This may be a Dumb Question, but..

[firewalkwithme]

How did everyone know the exact time before the internet and people could check with GMT or accurist?

I guess my question is, how did people check if their watch was accurate.

Just curious.

Kyle

[portable75]

I remember a phone # you could call for the time.......

[wantonebad]

http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java

Set your watch buy it and check it at whatever interval your testing it by

[frostie]

I got mine 4 days ago so i am not qualified to answer

[Prince]

Originally Posted by firewalkwithme

...I guess my question is, how did people check if their watch was accurate.
Just curious.
Kyle

Probably used a nice brass sundial or something...

[Rockrolex]

Originally Posted by firewalkwithme

How did everyone know the exact time before the internet and people could check with GMT or accurist?

I guess my question is, how did people check if their watch was accurate.

Just curious.

Kyle

Short answer: They couldn't. It took atomic clocks and radio signals to get the accuracy that some WISes look for.

[Carolina]

Originally Posted by Rockrolex

Short answer: They couldn't. It took atomic clocks and radio signals to get the accuracy that some WISes look for.

[flumazenil]

Originally Posted by portable75

I remember a phone # you could call for the time.......

I also remember calling "time" when I was younger. My, I must be getting old. I also remember rotary phones!

[Tools]

WWV is a radio station that broadcasts the time 24/7.. and has for decades.

If you had a radio and could pick it up (HF), you got to-the-second time, just like the internet. Multi band radios were much more common than today..

Many local radio stations would rebroadcast these signals.

Air Traffic Controllers and others that were required to have accurate time usually had this station on all the time.. All you had to do was turn the volume up and set your watch..

Read about WWV here.. It still exists.

http://tf.nist.gov/stations/wwv.html

[firewalkwithme]

I also remember there was number you could call to get the weather for the day and the time, but I guess I never really cared about accuracy until recently. And yes I too remember rotary phones, plus my parents still have on.

So from what I'm gathering, no one really knew just how accurate their watch was. So basically, people just took other peoples word for it.

So can someone who lived in a rural area that owned a Rolex, actually know if their watch was within +(-)1 30 or 40 years ago?

Kyle

[firewalkwithme]

Originally Posted by Tools

WWV is a radio station that broadcasts the time 24/7.. and has for decades.

If you had a radio and could pick it up (HF), you got to-the-second time, just like the internet. Multi band radios were much more common than today..

Many local radio stations would rebroadcast these signals.

Air Traffic Controllers and others that were required to have accurate time usually had this station on all the time.. All you had to do was turn the volume up and set your watch..

Read about WWV here.. It still exists.

http://tf.nist.gov/stations/wwv.html

Tools, Thanks for the info.

Kyle

[JBat]

Originally Posted by portable75

I remember a phone # you could call for the time.......

Lol! "At the tone, the time will be..." Those were the days.

[StanGMT]

In the UK, we used to have the Greenwich time signal transmitted by the BBC, also the telephone clock. Nowadays I just use a radio-controlled clock.

[Tools]

Before the days of radio, the railroads dictated the time for their areas.

Since the time had to be very accurate for the trains to make their switches and ETA's without running into one another, the Railroads were responsible for "coordinating" time.

Railroad pocket watches were some of the most accurate, and a responsible railworker would know how fast or slow his timepiece was with the Railroad local master clock. The back opened so conductors and engineers could reset/time their own to the companies master time..

Of course the gentleman WIS of the era would go to the train depot and set their watch for the day...

[firewalkwithme]

Originally Posted by Tools

Before the days of radio, the railroads dictated the time for their areas.

Since the time had to be very accurate for the trains to make their switches and ETA's without running into one another, the Railroads were responsible for "coordinating" time.

Railroad pocket watches were some of the most accurate, and a responsible railworker would know how fast or slow his timepiece was with the Railroad local master clock. The back opened so conductors and engineers could reset/time their own to the companies master time..

Of course the gentleman WIS of the era would go to the train depot and set their watch for the day...

very interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing all that wisdom.

[robrtx]

Years ago working on ships we used to tune to WWV daily to compare ship's chronometers to UTC.

Chronometers were used in navigation calculations (before GPS!!) and it was critical to have accurate time to know where you were.

[Golf11]

I used to call the US Naval Observatory's Master Clock in DC, but since the internet haven't had need to do that. I have OCD when it comes to all the clocks and watches having the proper time...it's a sickness, kinda like my watch collecting disorder.

[monkfish]

Originally Posted by StanGMT

In the UK, we used to have the Greenwich time signal transmitted by the BBC, also the telephone clock. Nowadays I just use a radio-controlled clock.

Teletext was supposedly accurate too.

[Beef]

You can buy a Grundig (Eton) AM/FM/Shortwave Radio from L.L. Bean, Campmor.com, Radio Shack for about $30. You can pick up WWV or WWVB or WWVH(depending on where you are) on 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 MHz on the shortwave bands. You will hear a "Tick-Tock" then about 10 seconds from the new minute: "at the tone the time will be 1406 UTC." Hack your watch at the tone. This is a neat "retro" way to set your watch, one that would appeal to many of you on this Forum. Note that voice broadcast via radio does not travel at the same speed as the signal that sets your atomic radio controlled clock. So, although they originate at the same place (Ft. Collins, Co.) the time may be a few seconds different. See "Tools'' link for more info.

http://tf.nist.gov/stations/wwv.html


[/QUOTE]

[djohst]

They Just stopped POPCORN the "At the tone..." lady last October or November. I heard that the system that it ran on just got to old to maintain and that everyone had the internet and a cell phone now.

[slojoh]

popcorn

[slojoh]

wear it, who cares!!!

[Beef]

Originally Posted by djohst

They Just stopped POPCORN the "At the tone..." lady last October or November. I heard that the system that it ran on just got to old to maintain and that everyone had the internet and a cell phone now.

Damn, another "old reliable" goes the way of the buggy whip!

[Beef]

Originally Posted by djohst

They Just stopped POPCORN the "At the tone..." lady last October or November. I heard that the system that it ran on just got to old to maintain and that everyone had the internet and a cell phone now.

Just to check, I pulled out my Grundig Shortwave, strung my fish-reel antenna and tuned into 10 Mhz- static. I went to 5 Mhz- electronic sounding tick-tock and "At the tone...." a male computerized voice, but still up and running. So you can still hack your watch the "old fashioned" way. Thank God for small pleasures.

[mdx77]

Originally Posted by portable75

I remember a phone # you could call for the time.......

Yeah, and it was a direct line to JJ's house.