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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."
Many used induction motors and had a neon lamp illuminating markings on the side of the platter, providing a reliable 60 Hz strobe. Just tune the speed until the markings stand still.
A big contributor to that is re-branding. Once the "name" brands became just the shoddy generic with a nice name plate and some veneer on it, it became impossible to tell if the $25 item was really better than the $5 item. The only criterion left to the consumer was the price.
Strong consumer protection laws could correct that, but at least the U.S. seems to be completely disinterested in that. Make retailers replace the $5 widget that breaks in a month and they'll stop selling them QUICK. They'll also stop selling the $25 widget that is just the $5 widget with an expensive name on it.
In "the old days", farmers would use two incandescent bulbs in series connected across the hot lines of 2 generators. They would adjust the speed and phase until the lights went out, then throw a switch to connect them.
That is fascinating. I had no idea such things were necessary or that 'normal' people had the ingenuity to solve these problems.