Citizen quartz tester

[CompuChron]

Hi,
I just bought that:

But I have no idea on how it works.
First of all , it's on 110v where I get 220, I have this transformer which should be ok:

But the plug from the tester has 3 branches where I have only 2 holes , I guess the third is the ground, can I get rid of it?

Then if it works , I plug of the 3 microphones (2 seems exactly the same) , put my quartz watch on it; set the the button on A or D (quartz frequency??). and what is the use of the measure time buttons?The range buttons?And the gain Button on the top left?

Any help WELCOME ! ! ![/url]

[retroleds]

Olivier: you could get rid of the ground plug(you were correct), but that might pose a slight safety hazard or present your watches with unhealthy electricity. Here in the U.S., there is a standard adapter which costs as little as $.25(yes, cents), everyone here has a few laying about their house. I can mail you one back with those parts I am sending you. :) The adapters have a connection sticking out on the side to either screw to the wall electrical switchplate(which should be grounded) so one can connect a wire for true grounding.

[Old Tom]

Nice Buy! Don't disconnect the earth- either use an adapter with an earthing pin or go out and buy a transformer with an earth loop through. Your timer can handle three different types of watches- watches with quartz oscillators, accutron/mosaba tuning fork watches and standard mechanical watches hence three different microphones (pickups). The quartz and the tuning fork ones normally look identical and may be marked with a symbol somewhere denoting which is which. The gain button increases the sensitivity of the microphone- you sometimes need this with heavy waterproof cases on mechanical watches where the tick is very muffled. I don't know what quartz frequencies Citizen made this machine for- 32768Hz almost certainly and I think the other Citizen frequency will probably be 2.4Mhz (doubt it will be 768Khz or one of the really rare ones). The measuring time buttons are for use with mechanical watches mostly which tick far more slowly than quartz watches so you have to measure over a longer period to get an accurate result (you can use these buttons with quartz watches to get better accuracy but this is rarely justified). The range buttons indicate how many seconds a day the timer is set to measure (so +/- 9.99 spd, 99.9 spd & 999spd ranges)- with quartz you should be at the bottom end of the 9.99 range.

[CompuChron]

Hi,
Thanks for your answers , now it's clear to me and I really want to try it on my watches; It took almost 2 months to arrive.
I have an idea to get rid of the ground problem I have, there is a ground screw at the back:

I think it's for the operator of the machine ,he plugs its grounding band to it , but it has to be linked to the plug's earth , so my idea is:
I get rid of the ground plug to be able to use my volt converter , but I ground the machine through the ground screw at the back that i link to a a radiator ?
What do you think?

[retroleds]

Sounds like a good plan Olivier.

[gjlelec]

Don't ground the machine to the radiator, you are assuming the radiator itself is grounded via the pipework- it may not be. if the machine develops an earth fault you will have a "live" machine AND heating system !! Don't know about France but in the UK there is a particular electrical regulation in place that prevents you doing what you are considering. The only safe method of providing an earth is via the socket that powers the appliance itself. If you decide to ignore this and proceed anyway, can i have your watches :D

[CompuChron]

Hi,

someone sent me the original manual in PDF (How can I post a PDF file on the forum?)after he saw I bought it on ebay (not a forum member).It's in italian but very understable.

First of all , it says that the ground "screw" can be use if your electric plug doesn't have the ground.

By the way , the A stands for analogue and D for ???? Digital!
So, you are right my plumbing pipes may be not linked to the earth so here is my last idea , plug the ground screw to the earth via my electric plug.That's what I did and I've been able to measure the accuracy of some of my watches.



I'll post a Top 1O of my watches soon.

Gjlelec , you have so many watches , you don't need anymore , your wife wouldn't belive that's a gift and you 'll get lot of troubles!

[gjlelec]

A fellow forum member has 600 + watches, i've got a long way to go yet

[CompuChron]

I only have around 20 that I keep and only half digital and this half , half led , half lcd.I keep only the ones that I wear.
So here are the results concerning the LCD:
The winner is......

1 / quartz segtronic Epsa module : - 0,3 / 100 a day

behind are my vintage casiotron , seiko LC , modern seiko all between +0,5 and 0,6

Concerning the LED , I 'm not satisfied with the results I get , they vary too much from -80 to + 80 on the same watch whereas the LCDgive me a steady result.
I must do something wrong, still trying...

[CompuChron]

I read the manual again and everything is well explained except the LED part which is "ALLO studio " that google translates as "under consideration",humm....
Anyone knows how to do it, watch facing up or down?

[Led-Time]

If you have a frequency counter check your results against that it'll show any fast or slow running quartz crystals.

[retroleds]

Don't ground the machine to the radiator, you are assuming the radiator itself is grounded via the pipework- it may not be. if the machine develops an earth fault you will have a "live" machine AND heating system !! Don't know about France but in the UK there is a particular electrical regulation in place that prevents you doing what you are considering. The only safe method of providing an earth is via the socket that powers the appliance itself. If you decide to ignore this and proceed anyway, can i have your watches :D

It's almost impossible to have a "live" heating system - the gas pipes go thru the ground, the water(supply) pipes go thru the ground, the furnace probably sits on a concrete floor and is totally uninsulated from the ground! The common thinking with most large appliances, is to Intentionally "ground" the entire case - or in the case of a heating system, all pipes, housings, ventpipes, etc. That way, if a HOT wire(+) gets loose and make contact with the housing,etc., it will immediatly blow a fuse or pop a circuit breaker. Your grounding lug in the UK does the same job as our ground lug in the US - provides a hard-wired link to "Ground". Only difference: here in the States our normal two-pronged plug is one ground and one hot, and the three pronged plugs are merely supplying a secondary "safety" ground. The primary ground is supplied via the electrical company, the secondary ground is generally clamped to a long rod driven into the ground or clamped to a wire pipe on site.

Safety note: metal ceiling grids for hanging ceilings should always be grounded. Nothing like climbing a metal ladder and finding out the ceiling grid is "hot". Been there, done that.

[CompuChron]

Hi,
I'm afraid that my new toy is not good for LED watches , I read again the instructions (in Italian) and discovered that it can only check "alcuni" (some) LED watches, it's not a matter of quartz frequency but magnetic field different from LCD to LED.
Does anyone has got that kind of machine?