Object Details
Description
This clock was built at the U. S. Naval Observatory about 1936 as part of an experimental program to control time signals transmitted by radio. It is a quartz clock, that is, it depends on a specially cut piece of quartz crystal to keep time. The search for a better timekeeper than the best pendulum clocks led to the development of quartz-crystal clocks, the first of which telecommunications engineers at Bell Telephone Laboratories built in 1927 to monitor and control frequencies.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Transfer from U.S. Naval Observatory
date made
1936
ID Number
ME.319994
catalog number
319994
accession number
240411
Object Name
clock
clock, quartz
Other Terms
clock; Electronic (Quartz); Free-Standing Clock
Physical Description
metal (amplifying apparatus material)
metal (time indicating mechanism material)
Measurements
overall: 44 1/2 in x 20 in x 17 1/2 in; 113.03 cm x 50.8 cm x 44.45 cm
See more items in
Work and Industry: Mechanisms
Military
Time and Navigation
Measuring & Mapping
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_850827