Shortt–Synchronome clock
Precision pendulum clock invented by William Hamilton Shortt and Frank Hope-Jones / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Shortt–Synchronome free pendulum clock is a complex precision electromechanical pendulum clock invented in 1921 by British railway engineer William Hamilton Shortt in collaboration with horologist Frank Hope-Jones,[1] and manufactured by the Synchronome Company, Ltd., of London.[2] They were the most accurate pendulum clocks ever commercially produced,[3][4][5][6][7] and became the highest standard for timekeeping between the 1920s and the 1940s,[7] after which mechanical clocks were superseded by quartz time standards. They were used worldwide in astronomical observatories, naval observatories, in scientific research, and as a primary standard for national time dissemination services. The Shortt was the first clock to be a more accurate timekeeper than the Earth itself; it was used in 1926 to detect tiny seasonal changes in the Earth's rotation rate.[3][7][8] Shortt clocks achieved accuracy of around a second per year,[3][9][10][11] although a recent measurement indicated they were even more accurate. About 100 were produced between 1922 and 1956.[10][12]
Shortt clocks kept time with two pendulums, a primary pendulum swinging in a vacuum tank and a secondary pendulum in a separate clock, which was synchronized to the primary by electro-mechanical means. The secondary pendulum was attached to the timekeeping mechanisms of the clock, leaving the primary pendulum virtually free of external disturbances.