GCR=43.9s (midnight last night was 43.8s) - looking good. Note that speed change due to diameter change on second layer is sqrt(140mm/135mm) = 1.019 (first layer diameter = 135mm, wire diameter = 5mm, drag goes as speed squared) so we expect perhaps GCR=44.7s later on as the weights descend. Air density effects, summer vs winter, max density on a dry cold day is 1.27 and min density on a hot humid day 1.14 is see [link] so the range is sqrt(1.27/1.14)=1.055 and that is about a 2.4s range from extremes.
21 Aug 2013 [18:37]
full wind as well, Imogen Newman watching on ... holding the tubes.
21 Aug 2013 [18:37]
Note cheese weights: TC1-20.5kg TC2-22.7kg TC3-22.7kg TC4-22.2kg TC5-20.3kg + two new ones 21.5kg + 21.5kg StJ1-20.2kg StJ2-22.9kg StJ3-22.1kg StJ4-20.5kg + two new ones 21.1kg + 21.7kg. Extra weights are thick-2.4kg and thin-0.7kg
21 Aug 2013 [18:33]
work with Graham Newman today slowing down the strike - TC strike 159kg to 128kg (5 original cheeses + 5 thicks), StJ strike 137kg to 110kg (4 original cheeses + 5 thicks + 5 thins) Let us see what happens.
17 Aug 2013 [11:11]
Jonnie Hunt, Mael Thomas, Sandy Hunt, Qian Wang did a great job winding. Noon going+Strike time GCR = 40.6s - a bit too fast (note GCR stands for Great Court Run - historically it is around 44s, but changes made in 2007 need to be put right)).
11 Aug 2013 [11:24]
Monique Degimbe, Albert Renders, Annick Renders, Jean-Pierre Coulier hebben de klok opgewonden tijdens hun bezoek aan Pieter! (full marks to anyone who can read that...)
07 Aug 2013 [14:13]
the warm weather has made the first bell of the quarters not sound. We fixed that by a bit of deft metal bending - as I say, always use the right tool for the job (my feet).
07 Aug 2013 [14:12]
doing a bit of recording for The Naked Scientists @nakedscientists with Dominic Ford @dcf21 - a good excuse to do some winding! By the way, what is the terminal velocity of a penny?
04 Aug 2013 [11:59]
Thanks Hilary Costello for winding - good Sunday exercise!
28 Jul 2013 [13:05]
Winding thanks Pieter Coulier, though jet lagged.
21 Jul 2013 [11:17]
Winders today Matilda Sleigh, Elliott Sleigh, Sarah Lavelle, James Sleigh - hot work!
14 Jul 2013 [13:00]
Thanks to Rick Lupton for winding - even hotter. Fantastic temperature compensation in this rising heat [link]
07 Jul 2013 [11:05]
top up wind par Lucie Delpeuch et Jonnie Hunt - hot work
06 Jul 2013 [11:17]
Great that Pieter Coulier has learnt the ropes and is now on my list of winders!
29 Jun 2013 [10:36]
winding after Sam Coxs graduation yesterday. Also with Steve Cox, Penny Cox and Patrick Cox - who will work our a Raspberry Pi app for me!
26 Jun 2013 [09:24]
also winding (and playing BOGIES) Anna Towriss, Ute Towriss, Ed Few, Paul Joyce, Rupert Gatti Caz King
26 Jun 2013 [09:24]
The first game of BOGIES ever in the clock tower! benjamin rose, mossy forbes, jennifer leek, hester stewart, joe evans Great fun!
26 Jun 2013 [09:24]
ADJUST: +300 ms/day to 35600
24 Jun 2013 [21:17]
SPICE meeting today, so winders were James Talbot, Matt Causier, Clare Causier, Ming Jin Tang and others Andy Elson, Simon Driscoll, Matt Watson, Tanya Gray, Hilary Costello, Scott Osprey, Don Grainger, Rob McPheat, Tony Cox,James McGregor, Francis Pope, Dan Peters
23 Jun 2013 [17:17]
ADJUST: -500 ms/day to 35300 - quite why this acceleration has happened is a puzzle.
18 Jun 2013 [22:13]
Rag winner Bethany Craik and her friends, Thomas Rychlik, Jake Lishman, Guus Berkelmans, Jamie Balcombe, John Howe, Cameron Ford, Matthew Varnam. And MathsJammers @MathsJam, Interesting to see this old technology working so well. John Shanks. Matthew Harbage, Edward Cree.
16 Jun 2013 [16:27]
Enjoying the behind the clock tour! @katelamble @joemyerscough @katlay @kayaburgess - a good winding team.
09 Jun 2013 [19:08]
Michael Strasser @pharsicle, Lou Strasser, Jill Graham enthusiastic winders after two evensongs and a trip up Great St Mary, now off to see singing on the river ...
06 Jun 2013 [15:12]
ADJUST: -250 ms/day to 35800
06 Jun 2013 [15:12]
James Appleton @jamesappleton86 Laurie Cuthbert @trinity1546 and Mary Priddey taking photos!
02 Jun 2013 [19:10]
top-up wind. Unjamming of the quarters (over-wound on Friday - I did not think it was possible to over-wind!)
31 May 2013 [11:00]
winding thanks to Hilary Costello, Danielle Wong and Chris Lloyd from Canada.
25 May 2013 [15:03]
winding ably assisted by Lydia Marston-Blaauw and cousin Christopher Hunt, visiting from Vancouver BC. Lydia found one extra step that she did not think was there!
19 May 2013 [09:57]
winding by Piotr Grudzien, Danielle Broadfoot, Raphael Lemahieu, Marek Romanowicz @MarekRomanowicz, Ben Moss @B_R_Moss - makes it easy for me!
12 May 2013 [10:07]
a top-up wind by Torrin MacKay and David MacKay - all on a Sunday morning
10 May 2013 [09:13]
winding by Svetlana Paterson - who is catalogueing (sp?) the old male-voice music up here in the tower.
03 May 2013 [08:28]
ADJUST: +150 ms/day to 36050
03 May 2013 [08:26]
Help with winding by Alistair Potts - he did the heavy one!
28 Apr 2013 [17:00]
winders @FreddieTapner and Ben Moss @B_R_Moss - both engineers, not revising for their exams!
26 Apr 2013 [06:45]
Is this another bloody pigeon standing on the minute hand at 6.45am this morning when the hand is horizontal? [link]
21 Apr 2013 [17:00]
winding by Ron Holding and Andrew Holding - I hardly had to do anything! We removed the fan and thermometers from the pendulum chute - hence the disturbance to the pendulum.
14 Apr 2013 [16:00]
ADJUST: -500 ms/day to 35900, thanks to Hilary Costello - and winders Rick Enns and Maarten Willems from Leuven.
08 Apr 2013 [16:24]
winders just now Aryani Sumoondur and Urs Rauwald - saves me all the effort!15846305881584630588
01 Apr 2013 [16:30]
Winders: Chris Scott on his 60th birthday (wound the lightest weight!), son Alex Scott, Cat Hobart and Mark Claydon - all ably instructed and guided by Rick Lupton and observed by Sarah Claydon, nee Scott. The clock will need winding again next Monday - any volunteers?
31 Mar 2013 [00:05]
GLITCH thanks to Rick Lupton for doing the clock change.
26 Mar 2013 [09:15]
ADJUST: +1000 ms/day to 36400 further adjustment required after last night meddling about.
26 Mar 2013 [09:10]
The fan (sucking the warm air up from below) does not seem to be doing anything. The air is still warmer down at the bottom (like a stubborn temperature inversion). So I have switched it around to blow cold air down. Maybe that will maintain a downward air flow - we will see.
26 Mar 2013 [01:00]
What happened here? Amplitude dropped and going fell - suggests the pendulum got longer.
25 Mar 2013 [19:18]
ADJUST: +1000 ms/day to 35400 after the restart and knocking the pendulum about
25 Mar 2013 [19:15]
With the help of Chris Nickolaus (who did the winding) we installed a fan to even out the temperature in the pendulum chute. Thanks to Mark Rainer for making up the fan (using an old vacuum cleaner tube). Air blowing upwards (sucking warm air up)Let us see if it makes a diference!
18 Mar 2013 [22:06]
ADJUST: +400 ms/day to 34400 - fine tuning after the activity over the weekend
17 Mar 2013 [10:25]
ADJUST: +3500 ms/day to 34000 which is a big change required after last night and the brutal hacking (during which the pendulum was stopped and jolted about)
17 Mar 2013 [01:45]
Winders and witnesses - a Troy of Helens: Helen Arney @helenarney, Helen Scales, Helen Czerski @helenczerski, and the non-Helens: Jasmin Chana, Michael Conterio @Sci_Cam, Matt Parker @standupmaths
17 Mar 2013 [01:41]
GLITCH Major changes tonight - opened up the pendulum chamber with a saw (!) to improve air flow. Hope it will work.
10 Mar 2013 [14:28]
So here is a theory: If the temperature down at the pendulum bob is high then the temperature compensation is not dealing with change in air density (buoyancy). This effect is +30ms/day per degC so a 4C warmer bottom would give rise to a +120ms/day on going. This is not far from observed - note that the clock slower down overnight as the pendulum chute cooled down. Maybe I need to open up the chute to contrive that cool air can get down to the bottom. I might do that next weekend....
10 Mar 2013 [12:12]
pendulum temperatures [15.0 14.3 14.3 11.1 9.9] and note that the minima overnight were [10.9 11.0 11.0 10.9 9.8] so it looks as if the pendulum bottom half cools down a lot overnight.
09 Mar 2013 [13:00]
ADJUST: -300 ms/day to 30500
09 Mar 2013 [12:00]
today installed four thermocouples to measure the temperature down the pendulum shaft. Temperatures now are [15.7 15.2 15.0 11.9 11.9] in degC from bottom to top. the last reading is in the clock chamber . Note that the bottom three readings are where the pendulum swings in the room below - it is clearly warmer there.
04 Mar 2013 [23:03]
Rob Dwyer-Joyce paid for his dinner by winding the clock tonight - well deserved, said the clock!
26 Feb 2013 [23:49]
Conductors - NOT organists! - Alexandra Schwinn, brilliant, Yasmina Sabbah, Zvika Vogel, Sam Allchurch, Stephen Layton, Curtis Kettler - and heaven forbid - did it strike thirteen?
26 Feb 2013 [17:08]
Jack Stilgoe did the two heaviest winds (!) thanks for the assistance
20 Feb 2013 [14:14]
Igor Wowk worked up a sweat today! (well, ran out of breath at least) Many thanks.
09 Feb 2013 [16:16]
ADJUST: +400 ms/day to 30800
05 Feb 2013 [21:16]
Strange glitches in going related to temperature changes, perhaps stiction in the temperature compensated pendulum? It has a zinc tube core around a steel rod and perhaps the zinc contracts in cold weather and grips the rod. I will probably have to take the pendulum apart at the time change next month.
05 Feb 2013 [19:43]
LIVE on Sci_Cam - Watch the show live from Trinity College Clock Tower with Michael Conterio @hughhunt now! [link]
03 Feb 2013 [11:55]
winding today with the help of Roger Kelly - good to have another engineer at hand!
01 Feb 2013 [00:26]
Great to be up with Emma. And Jim (Beam). And expert winders Jess Nyahoe (who was impressed by my clock), Tony Hoskins (less impressed), Ben Watkins. Pat Willis (roof far too cold), Graham Jones (glass always fuller than expected)
25 Jan 2013 [23:14]
Wonderful winders, with the help of Jim Beam, are Andrew Pontzen, Helen Keen, Andrew Holding and Timandra Harkness.
25 Jan 2013 [23:03]
ADJUST: +1000 ms/day to 30400 - it seems the weather has got warm again! Woo
24 Jan 2013 [22:10]
not sure what the collective noun for a bunch of haematologists is, but they were excellent winders tonight!
19 Jan 2013 [18:03]
ADJUST: -1000 ms/day to 29400 Graham Steed helped me wind (not bad after several jars at the Cambridge winter beer fest), and adjust - it seems that this cold weather has accelerated the clock rather...
18 Jan 2013 [00:00]
a bunch of winders, all engineers - after their conference. A pity Emma Watson was not there. Bogies.
13 Jan 2013 [12:40]
winders David Thorp and Amanda Thorp with help from their sons William Thorp and Oliver Thorp - many thanks!
10 Jan 2013 [11:12]
great Aussie winders: alice tilson, charlotte fels, eleanor fels, Harriet Fels, Maddie Fels, Stephanie Loyola Fels, Michael Ignatious Fels of Flemington, Rebecca Fels, Emma Fels, Nick Fels, Robert Fels, Boyd Hilton
07 Jan 2013 [00:59]
winders tonight ... Matthew Turner, Ivan Hare, Kate Mason, Will Pullen assisted by Caroline Fletcher, Isaac Zailer, Sophie Hare, Dmitri Levitin
13 Dec 2012 [13:55]
Just like the Camberwick Green musical box the clock was exquisitly wound by Pam Daish and Lynn Clift. No sign of bogies this time... But we did correct by -15 seconds for the apparent pigeon-on-the-hands events this morning and yesterday.
13 Dec 2012 [07:45]
another pigeon?
12 Dec 2012 [09:15]
was this a reverse pigeon event? The clock was 10 seconds slow later in the dat...
06 Dec 2012 [13:18]
Winders today, Dominic Wood, Richard McCourt, Miles Harris and Patrcik McKeeman - all jolly good fun (and a lot of bogies)
02 Dec 2012 [14:00]
Thanks also to winders David Molony and Claire Jackson
29 Nov 2012 [08:57]
Restart after clock stopped (forgot to wind it!) Thanks for winding help from Sophia Sosnina and Christina Gladkova (very energetic 4-handed!)
28 Nov 2012 [08:30]
Thanks to Takashi Tomura, Chris Warrington and Karen Wells (Trinity Garden staff) for organizing the cherry picker to go up to see the anti-pigeon wire on the minute hand. All seems OK, though the wire was a bit bent - clearly there have been visitors. Thanks to the gardeners for clearing out the pigeon shit from behind the dial, and finding at least one egg!
21 Nov 2012 [13:11]
ADJUST: +150 ms/day to 30400 - Thanks to Graham Newman for his annual grease and oil change. And also for doing the clock maintenance.
19 Nov 2012 [20:05]
Great to have 12th Cambridge Cubs watching the winding, and thanks to Jeebie and King Louis for help with the same.
14 Nov 2012 [12:09]
help with winding today from David Vasak, thanks!
12 Nov 2012 [08:35]
4-minute correction of pigeon event. Inspection of the clock dial revealed no damage to the pigeon wire, so i) was it a pigeon? ii) if so then how did it manage to avoid the wire? iii) might it have been some other form of vermin????
11 Nov 2012 [23:45]
A midnight-pigeon event? - clock stopped for 4 minutes when the minute hand was horizontal. trin-hosts.trin.cam.ac.uk/clock/?menu_option=data&from=11/11/2012&to=11/11/2012&xmin=22&xmax=24&skip=1&channel=amp Perhaps a rat? Will need to check the anti-pigeon wire.
10 Nov 2012 [11:00]
ADJUST: -250 ms/day to 30250. Thanks to Ramses Verachtert for help with winding
03 Nov 2012 [17:00]
winding thanks to Athena Tan and Hilary Costello, who noted the new Sugru winding marks (not blue tack!)
28 Oct 2012 [09:00]
ADJUST: -2400 ms/day to 30500, adjustment required after refit of barometric compensator
28 Oct 2012 [00:15]
restart - after fiddling around with the barometric compensator, installing two new aneroids. We will see if there is a difference....
27 Oct 2012 [23:05]
GLITCH clock stopped for end of Summer Time, witnessed by Krisztina Szilagy, Michael Koehl, Heonik Kwon, Florence Privett and Rick Lupton who is helping with the data acquisition system and Mark Rainer who is helping with the barometric compensator and UPS
09 Oct 2012 [11:00]
Thanks to Roderick Blevins for help with winding
01 Oct 2012 [20:00]
rather a large (drunken? no, surely not!) bunch of freshers came up to see the clock. The glitch is presumably due to air density change affecting the pendulum buoyancy. Could this be? What is the partial pressure of ethanol in air?
28 Sep 2012 [11:35]
There must have been a power failure because the PC was not running when I came in just now. Restart successful. Must fix the uninterruptable power supply.
28 Sep 2012 [11:15]
Useful observation: the strike (both Trinity and St Johns) survived 10, 11 and 12 beyond the 7-day winding, ie 10+11+12=33 strikes. This means that the usual afternoon winding time would be satisfactory up to just before 8pm because 1+2+3+4+5+6+7=28. By this time however the going will have run out of juice.
28 Sep 2012 [11:05]
Thanks to visiting winders: David Sloan, Adam Caulton, Brian Pitts, Jeremy Butterfield (the last only did the light-weight job)
21 Sep 2012 [08:35]
Sophie Hunt, my niece from Melbourne, did a great job winding today. Muscle building!
14 Sep 2012 [09:10]
winding today from the bowels of the kitchens!! Chris Appleby and Malcolm Winter were excellent - saves me building up a sweat.
31 Aug 2012 [12:02]
Great to have winding help today from Daniel Flack, Anne Bahnweg, Lucy Oswald, Len Howlett - all very expert!
30 Aug 2012 [14:15]
visit to clock with Robyn Williams, presenter of The Science Show, ABC Radio National
24 Aug 2012 [13:00]
Excellent winding from Robin Sharp and Greg Winter