On Wed, 6 Jul 2011 17:19:47 +0100, "Gareth Magennis"
wrote:

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
"Phil Allison" wrote in message
...

But do you know [whether] any voltage drop is really NEEDED?

Gee, Phil, I thought you were omniscient.

Though you'd think the mechanical nature of the Accutron's timekeeping
process would remove any interaction with the electronics, it's not so.

The user manual specifically states that the watch runs a bit fast with
new
cells, until their initially slightly high voltage "settles in" to its
nominal value. Therefore, an Accutron will run fast with modern cells.

What a crap design then.
Gareth.

Sigh. If you have ever worn a spring wound watch of the period when
the Accutron was first introduced, you might change your opinion. When
compared to todays high accuracy, low power, LCD watches, the Accutron
is indeed inferior. When compared to the commodity watches of the
early 1960's, it was a miraculous improvement.

The Accutron has one transistor and one tuning fork. If you can build
a power supply voltage insensitive oscillator watch drive, with the
technology available in the early 1960's, you're welcome to try.

http://www.elektron.demon.co.uk/accutron.html

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558