The Bad Time Cell Phone

The other day a friend told me the time based on her cell phone's clock.

She said "your clock is two minutes fast." "Bullshit," I exclaimed in a nice way, "my clock is correct because it's synched with the USN clock in Colorado."

"But my phone has to be correct," she replied, "as my phone's time is set by my cell phone service."

Well, it turns out that she was wrong. We verified the time by calling the USN clock service in Washington D.C., and in fact her clock was about 90 seconds slow.

Happily, most providers of time information are getting more accurate. Here's my latest "clock accuracy matrix", using the USN telephone clock (202-762-1401) service as "accuracte":

AT&T GSM service (via Nokia 6820): 5 seconds slow
AT&T TDMA service (via Nokia 3360): 8 seconds slow
Verizon Time Telephone Service, Boston (617-637-1234): 20 seconds fast
SBC Time Telephone Service, Hartford (860-524-8123): 5 seconds slow

NIST Time Telephone Service (303-499-7111): Accurate
Cheapo Radio Clock from Target: Accurate
Verizon CDMA service (via Qualcomm 860): Accurate
WENH-TV XDS time (via Panasonic 4522): 1 second slow
1-800-555-TELL service: Accurate
Verizon Time Telephone Service, Hawaii (808-565-9211): Accurate
Verizon Time Telephone Service, Washington D.C. (202-844-2525): Accurate
Unknown Telephone Service, Macdoel, CA (530-767-8500): Accurate

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, part 1: Disassembly Guide

I've had my SodaStream Jet for years, and once in a while something has gone wrong. Disassembly is the first step to repair. Start with this article to see how to disassemble the SodaStream, and then once you have that down, scroll through my other articles to see how I repaired specfic SodaStream problems. SodaStream Jet Disassembly Guide Tools Required Flat head screwdriver Phillips head screwdriver 1. Remove the Carbonator. Duh. 2. Remove the black panel lever The front big black tilt lever needs to be removed first. Removing this panel is tricky, but it isn't impossible. Looking up at the bottom of the black panel, there are two tabs, one on the left and one on the right. These tabs fully secure the panel in place. The trick is to use a flat-head screwdriver under the plastic to gently lever the tabs out of the way. Note in the pictures how I approach these tabs with my screwdriver. I usually release the left side first, and then I release ...

Sodastream Carbonator Leakage, Usage, and Weight

SodaStream 60L "Carbonator" CO2 cylinders have a specific weight when empty, plus about 410 or so grams for the CO2 they should have when they're "full". A little while ago I went to buy a replacement Carbonator from my local hardware store. The dealer pulled a new Carbonator out of the box and sensed it was lighter than usual. He put the "light" Carbonator in the "empty" pile and sold me a different one. At that moment I concluded that it would be smart of me to weigh both new and empty SodaStream carbonators. Here are the results. Weighing a SodaStream Carbonator - for both Science and Consumer Protection. The dealer told me that sometimes the carbonators leak after they leave the SodaStream filling facility. That means there could be an opportunity for customers like me to get ripped off! The SodaStream cylinders I buy claim to have a net product weight of 410 grams - and that means that a full Soda Stream Carbonator shou...

Fix a Lightning Cable with Heat Shrink Tubing

We've all seen a Lightning cable that has started to fall apart. They get used every day, and after enough tugs and yanks on your iPhone, they start to fray. I've seen a lot of these frayed cables, so I've started to fix them before they break with heat shrink tube. I get my heat shrink on Amazon, like this handy and inexpensive pack. I prefer the heat shrink tubes without internal glue - it has higher flexibility and a smaller outside diameter once shrunk. Heat Shrink Tubing on an Old, Frayed Lightning Cable In the photo here, you'll see that I slid on a 1.25 inch length of heat shrink over the lighting connector, and then shrunk it into place. I chose a diameter that just barely fits over the lightning connector. In all, it took about 60 seconds to perform this repair. Warning: the white plastic of the lightning cable has a pretty low melting point. It seems to start to melt at about 125°C (or about 250°F), which is the same temperatur...

Fujitsu S-Series Repair

The Patient: Fujitsu S-Series Laptop. The power connector of my S-Series Fujitsu laptop failed (a Lifebook S6110), just like so many others out there. I called up Fujitsu for repair; their local service center wanted about $80 just to look at the laptop (which obviously only needed a new connector). I concluded that it was silly for me to throw $80 at an estimate for repairing the power connector, so instead I went after repairing it myself. Researching the problem. At first I looked on the web for the right connector. After searching high and low, I found that the Asia Industrial Company appears to sell a very similar part, the DS-208 . Let me know if you contact them for this jack. I also saw a part for sale by a laptop power jack "repair" web site, but it didn't look like it would be mountable on my laptop's motherboard - the pins are in a different location, and I think it'd be very difficult to properly mount this part inside of my laptop. Goi...

Connecting your MIDI keyboard to your Mac

MIDI and the Mac. It's easy, fun, and shockingly inexpensive! I enjoy fooling around with musical instruments, and so when Garageband originally came out several years ago, I was very excited to start using it with my cheap little Casio keyboard. Initially it seemed expensive and complicated to get the right parts together to connect the Mac to my keyboard via MIDI. I didn't want to spend a ton of money in professional-class electronics. I wanted to fool around. Happily, I discovered that it's inexpensive and easy. If you know where to look, a Mac-compliant MIDI adapter can be purchased for under $10! That's right, for less than $10 I connected my Mac to my MIDI keyboard and by MIDI drum kit. I bought an MIDI-to-USB interface, in particular, one like this really inexpensive USB MIDI Cable available through Amazon . The adapter is a simple device that has a MIDI "in"/"out" connectors on one end, and a USB connector on the other. The adapt...

Modernizing old house network wiring - Part 12 - PoE Power!

I started to spend a bit more money and help things come together. PoE Switch I found a great deal and ended up buying a 10-port PoE switch. First, before we get all excited, only 8 of the 10 ports support PoE. Secondly, it is "only" a 10/100 switch, so no gigabit for me. I'm OK with that. The switch was under $60, and I can always upgrade later. Laying out the Backboard I started to mount items on my backboard, including the new switch. It took me a long time to figure out where to put the equipment: I wanted enough room to lay it all out neatly and comfortably, but I also want efficiency. I also want to be able to connect and disconnect items without a lot of effort. And of course I want to be able to see status LEDs without resorting to mirrors or uncomfortable behaviors. After much trial and error, I found out that the best starting approach is to place all terminating equipment based on the building cabling. One reality of my ba...

The Lance J. Technoweb

Search This Blog