timegrapher goes quiet, but...
I just got a delivery of vintage watches today. They all appear to be running.
However, with one watch, an "Excalibur", the timegrapher failed to produce a reading. Any reading. I switch the machine on, and ... nothing. Note that the watch is actually running.
A timegrapher app on my phone gets 18000 bph and claims a rate of 21.3s/d, which is not too terrible for a watch that is unlikely to have ever been serviced. But the app also moans that I should check the mike settings.
I never had the timegrapher being quiet about a running watch, neither did I ever see a phone app produce a reading when the timegrapher did not. Any ideas what might cause this?
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Balthazar
UK-based German expat. Likes cheap watches. Not bothered about brands.
Member since
Last active: 13 hrs ago
There’s a timegrapher app?
There’s a timegrapher app?
there are several, at least 3
there are several, at least 3
Can’t find a decent looking one on iPhone that isn’t £30 so I think I’ll give it a miss. No idea why your machine wouldn’t work when an app on your phone would. Presumably the dedicated machine would be more sensitive. The phone maybe filtering background noise out of the signal so it’s “hearing” the watch? Like noise cancelling.
So no reading? Or just the speaker
There’s a timegrapher app?
They don’t work that great
Gosh no, I haven't opened the case.
So no reading? Or just the speaker
No reading on the time grapher at all.
It may have been that the watch was unwound for too long, and struggled to get going. When I gave it a full wind with the help of a crownwinder it would then register on the timegrapher; it even had a decent amplitude of 281 degrees. The movement appears just very quiet.
Since you mentioned vintage, are you sure the movement has a Swiss lever escapement? Other types weren’t uncommon, even in Swiss watches, until the 60s.
Since you mentioned vintage, are you sure the movement has a Swiss lever escapement? Other types weren’t uncommon, even in Swiss watches, until the 60s.
I have no idea what movement this has, beyond 18000 beats. Excalibur is not exactly a well-documented brand.