Hi Jon:
Here is another example, at www.swanstrom.net/sundial . It does require
some alignment action, you grab the analemmic plate on the front and face it
(within a couple of degrees) toward the sun, then read the time directly on
the equatorial dial.
It's fairly precise. For my birthday last month, my father gave me one
of those digital watches that syncs automatically with the radio time signal
broadcast from Scottsdale, AZ. I stopped by the park the other day to
compare this with the sundial, and found my new watch to be 6 seconds fast!
;-) (Seriously!)
As a side note, I did manufacture this park sundial out of 304 stainless
steel, with a brushed finish on the equatorial face. In four years the
sundial has attained a light burnished color, which is not unpleasing. No
rust spots, just a light brown sheen. The edge of the shadow from the
analemmic gnomon on the brushed finish face of dial is distinct, and not at
all difficult to see.
Pete S.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Noring" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 10:53 PM
Subject: New to sundials; interested in heliochronometers
> Also, having a mechanical engineering background, one can say I am a
> fanatic (read: "anal") on accuracy and precision. Thus, I have a stong
> interest in sundials which can determine standard and/or local solar
> time down to a minute or two (I believe these sundials are termed
> "heliochronometers", am I right?)
> I'd like to know of other designs for heliochronometers, historical
> and current. And I'm especially intrigued to know of designs that do
> not require any alignment interaction nor adding or subtracting minutes
> to compensate for the EoT (the heliochronometers mentioned above are
> "interactive", if I have that terminology right), and those which use
> shadowing (besides the Sawyer Equant) rather than projection of the
> solar disc using a pinhole (the Gunning) or using a mirror/prism (the
> Renaissance.)
> Thanks!
>
> Jon Noring
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