches to it.

If you want to check the watch's error over a week any of the websites should be good enough. I would expect that the latency would be pretty constant, and so will cancel out in any week to week comparison. And if it's off by a second- that's negligible compared to the drift in most watches over a weeks time.
I use the shortwave radio broadcasts from the National Bureau of Standards because I happen to have a bunch of radios, but that's not practical for most people. My second choice would be the desktop digital clock I got for my wife, it synchronizes to NBS radio transmissions.
Another possibility may be the time on the cable modem. I would assume that the modem is synched to a good clock in order to handle the digital data stream.

Have to agree even a cheap quartz watch will do as long as you check and set it by the same reliable setting source.There seems to be a fixation lately on TRF about spot on accuracy. Afraid that very very seldom happens with any mechanical watch any brand.With mechanical watches there will always be small daily deviations.

I use the gmt site as previously linked on this thread. Seems to be accurate to other sources.