Still Off The Grid

[hmmm_tea]

So the EDF generator is still sitting on the corner of the close next to the substation, which makes me suspect we're still not on the National Grid.

In other news my alarm clock seems to be gaining about 2-3 minutes a day at the moment. It only seems to have been doing so since the weekend though.

Could the generator be effecting it?

Seems feasible to me, but then I know very little about power generation and digital clocks.

Comments

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't have thought so; but it is 20+ years since my one year of electronic engineering, so I'm not really the right person to give advice.

[coldclimate.livejournal.com]

Yes- they take their time siginiture form the frequency of AC. Normally 50Hz. A generator being engine driven and probably un regulated, would appear to be churning out a slightly higher frequency.

[tienelle.livejournal.com]

Some clocks do. Most modern ones use a resonating quartz crystal, which shouldn't depend too strongly on the mains frequency.

At least, I hope most modern clocks use a quartz crystal. It's plainly the right answer.

[(Anonymous)]

Clearly the right answer indeed. The only thing that made me thing that this might not be the case in the case was a)it would explain it and b) the binary clock schematics I once tried to follow used a counter with 50,000 output AND'd to the trigger for the seconds counter.

[hmmm-tea.livejournal.com]

I suspect this modern clock got the wrong answer then, as it seems a bit of a coincidence the clock speeding up at the same time as the generator appearing, but who knows these things happen.

[coldclimate.livejournal.com]

previous comment was me by the way.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Not Effecting but Affecting.

My mains-powered alarm clock always appears to be gaining time too, compared to the battery powered ones, my watch and my mobile phone. (My computer is out of the running, because whenever the wireless network card crashes it the clock stops too.) I wonder also whether it's something to do with its being mains powered.

[(Anonymous)]

There is a legal requirement for the generators to supply an alternating current at fifty hertz.
The generator was obviously running slow under load.
Try making a compensation claim.