The Synchronome Master Clock: an ambient video

This is a Synchronome Master Clock, dating from the 1940s. It was gifted in memory of Marcel Perras, a Canadian who was a student in the mid-1950s. A clock such as this was carefully designed for perfect accuracy. The master clock often regulated several other clocks, known as 'slave clocks', across a large building or site, ensuring they all had the correct time. The master clocks used pendulums. They were powered by electricity. It takes 30 seconds for the vane (the needle attached to the wheel) to make a full circle. The vane is caught by the catch. The catch is attached to the gravity arm. The movement of the catch makes the arm drop, pushing the pendulum whilst also pushing together two contacts. This completes an electric circuit, making the electro-magnets work. These draw the reset arm, moving the gravity arm back to its first position, where the catch holds it in place. This movement breaks the electric circuit, releasing the reset arm. And so, the whole process starts again. In telegraphy, the Regeneration System (Regen - designed to receive, strengthen, and send on signals automatically) used such master clocks to synchronise all its instruments so the system would work correctly. #telegraphy #clocks #ambience