Reliability of Phonic Chronometer

Abstract

The followings subjects about the phonic chronometer are investigated experimentally in order to check its reliability:
1. Hunting.
2. Gear ratio.
3. Variation in the frequency of tuning fork due to the room temperature.
4. Variation in the frequency of tuning fork due to the supplied voltage.
5. Effect of variation in the room temperature on the chronometer.
6. Effect of variation in the exciting current through the controlling magnet.
7. Irregularity in operation.
Summarizing the experimental results, it is as follows:
1. Hunting does not occur.
2. The gear ratio hardly changes due to the variation of room temperature.
3. The frequency of tuning fork slightly diminishes due to increasing the vibrational amplitude of the prong.
4. The performance of the chronometer slightly changes due to the variation of room temperature.
5. The error of the chronometer rapidly increases due to diminishing the exciting current through the controlling magnet.
6. The probable errer due to the irregularity of operation is nearly±0.003 seconds.