From NASA: Velcro Strap Blueprints...
| It's always nice to get email's like these: I noticed your pdf drawing for the homemade velcro Moonwatch band in the Wikipedia article, not sure if you would be interested but I have somewhere in my files at work copies of the actual "blue prints" and specs for the real deal, I work down the street from the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake Texas and had a buddy that works over there talk to one of the guys in procurement and he sent me the drawings, its a neat little bit of history. let me know if you are interested and I can email the scans to you sometime Monday. Bob remembered that he had the ability to pull down the graphics from home and he sent them to me last night...
Thanks to Bob for making these blueprints for NASA Velcro Straps available for those of us who wish to "roll our own"... Chuck |
A note from Time Flies on his Omega c.3303 failing...
Chuck, Long time, no talk. Well, here is another experience for your Blog or whatever. You are free to quote me anywhere -- on forums or wherever you find it useful. I don't participate in watch forums very much since I retired almost two years ago. I spend my time flying, fly fishing and working with the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I have also been doing quite a bit of bush flying. I took a chance -- against your advice -- but the dollars didn't mean that much to me. I don't mean it the way it sounds. Every penny is worth a penny. But, in the great scheme of things, purchasing an Omega Olympic edition Seamaster Chronograph with the c.3303 was sort of a 'cheap chance' when I look at what I spend owning and maintaining two aircraft! I bought the watch in February of 2005. I wore it flying quite a bit and as an 'every day' watch on and off since I purchased it. I used the chronograph feature a lot, as does any pilot, even when not using it for flying. I time a lot of things. I have not had a single problem with the chronograph. Despite using it quite a bit, it has always reset properly and I noticed no other aberrations in its function. Three days ago, I noticed the watch seemed to lack power reserve and also felt the watch head wobbling on my wrist -- a more noticeable wobble than the old Valjoux 7750 characteristic wobble. So, I took the watch off my wrist and shook it a bit and you could feel and hear the rotor 'free spinning' with no ratcheting (winding) sound during or at the end of the rotor rotation. The number of rotor rotations was amazing ( maybe 20 or 30 or even more) with just a little shake of the watch head. Then I tested the power reserve and there is none with the watch starting from a dead stop (power reserve at zero after running down after winding). The rotor is not winding the watch and something has disengaged in that gear train. At least, it has a two year warranty. But, even if it is fixed, I will likely just put the watch in a drawer. I don't have time to fight Omega, which is a shame. But, I have other more interesting things to do and enough watches to wear. As a side note --- I own a bunch of watches as you know, or assume. And, I have owned a substantial number over the years. The three most reliable mechanical watches I have owned, in terms of accuracy and being totally free of problems despite heavy use and being knocked around are my Speedmaster Professional, a Breitling Navitimer I bought about five years ago after Breitling made some pretty dramatic changes in manufacture (buying Kelek) and quality control, and the ultimate tough watch, for me at least, a Tutima NATO with the wonderful Lemania 5100 (one heck of great watch for what I use watches quite a bit -- bush whacking, flying and fly fishing). So, I wish I had listened to you. But, I was willing and could afford to take a chance. I lost the game. But, I think Omega is genuinely 'lost'. It is a damn shame since I have owned Omegas since I966. I would not buy another currently marketed Omega. So, Omega lost me. It is a story of losing. Hope all is well, and again, you may post for me or quote anything I have said, not that my take on the situation or my experience matters to you or anyone else. If you do quote me, I would appreciate a quick note telling me where you have quoted me just for grins. I might check it out, and who knows, I might register again for a watch forum. Thanks for your help and conversation over the years. I send my best regards, Greg Bxxxxxxxx [I've omitted Greg's email, contact me if you wish to get in touch with him] (aka "Time Flies", "K2UM", "Pilot-4ES", "Old Phantom II Driver" and whatever other monikers I have used P.S. BTW, that list of three watches that have proven to be tough customers for me is relative to owning (I honestly lost count) maybe a hundred watches and that includes, AP, JLC, IWC, Omega, Breitling, VC, Rolex (had trouble with every one of these I've owned -- but that is only four), Blancpain, Panerai, Ventura, Glycine, Tutima, Sinn, and the list goes on and on. Heck, I can't even recall all of the manufacturers right now! You can just about name any "fairly big name" in watch marques and I've owned at least a couple their models along the way. By the way, I had no problems with my Panerai watches. I have not owned a Patek (no interest) or some of the unique, what I will call 'designer' marques.. The vast, vast majority were new purchases -- probably 90 of the 100 or so I had. I had trouble with every one of my JLCs despite them being part of their "Masters Series"; every Blancpain was a bust, the IWCs all ran very slow or were temperamental as hell if they used JLC ebauches; and every Rolex I've had developed winding or rotor problems and their service sucked to be honest. I just wanted to put my comments in some perspective. Personally, I think the whole Swiss watch industry has a pervasive problems with quality control and their watches are vastly overpriced. In fact, I own four great quartz watches and I always, always have a quartz watch with me when I really need to depend on timing, even if I am wearing a mechanical, you can bet a quartz is in my flight bag -- either a Microtech H3, a Breitling Emergency or a Breitling B-1 or my 16 year old Breitling quartz Navitmer (later rebadged as the Aerospace). Some brief observations [factual statements, not opinions]...
And some personal opinions:
I don't know what else to say that I haven't said before, likely dozens of times. Far lesser companies than Omega would have done what was right about these problems long ago. The steps which Omega has taken thus far have not been effective in eliminating the issues existant with these movements. Expecting different or improved results by staying pat isn't a logical or reasonable expectation. -- Chuck P.S. If you'd like to get in touch with Greg (Time Flies) email me and I'll work to make it happen. |
“Things found while looking for other things”:
| From my “Things I found while looking for other things” file: The Tissot "Nascar" Chronograph:
Does anyone else find it interesting that Swatch Group the firm, wants everyone to call the Valjoux 7750 the ETA7750 and yet Tissot (a wholly owned subsidiary of Swatch Group) puts "Valjoux" on a caseback (underneath the NASCAR Logo) of a brand new watch it's offering??? -- Chuck |
Another repeat BA failure, from the UK this time...
Nish Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: Broad Arrow Movement Here are my thoughts [within context with Nish's comments in the bolder text] ... Nish Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: Broad Arrow Movement I bought a Broad Arrow a couple of years ago and wear it almost every day. Within the first 6 weeks the second hand for the chronometer became unaligned. I'm sorry to hear of your BA's problem, unfortunately I'm not surprised... I was told this was not uncommon with watches made pre 2002 The BA only reached dealer's shelves towards the end of 2001, however, this problem has been reported with newer models, as I will post links to below... and the watch was sent to Omega who rectified this within 3-4 weeks. You're luckier than some. Most people have a longer wait and more than once people have had to sent a supposedly repaired watch back for additional work because the repair wasn't effective.. I would have thought that would have been the last time I would have experienced this issue, This would not appear to be a reasonable expectation for this movement... As I documented in this post in my blog: but the second hand has once again become unaligned at some point over the last couple of weeks. I would be lying if I said I was surprised. Is this normal? Normal? I don't know, but repeat problems seem to happen a lot with this movement family. Is there a reason for this problem? Well, if Omega is true to form, they will claim that the watch was subjected to "shock damage" or "owner misuse" or anything other than a known issue with the watch itself. Reset alignment is on of the five [the four Shaun T mentions and rotor separation] separate discrete issue that frequently occur with the F. Piguet based c.33xx movement family. And what can I do to prevent this happening again? Short of having the watch fixed and leaving it unused on the shelf or selling it, I am not sure. Any help would be much appreciated. I feel that Eric has given you good advise thus far in the thread on Watch-U-Seek you started. P.S. I'm in the UK so not sure if that has any bearing! It is interesting to hear that you've had problems in the UK. One of the claims of the "propaganda/apologist squad of the c.33xx" [as I affectionately call them] is that the c.33xx problems are largely limited to the US market or Northern North American markets. However, I can name a number of problem reports occuring outside that region:
At least there have been no reports of c.33xx's exploding into flames, yet. |
c.3313 DE Connie Failure Reported @ Chronocentric
| Khalid M. Nabulsi reports multiple failures of his brand new Constellation double eagle chronograph in the Chronocentric/ZOWIE Omega discussion forum... Co-axial technology, a bad coice after all! A quick google search reveals that the DE Connie Co-Ax Chronograph Chronometre was a 2004 Basel announcment and is a c.3313 based watch.  To my knowledge this is the first report of problems with a Connie Double Eagle Model. I remember that Keith Downing had issues with his Co-Axial Deville Chronograph, so it's not the first of the cx.331x's to exhibit problems. I am resigned to the fact that Omega is so committed to press these products into the market, that they won't take a step back and scrutinize their actions and take whatever steps necessary to make the c.33xx's reliable, durable and dependable however drastic that may be up to and including pulling them until their reliability issues have been resolved. Instead they seem very content to put their customers through the ordeal of having brand new watches and their money tied up in a movement that seems to have a significantly higher probability of becoming a hangar queen that sits in a pile of it's own parts in Switzerland for months and months and months. It truely is a deplorable situation for a firm with a reputation such as Omega enjoyed before the introduction of these movements. -- Chuck |
Interesting comments in TZ Public Re: FP 1185 reliability...
| Some interesting comments in TZ Public forum about Fredric Piguet 1185 reliability... Isaac. Posts:Well, the FP 1185 is the one I've had the most problems with>>> [May 06, 2006 - 09:34 PM] I'll contribute by answering in an indirect way-- The only watches I have ever had problems with were 1185-equipped Blancpain Flybacks. I have had two of them--a Monaco YS, and a Ti model. They were both purchsed new. The Monaco's minute register never advanced past the five minute mark. Thinking that I had a fluke bad experience, two years later I purchased a Ti flyback that had an even more ridiculous problem--the center seconds hand was not mounted on the center arbor with enough friction such that with every reset to zero the seconds hand rotated more and more to the left of 12 o'clock. At the end of the first day, to my dismay, the center seconds hand would reset to the 10 o'clock postion! The FP 1185, while interesting in concept, is IMHO the least reliable chrono movement out there. One could argue that the problems I had were secondary to poor QC at BP (which I would not disagree with, BTW) but I think there are intrinsic problems to the movement as far as reliability and ruggedness. As evidence, the derivative Omega 33XX movements have had significant problems also. I had to chuckle when the first owner's reports emerged because not only did BP screw more customers indirectly, but this time it had caused shame to its older Swatch group sister. One might think that this was too small a sampling size for me to draw such a conclusion. I argue that it was two separate watches produced at different times (I bought my second Flyback two years later) yet both had problems. That's not unlike the random sampling that a company must use to ensure good QC. I will never be a Flyback purchaser again and I may never purchase a BP again. Search the archives and you will see a disproportionate number of posts questioning BP's overall reliablility. No other brand forum exhibits this amount of uncertainty; I'm sure that I am not the only previous owner that can give you insight as to why that might be the case. Regards, Isaac in Philly. Personal commentary follows... It seems that I'm not the only person who has a low opinion of the FP 1185, it's decendants and the work of F. Piguet in general. I wish Swatch Group would come to their senses and drop their FORCED shotgun marriage between Piguet and Omaga. What the heck was bad with the concept of Omega's sporting Lemania movments that worked, worked reliabily and were durable watches? Expensive Hanger Queen chronographs will likely prove to be as disasterous to Omega as the Quartz and Japanese onslaught of the late 1970's and early 1980's. Again, as Bas Van Dorp first advanced, the people behind the demise of the Lemania 5100 deserve to be the first peoples lined up agains the wall when the revolution comes. |
Off-Topic: The Dutch... Class acts...
This post, as noted above, is a bit off topic... Most Speedmaster collectors know that when it comes to prowess in both collecting and knowledge about Speedmasters (and watches in general) few countries/nationalities can match, and fewer still can surpass the Dutch. Among all the countries/nationalities in the world in my opinion only the Italians and Japanese could claim to surpass the fervor and dedication of Dutch Speedmaster collectors while British, German, Aussie, Canadian and American collectors struggle to keep up. Over the past 16 months I have been weaned off of one of my other lifelong hobbies (radio) by a new form of communication, Podcasts. Podcasts are a medium where anyone with a computer with audio-in capability and a connection to the internet can literally host their own program, be it audio only (like radio), Audio-Visual (like a music video, movie or TV program) or simply files of interest (photo's, documents, etc.) and people who are interested can subscribe to them easily... Podcasting has been likened to "Audio blogs" the difference is that with podcasts and a suitable player, Apple made/marketed iPods are the most popular but other brands and even CD-ROM's can be burned so that people can decide what they want to listen or watch when they want, where they want, and how they want. One of my favorite podcasts has been an Ambient music podcast by a gentleman out of Rotterdam who goes by the name of "TC" called SpaceMusic... The Podcasting portion of TC's site is located here. Since he started podcasting in 2005 every year on 5 May he has posted a special "Liberation Day" podcast to commemorate the liberation of the Netherlands from Axis/Nazi subjugation during World War II. Unlike most countries, the Nethe1rlands sets aside two days to mark this event. The first day is a commemoration of those who fell during the occupation and those who sacrificed to liberate those in occupied lands. The second day is a celebration of their freedom and hopes for the future. It is TC's Liberation Day 2006 podcast that prompted me to post this note... The Dutch are a class act. In a world where many peoples / organizations / countries routinely co-opt May 1st (May Day) to ferment and popularize pet-causes, revolution, parade tanks, missles and machine gun toting soldiers, the Dutch chose to remember the fallen, those who fought to liberate them and to celebreate their freedom and hopes for the future. They are a class act for many other reasons too, but this one came to mind today! Just my opinion, but everyone is entitled to share it! -- Chuck |
