Frequency Deviations In Continental Europe Are Causing Electric Clocks To Run Behind By 5 Minutes (entsoe.eu)

elgatozorbas shares a short note from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E): Apparently the Continental European Power System has been off since mid-January, causing some clocks to run behind by 5 minutes. How common are these mains-frequency synchronized clocks anyway, and why are they built that way? "The power deviations have led to a slight drop in the electric frequency," reports ENTSO-E. "This in turn has also affected those electric clocks that are steered by the frequency of the power system and not by a quartz crystal... All actions are taken by the transmission system operators (TSOs) of Continental Europe and by ENTSO-E to resolve the situation."

Comments

A wake up call

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait... 5 more minutes.

Re:AC mains is excellent if done right

[fahrbot-bot]

A quartz crystal has excellent short-term accuracy, but lousy long-term accuracy.

Diamond engagement rings are like that too.