At the time, this new alloy was composed of 70% to 80% tin and the rest of copper, lead, antimony and occasionally bismuth. Craftsmen who worked with pewter chose to make simple, finely designed, generally unornamented pieces with designs particularly adapted to Pewter. As more and more craftsmen took up the trade, pewter items became more accessible to the “common folk” and quickly became very popular. Its use spread into taverns and cottages.

When glass and pottery was introduced, pewter was not in great demand any more. Why? Because of the lead component, the pewter tarnished readily and needed frequent polishing. If the pewter was allowed to tarnish, bringing the item back to its original shine meant having to submerge it completely into a lye solution — not an easy task!

Then along in the early 1970’s, pewter making was revived, with a major difference This new modern pewter, labelled as “Fine Pewter” is composed of at least 90% tin with the balance made up of copper, antimony, bismuth or silver — NO LEAD ALLOWED! This means that Fine Pewter items require very little care. It does not tarnish, rust, or deteriorate. What a glorious advantage for modern pewter buyers.

And that’s not all. Because pewter is an easy medium to work with, artists can create 3 dimensional items with exceptional detail, items such as clocks which are exquisite in detail and charm.

In addition, since fine pewter ranks as the fourth most precious metal in the world (following platinum, gold, and silver) and manufacturing these pewter items still involves a lot of hand craftsmanship, one would think that pewter items are only for the rich. Not so! Pewter items made of fine pewter are still within a person’s budget, — and because of the hand craftmanship involved, 3D items will vary slightly so this possibility creates a market for collectors.

Also, fine pewter can be easily engraved by a competent jeweller.

So why are fine pewter clocks getting to be the in thing?

US-made fine pewter are guaranteed 100% lead free, and is composed of 97% tin with the balance made up of copper, bismuth, and silver

Clocks made of this fine pewter require very little upkeep, (a quick wipe with a damp clock, dry and that’s it!), are safe to handle, are fairly light, and are real “eye catchers”.

Add the fact that the customer can bring his/her clock to a competent jeweler and have it engraved with an inscription — what a great memory creation!

Yes, fine pewter clocks are very collectible and affordable. A fine pewter clock can be cherished for its uniqueness, its longevity, and its lasting value. Get one! You will be happy you did!

About The Author

Marcelle Snyder

Born in New Brunswick in 1942, Marcelle Snyder started her teaching career at the age of 19. In 1976, she and her two daughters moved to Ontario where she continued her teaching career at Durham College. Recently retired, Marcelle picked up her second interest, decorating, and decided to sell her favourite clocks on the internet. Always interested in learning, she researched the origin and evolution of clocks, especially the grandfather clock and pewter clocks, and wrote articles summarizing some of her findings. You can read some of these articles at http://www.AwesomeClocks.com.

m.snyder@sympatico.ca

Written By: Marcelle Snyder

It was during Louiss time at the NPL that he began working to develop a quartz crystal oscillator as he believed they were capable of measuring time as accurately as a pendulum based clock. Ten years after joining the NPL Louis had invented the Essen ring. This was an eponymous invention which took its name from the shape of the quartz which Louis had used in his latest clock and which was three times more accurate than the previous versions.

Louis soon moved on to newer areas of research and began to study ways to measure the speed of light. During World War II he began to work on high frequency radar and used his technical ability to develop the cavity resonance wavemeter. From 1946 it was this wavemeter which he used, along with a colleague by the name of Albert Gordon-Smith, to make his lightspeed measurements. It has been acknowledged recently that Louiss measurements were by far the most accurate to have been recorded up until that time.

During the early part of the 1950s Louis began to take an interest in research which was being carried out at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in the United States of America. He learnt that work was being carried out to invent a clock which was more accurate than any other. The American scientists were using the idea of maintaining a clocks accuracy by using the radiation emitted or absorbed by atoms. At that time the Americans were using a molecule of ammonia but Louis felt that this was not working as well as if they were using different atoms, such as hydrogen or caesium, and so he began working on his own clock using these materials instead.

1953 saw Louis and a colleague, Jack Parry, receiving permission to develop an atomic clock at the NPL based on Louiss existing knowledge of quartz crystal oscillators and other relevant techniques he had learned from the cavity resonance wavemeter he had previously designed. Only two years later Louis’s first atomic clock was running, Caesium I, designed by the UK scientists. Development in the United States had all but stopped due to political difficulties.

Louis continued to work on his atomic clock and by 1964 he had managed to increase the accuracy of the atomic clock from one second in 300 years to one second every 2000 years! The continued success of Louiss work resulted in the definition of a second being changed from 1/864000 of a mean solar day to being calculated as the time it took for 9192631770 cycles of the radiation in an atomic clock.

Louis Essen died in 1997 and before his death had been honoured with, amongst others, an OBE and the Tompion Gold Medal of the Clockmakers Company.

About The Author

Steve Gink uses atomic clocks, you can find his articles about them at atomic clocks or visit www.atomic-clocks.org the site contains information about atomic clocks and some images.

steve.gink@gmail.com

Written By: Steve Gink

Today, an atomic clock is the most accurate time-measuring device, and to manipulate our hectic schedules, we need constant reminders about every second wasted or gained. Having an atomic wall clock in our homes, offices, or public places affects our transportation, manufacturing, communication, and other technical functions.

We have swaggered hours away from sundials, the sand hourglass, and cuckoo clocks (with a cuckoo bird popping out every hour), or the carved wooden grandfather clock ticking in the hallway. The later pendulum and crystal quartz clocks were accurate but needed constant servicing. Atomic wall clocks have changed time viewing and are available in different designs and features, depending on the manufacturer. A radio-controlled atomic wall clock is reset to the US WWVB atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado, and can adapt automatically for daylight savings time. Some wall clocks have added features to monitor indoor temperatures for extra climate comfort or jumbo letters for checking time from distance.

Design and color are secondary, as the hallmark of a reliable atomic wall clock is that it should not require frequent setting and should automatically adjust to time changes. Most atomic wall clocks have their time corrected on regular basis through signals from regional stations. A clock purchased in the U.S. will not work in Europe or the Far East, as clocks contain chips specific to a region. Another important checking point is battery operation. Preference should be given for electric wall clocks, as battery back up is not a long-term proposition.

Technology has advantages and makes our lives comfortable. But there is nothing to beat the traditional wall clocks, with their tick-tocks reverberating throughout the entire house. A grandfather clock has a pendulum that oscillates back and forth to produce time-sound, while an atomic clock has preset alarm sounds. We do have crossovers, old models with the latest technology, but ask any wall clock collector and the answer would be that there is nothing to beat the romance of wooden wall clocks with Roman letters.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Atomic Clock Times provides detailed information on Atomic Clocks, Atomic Clock Times, Atomic Alarm Clocks, Atomic Wall Clocks and more. Atomic Clock Times is affiliated with Printable Calendars.

Written By: Richard Romando

Time measured by rotation of Earth is not uniform when compared with time kept by atomic clocks. It was not always so, and atomic clocks underwent changes before giving us accurate time. The first atomic clock, built at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards in 1949, was a maser with attached equipment. It was followed by advanced atomic clocks that provide high accuracy by allowing for microwave interrogation of atoms isolated from each other and from any exterior disturbance.

Atomic clocks are used as time standards for counting the passing seconds. In 1884, the Greenwich Mean Time or GMT was established as first global time scale and UTC, its atomic equivalent, was established as the official time for the world in January, 1972. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures, or BIPM, is the official keeper of atomic time for the world. In the U.S., the National Institute of Standards and Technology\’s NIST-F1 is an example of accuracy with neither gaining nor loosing a second. Atomic clock time is important for global positioning of satellites, various missiles, rocket programs, aviation programs, navy, power distribution, mobile and landline telephone systems, the Internet, GPS, and digital television. The movement of the earth causes random fluctuations in length of days and years, and the atomic clock has been able to manage the anomalies of time differences. A recent example is the leap second added due to slowing of the earth\’s rotation on December 31, 2005.

The unique measurement capability and success of atomic clocks is such that time and frequency have far higher accuracy than any other physical quantity. NASA uses atomic clocks to provide reliable and consistent navigation for interplanetary space travel, where fractional disparities in clock tick rates can dramatically affect the navigation of spacecraft. Similarly, computers are coordinated with atomic clock time and sitting anywhere in the U.S., we can have access to precise minutes and seconds.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Atomic Clock Times provides detailed information on Atomic Clocks, Atomic Clock Times, Atomic Alarm Clocks, Atomic Wall Clocks and more. Atomic Clock Times is affiliated with Printable Calendars.

Written By: Richard Romando

The majority of digital radios can be more versatile with the purchase of a home adapter. With this adapter, your digital radio can be used in your home, car, or other portable means. The installation is easy, most just snap right into your existing digital radio. Once installation is complete, you now have a digital radio alarm clock with the option to wake up to whatever your sound preference might be.

In the United States, XM Satellite Radio is probably the most popular choice for a satellite radio service provider. XM offers two options for those interested in digital radio alarm clocks. The Audiovox Xpress has the versatility of being used in the car as well as an alarm clock in your home. Simply set the alarm time, select the channel, then simply fall asleep. For those that do not use a car in their daily commute, one great option is the Delphi MyFi. This digital radio receiver is portable, similar to an iPod, but has the option to be placed in a home stereo unit at night. Once it is connected, this unit can serve as a digital radio alarm clock.

Sirius Satellite radio offers home kits for most of their receivers. With this kit, your digital radio can also be used as an alarm clock. Using Sirius is beneficial in that their products are designed for all their add-ons to be compatible with each other. Simply purchase a receiver and home system, connect them and set the desired alarm time.

About the Author:

As an author at http://www.eZ-search.us, Chris Miller contributes to the growing content found within the site and shares his knowledge about digital radios at http://www.digital-radios.ez-search.us

Written By: Chris Miller