Regulating My ETA 2824-2

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keepitsimple
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Re: Regulating My ETA 2824-2

Post by keepitsimple »

watchaholic wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:11 am Anybody have any experience with a Lepsi Scope? Kind of pricey but might be an alternative to the chinese instructions. Would like to get into this process of regulating but still have a lot to learn.
Apologies upfront - I haven't used a Lepsi. I can see they would be very useful if you're buying a watch face to face to check it out, but a few things come to mind.

If you're going to regulate a watch, you need a microphone stand that lets you hold the watch safely with the back removed. The proper timegrapher microphones do that. The Lepsi device won't I think - it's just like a contact microphone.

Their blurb says it will calibrate your computer/ipad/android device. That's gotta be a good thing, but phones and pads especially aren't renowned for their short term clock accuracy, as it can depend on what other processes are going on - a lot of them being things you have no control over.

If you want to try out timing stuff before buying something bespoke, one option would be to download TG (https://tg.ciovil.li/) which is freeware, and runs under Windows and a few other OS, (not sure about android or IOS though). Add a cheap Guitar pickup (mine was £2.76 !) and you're good to go.

It does more than timing by also showing you the escapement noise graphically. What you do with that as an amateur is moot, but if you're at all geeky it's interesting and it could be useful to snapshot and send to your watch repairer for advice. It also will do calibration, although in a different way, but the issue of clock consistency is still there I think. With that simple setup you still don't have any secure way of dealing with the watch with the back off.

I wrote the comment about the clarity of the Chinese instructions and to be fair, that is the most impenetrable bit (!) Although those devices are deprecated by some (but not all) professionals who have their uber-expensive Witschi stuff, they do a surprisingly good job and are easy to use. You can't calibrate them yourself, but they have a dedicated processor to do the timing, and mine certainly gives reliable results.
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Re: Regulating My ETA 2824-2

Post by TG3N »

keepitsimple wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2019 11:03 amAlthough those devices are deprecated by some (but not all) professionals who have their uber-expensive Witschi stuff, they do a surprisingly good job and are easy to use.
I tend to agree with you - in fact, I follow a lot of the well-known, smaller, independent watch repairers on instagram etc. and a lot of them still use their Timegraphers. In essence, the cheap chinese timegraphers & expensive Witschis still measure the same simple things, and watch technology hasn't developed out of all recognition over the years either. Perhaps there is a point at which upgrading to the more expensive gear reaps rewards - snazzier displays, co-axial capability etc. - but for most a Timegrapher is an adequate tried & trusted tool.
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watchaholic
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Re: Regulating My ETA 2824-2

Post by watchaholic »

I noticed the apparent lack of a stand as well, guess you are expected to hold it in your hand. Without a secure stand it almost becomes just another expensive toy. Just looking at pics on ebay. Then there is the bigger problem of me becoming obsessed with the timing of everything all the time. :lol: . I have a demagnetizer for the big stuff. Thanks for the detailed explanation. That's why we are a part of a group like this and it is much appreciated. :thumbup:
Time and money? I’ve spent most of mine on booze and women. The rest I just wasted…
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Re: Regulating My ETA 2824-2

Post by keepitsimple »

...any type of watch timing device is best avoided if you are even slightly OCD.
They WILL drive you nuts :problem:

I was chatting with my piano tuner a few weeks ago. He will never listen to piano music because all he can do is listen for the faults.

Like any mechanical watch, no perfect piano tuning has ever been achieved.
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watchaholic
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Re: Regulating My ETA 2824-2

Post by watchaholic »

SUCH good advice. :lol: :thumbup: :clap: :D Will probably look into the tg app just for fun tho...and try to keep my currently undiagnosed OCD at bay.
Time and money? I’ve spent most of mine on booze and women. The rest I just wasted…
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