Cheap Timegrapher Timing Machines any good??

[rdwiow]

Gents
Anybody had any dealings with these cheap Timegrapher watch timing machines on ebay?
I have any ancient valve Greiner Chronografic, which works but i fancy updating it, so any thoughts/experience welcomed.
Cheers
Rob

[JeremyO]

I've been tempted myself but feel it may just fuel my OCD so I'm steering well clear!

[Thewatchbloke]

The Timegrapher 1000 is an excellent bit of kit for a hobbyist, it measures the critical parameters - beat rate error, amplitude, bph and +/- seconds per day. You manually enter the lift angle for the movement you are checking.

I don't know why I struggled so long without one. :)

[JDB]

I've been tempted myself but feel it may just fuel my OCD so I'm steering well clear!

Mine arrived today.

My wife made the same remark about OCD but I pointed out that if I wasn't already a hopeless case I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

[walkerwek1958]

I bought one a few months back, an MTG 3000 for around £350 inc postage. It's excellent and seems to be v. accurate.

Can`t see how anyone can service watches without one of these; excellent for helping to diagnose problems too or just to confirm that a watch is running well and doesn`t need attention.

Not sure what the diference between the various models is. There is an MTG 4000 available for a few quid more.

Paul

[Jocke]

I have a Mod 5000 and it works great. I use to check my Rolex's when they are
back from a service so the AD have made a great work. Thay use to be spot on.

[MattMoore]

are there any other machines about at a similar price to the eBay ones? will be buying one soon but haven't done a huge amount of research yet.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

[Barry]

They are really great tools, you can easily spot when you have made a mistake :)

[Thewatchbloke]

Send me the hands off your 7005 please Barry!

Oh and they tell you when you've got it right too :wink: :

[ben4watches]

The Timegrapher 1000 is an excellent bit of kit for a hobbyist, it measures the critical parameters - beat rate error, amplitude, bph and +/- seconds per day. You manually enter the lift angle for the movement you are checking.

I don't know why I struggled so long without one. :)

Talk to me about movement lift angles :?

[Thewatchbloke]

The Timegrapher 1000 is an excellent bit of kit for a hobbyist, it measures the critical parameters - beat rate error, amplitude, bph and +/- seconds per day. You manually enter the lift angle for the movement you are checking.

I don't know why I struggled so long without one. :)

Talk to me about movement lift angles :?

The lift angle is calculated by the amount of time the impulse jewel (or pin) is in contact with the pallet fork as the balance wheel oscillates. The diagram below illustrates the principle:



Once the timegrapher has this information it can accurately calculate the rest of the parameters by listening to the tick tock of the movement.

Most watch movements are 51/52 degrees, but there are many that aren't. There are tables available on the web where you can find out what the lift angle of a particular movement is, such as:

http://pczw.uhren-mikl.com/downloads/gamma.pdf

[ben4watches]

Excellent thankyou :)

The Timegrapher 1000 is an excellent bit of kit for a hobbyist, it measures the critical parameters - beat rate error, amplitude, bph and +/- seconds per day. You manually enter the lift angle for the movement you are checking.

I don't know why I struggled so long without one. :)

Talk to me about movement lift angles :?

The lift angle is calculated by the amount of time the impulse jewel (or pin) is in contact with the pallet fork as the balance wheel oscillates. The diagram below illustrates the principle:



Once the timegrapher has this information it can accurately calculate the rest of the parameters by listening to the tick tock of the movement.

Most watch movements are 51/52 degrees, but there are many that aren't. There are tables available on the web where you can find out what the lift angle of a particular movement is, such as:

http://pczw.uhren-mikl.com/downloads/gamma.pdf

[rdwiow]

The time has come....my trusted old Greiner has died!
Where is the cheapest place to buy an entry level Timegrapher in the UK?
Thanks gents for any guidance.
Rob

[Lampoc]

The time has come....my trusted old Greiner has died!
Where is the cheapest place to buy an entry level Timegrapher in the UK?
Thanks gents for any guidance.
Rob

Still ebay - there's some in Stoke for £150. The same model on Cousins is £295....

[rdwiow]

Thanks Lampoc,
I may well get one at a later date now as I have my Greiner running again with the aid of some switch cleaner and swabs on the beat count range switch, the contacts were very dirty, this was making the drum speed go all over the place and hence the trace too ;-)

[JFW]

I have a 1000, basic but effective bit of kit. I just pop on a watch and listen to it tick.

[dkpw]

I've recently bought one and decided to use it on my Getat PAM homage which while great value, was annoyingly fast.



After two rather nervous adjustments, I managed to get to this.



I appreciate that my regulation has not really improved the accuracy of the Asian clone movement, that would require proper attention but I'm still pleased to have been able to make the watch run more to time. The timegrapher also enables you to establish positional regulation which helps with the Getat and my others.

Cheers

David