D. I. Y. Watch Timing Machine.

[JohnR725]

2 hours ago, guidovelasquez said:

Excellent, Very grateful, I was not aware of this longer article.

I was doing a file search On my computer for the version you have and it looks like I never had the short version before. It looked familiar but I'm guessing it's because it looks kinda like the longer version. What I like about the longer version is PDF page 32 talks about the microphone. Specifically the ways in the microphone and this is where I had found the reference that using a high pass filter and keeping it everything above 1000 Cycles and everything under isn't important.

[CWRNH]

I was able to find Piezo mic elements that work well with my preamp and fit in the Vibrograf pickup.   Very difficult to find.  Had to make a mounting plate to use in Vibrograf pickup.  I tried several different piezos in several configurations before I found one that worked.  I will be creating a document on what I used and how to mount.  This setup is sensitive and has very little background noise.

[CWRNH]

The latest board I am working on.  Everything works well on the breadboards I hope the complete board is satisfactory.

I am documenting everything and will post the info on how to build it when I get it all finished.

[LittleWatchShop]

What are the LEDs...a VU meter?

[CWRNH]

5 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

What are the LEDs...a VU meter?

LOL.....  Overkill, just to indicate the level of charge in the rechargeable battery.  It will also have an LED that will flash to the impulses from the watch.  I will probably change the indicator to less LEDs, something like 4 levels.  

Using 9.6v battery that when charged puts out 10.2v.  

Then there is a voltage regulator, then the rail splitter, and a power amp for line/speaker out.  The the volume pot will be changed to a normal one and put to the front of the board. 

One LED is to indicat power on, one is to indicate Power amp on.

I also made some changes to the preamp circuit.  I will be make bigger changes in the next version.   The mics will be of several types, some passive, some active.

[guidovelasquez]

9 hours ago, CWRNH said:

Very difficult to find.

We'd like to see details and information on what worked for you.

[CWRNH]

2 hours ago, guidovelasquez said:

We'd like to see details and information on what worked for you.

I will post the setup, I have to take the pickup apart to take pics. 

[LittleWatchShop]

4 hours ago, CWRNH said:

Overkill

Its the journey...never forget...enjoy!!

[Jdg123]

[deleted]

 

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Jdg123

[JohnR725]

59 minutes ago, Jdg123 said:

[deleted]

You do know that even though you deleted the message some of us see it as emails And it feels unfulfilling to come here to see what we can do to help you if you deleted your message?

 

[Jdg123]

I’m sorry, I was thinking wrong on the watch I initially talked about, but I’m still not sure if it is working correctly, I have tested a relatively new Hamilton with a ETA 2801-2 that actually should run pretty well but the timegrapher shows rates fluctuating from +100m/d to -300m/d (I haven’t worn the watch lately, but that has to be wrong) I‘ll upload another soundsample and the pictures of my mic settings. 

[Jdg123]

soundsample

I just tested a few more modern watches (eta 2824, 2801 and a sellita sw200 last one is just a year old) and they all show the same problem, the timgrapher reads a pretty big beat error and the amplitude fluctuates substantially. Im not sure if it actually is the tgs fault or the watches acutally run that bad (which would make me even more sad).

 

[JohnR725]

6 minutes ago, Jdg123 said:

’m sorry,

Not necessary you have a classic problem that we all have from time to time. How do we know if our timing device timing software timing app timing whatever is actually telling us what's really going on with the watch? In other words all of the devices can be fooled under certain condition and give faulty information.

Usually though most timing machines work just fine. The problem comes up if you're doing a DIY like this group or variety of the apps for devices where it really be nice to have something that we know absolutely what it's doing. Like this it be really nice if we could get the Chinese to clone this then it would be affordable.

https://www.witschi.com/en/group-of-devices/measurement-of-mechanical-watches/microsignalgenerator/microsignalgenerator.html

 

[JohnR725]

10 minutes ago, Jdg123 said:

soundsample

We need a picture of your setup and those with better hearing than mine can probably give a better diagnostic as I don't like the way that sounds at all. has a background sound or background echo or a hollow sound or a better description needed. Then a photograph of the oscilloscope and whatever else the timing software is showing

[Jdg123]

I’m using a piezo pickup going through this guitar amp into my pc. 
To keep out surrounding noise when I’m testing a cased watch I put it in this padded watch box. 
The amp goes into the line in on my pc. Its just super weird, the watch that showed -300 minutes per day was reading its usual +14 spd at 310 degrees shortly after and now it shows -42m/d at 180 degrees.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Jdg123

[Jdg123]

now it looks like this. at the beginning the beat error was around 0,4ms but after like 2/3rds of the recording it went "snowstormy".

[watchweasol]

Hi You might find the attached a useful read, The official training manual.

Witschi Training Course.pdf

[matabog]

2 hours ago, Jdg123 said:

now it looks like this. at the beginning the beat error was around 0,4ms but after like 2/3rds of the recording it went "snowstormy".

 

check the "Plot raw watch sounds..."

I think you have a low signal to noise ratio

Edited April 5, 2021 by matabog

[Jdg123]

1 hour ago, watchweasol said:

Hi You might find the attached a useful read, The official training manual.

Witschi Training Course.pdf 4.65 MB · 1 download

Thanks, I’ll check it out!

12 minutes ago, matabog said:

 

check the "Plot raw watch sounds..."

I think you have a low signal to noise ratio

I’ll try that, thanks!

[Jdg123]

15 minutes ago, matabog said:

 

check the "Plot raw watch sounds..."

I think you have a low signal to noise ratio

Now the software tells me it’s unable to detect a consistent tick.

 

edit. I just haven’t plugged in the amp. Overflowing with stupid today...

Edited April 5, 2021 by Jdg123

[Jdg123]

It is looking way better now, the values are way more like I’d expect them to be from when I was wearing the watch. How do I reduce the noise so I can uncheck the button again and get good readings? 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Jdg123

[matabog]

your signal is too low in ratio to the noise. You need higher and cleaner amplification...

[Jdg123]

I’ve been using the volume instead of the gain knob on the amp (again...stupid), I think that wasn’t helping with the noise 

after listening to a few recordings my signal now looks like this, with 0dB “artificial” amplification from the software.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Jdg123

[matabog]

looks better - it should work

[Jdg123]

Thanks for the help