Re: power-grid physics

[Bernard Cleyet <anngeorg@PACBELL.NET>]

From an horologist friend:


Bryan and list, in Utah (SLC) last week the AC clock in the same room as a
precision mechanical weight regulator suddenly showed approx a 19 second
"gaining" of the regulator.  This being very odd, I adjusted neither clock
and now they are within 1 1/2 second of each other.  I think the line
frequency drifted off as the regulator is within 3 sec/month
consistently of
WWV Fort Collins.  So I guess the generating plant speeds up the frequency
to maintain accuracy over a long period of time.  Or, so it seems.  Wiser
heads out there, please set me straight.   Bill Maier


To: "clocks Mailing List" <clocks@clocktech.com>
Subject: [clocks] - Are AC clocks slow this week?


>  A physics teacher in Michigan has reported that his AC clocks are
>  about 18 seconds slow. He attributes this to the recent blackout and
>  slowness of the power grid to return to full regulation of the
>  frequency. Has anyone else noticed this?

bc



Clarence Bennett wrote:

> Yesterday I noticed the synchronous clocks I had reset last week were
> lagging by seventeen seconds, compared to the GPS.
>
> Then a midnight, they had advanced to   -15 s.
>
> At 7:30 today it was   -18 s.
>
> The grid is not up to speed yet.
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Clarence Bennett
> Oakland University Physics
> Rochester, Michigan
> 248 370 3419
> 248 377 4048