Watchtiming Machines

[hsfrank]

I am contemplating buying a watch timing machine. In the under $200 range there seems to be two basic types. Fredric Constant has a clip onto your watch type while the are a variety of (Chinese under different brand names) digital with microphone with stand types. I have several questions.
1. will using them magnetize your watch as microphones have magnets?
2. Is one type more accurate than another?
3. Are there differences in brand names of the watch stand type ( e.g. Ace, Welchi etc.)
4. Any recommendations.
I will only be using it for my own OCD info not to try and adjust.
Thanx

[Fredrik]

I have a cheap welshi timegrapher 1000, it is good enough for hobbyist use.

1. Not all microphones have magnets. There is most likely a piezo electric contact microphone in this sort of devices. (So, no.)
2. The Swiss made brands have more functionality, I do not know about accuracy.
3. I believe all the Chinese ones come from the same factory, I have even seen them rebranded and sold from EU companies as their own.
4. Get the cheapest Chinese one you can find, it is good enough for your usage.

Have fun!

[hsfrank]

Thanx

[keepitsimple]

Originally Posted by Fredrik

I have a cheap welshi timegrapher 1000, it is good enough for hobbyist use.

1. Not all microphones have magnets. There is most likely a piezo electric contact microphone in this sort of devices. (So, no.)
2. The Swiss made brands have more functionality, I do not know about accuracy.
3. I believe all the Chinese ones come from the same factory, I have even seen them rebranded and sold from EU companies as their own.
4. Get the cheapest Chinese one you can find, it is good enough for your usage.

Have fun!

Agreed. The (many times more expensive) swiss ones have more functionality, which is useful or should probably be essential to a good watchmaker, but probably of little use to us amateurs. They can also be calibrated - the chinese ones (I have one) have a USB socket marked "calibration" but I've never found any info on how to do it.

The timegrapher type machines have the microphone stand which lets you check in each of the 6 positions. Not so easy I think without that stand.

However, if you are in any way OCD, don't buy one The absolutely perfect mechanical watch has never been made (yet). You will never be content with what it tells you.

[sdimi]

Originally Posted by keepitsimple

Agreed. The (many times more expensive) swiss ones have more functionality, which is useful or should probably be essential to a good watchmaker, but probably of little use to us amateurs. They can also be calibrated - the chinese ones (I have one) have a USB socket marked "calibration" but I've never found any info on how to do it.



The timegrapher type machines have the microphone stand which lets you check in each of the 6 positions. Not so easy I think without that stand.



However, if you are in any way OCD, don't buy one The absolutely perfect mechanical watch has never been made (yet). You will never be content with what it tells you.

I agree. No watch will read perfect in every position. It was an eye opener for me how much better my modern Rolex’s are versus my older ones although a freshly serviced older piece still reads well. I bought the Weishi. The good thing is I found problems with a couple of watches before they became a serious concern and have them in for service.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Purple Hayz]

I went with the Ace Timer branded model 1000 (just a rebadged Weishi) and it has served me well. Cheapest I could find with a gain adjustment, which is invaluable when trying to time thicker cased movements and/or those with plastic/composite escapement bits (Tissot Powermatic, Sistem51, etc.). For $100-$120, it's a great little unit.

At full wind, my black bay bronze had a ton of noise on the beat trace using the default settings (and thus produced erratic estimates of the ADR, even with 30+ second sampling intervals). See attached photo.

Lowered the gain a couple notches and she ran great.

[hsfrank]

Are there any manuals or websites to interpret the graph.

[Fredrik]

I think I got a simple manual with my machine? But I know there are some videos on youtube explaining what you see on the graph.

The graph itself is basically just a visual representation of the deviation(slope) and beat error(separation of dots).

[hsfrank]

Originally Posted by Fredrik

I think I got a simple manual with my machine? But I know there are some videos on youtube explaining what you see on the graph.

The graph itself is basically just a visual representation of the deviation(slope) and beat error(separation of dots).

Thanks

[alangloi]

Originally Posted by Purple Hayz

Lowered the gain a couple notches

What is the procedure to lower the gain on those timers?

[sdimi]

just stumbled across this article which gives some good explanations of how to interpret the graphs.
http://www.watchprosite.com/watchtec...64521.9175486/

[hsfrank]

Many thanx for the help and info to Steve and Rik. TRF you are the best!

[AEC]

I loaded an ap to my iPhone for this. It's called "Watch Tuner". I only want to learn differences in rate between positions, as I find this a useful way to manage accuracy.

For example, I knew that my Explorer ran ~+4/day while worn and rested dial-up, and after using the ap to measure its rate in various positions, I learned that it runs ~-2/day in the crown-down position. Now I can rest it in that position and thus extend the period of time between corrections.

[Csu87]

ive had the cheap ones and the more expensive ones and the accuracy is very close to each other.

the biggest thing i noticed with the cheap ones is if i had it plugged into an outlet with something else, i sometimes got some weird readings on my graph. I am guessing it is due to some electrical interference/noise.

As for how to read it, google "how to read a timegrapher" and there are lots of results. Oddly enough though some are on fake watch sites, but the info is correct.

There is also a guy on youtube (blanking on the name but if you youtube "service 3135" there is a 3 part video and thats the guy) that will go through what the different items on the timegrapher mean, and how to adjust them into the acceptable range.