Media Release
From: National Measurement InstituteNMI develops new WebTimer - an accurate alternative to Talking Clock for verifying timers
Laboratories need to regularly verify their stopwatches and timers against a traceable reference. Since the shutdown of the Talking Clock late last year, laboratories have been looking for an alternative source of traceable time. The Time and Frequency Standards team at the National Measurement Institute (NMI) has developed the new WebTimer, a simple and convenient service for making time interval measurements that are traceable to the Australian primary standard for time.
NATA guidance recommends verifying timers and stopwatches every six months, and suggests using a GPS/GNSS-directed device as a reference time source. However, setting up and using such a source of time typically requires specialist expertise and can be expensive (see here for recommendations from NATA).
"The shutdown of the Talking Clock created a real and sudden need for many laboratories. Our WebTimer is designed to provide a low-cost, user-friendly solution that meets client requirements," said Dr Michael Wouters, leader of the Time and Frequency group at NMI.
The NMI WebTimer is a browser-based service that measures the time interval between two clicks of a button on a user’s computer, including mobile devices. It calculates and reports the measurement uncertainties on-screen. Users can print and save a report of their time-interval measurement that documents uncertainties and traceability to UTC(AUS) – Australia’s realisation of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC(AUS) is the output of a caesium atomic clock at NMI’s Lindfield laboratory, and serves as Australia’s primary standard for the SI base unit of time (the second), as well as Australia’s legal reference for time-of-day.
By being browser-based, the WebTimer is easily accessed from most computer and mobile platforms. The calculation of time interval and its uncertainty is built into the WebTimer, simplifying the verification of timers and stopwatches. Depending on uptake and client needs, NMI plans to roll out more WebTimer servers for increased accuracy across the country.
“Duplicate WebTimer servers in several other Australian cities will provide distributed redundancy and reduced measurement uncertainty for remote users,” said Dr Wouters.
The WebTimer service is currently in beta-testing, with free access until 2 March, 2020. After this, access will be via a small annual subscription.
To view the WebTimer or for further details, visit webtimer-syd.nmi.gov.au.
References
1. Time’s up for the iconic talking clock, https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2019/09/times-up-for-the-talking-clock/.
2. General Accreditation Guidance – General equipment table, https://www.nata.com.au/accreditation-information/accreditation-criteria-and-guidance/nata-accreditation-criteria-nac-packages/laboratory-accreditation-iso-iec-17025/category/53-general-guidance?download=123:general-equipment-calibration-and-checks, page 12, July 2019.
3. Specific Accreditation Criteria – Calibration ISO/IEC 17025 Application Document – Annex – Electrical metrology, https://www.nata.com.au/phocadownload/spec-criteria-guidance/calibration/Calibration-ISO-IEC-17025-Annex-Electrical-Metrology.pdf, page 4, May 2019.
4. National Measurement Institute, Time and frequency services, https://www.industry.gov.au/client-services/physical-measurement-services/time-and-frequency-services.
5. NMI WebTimer, https://webtimer-syd.nmi.gov.au/.
6. How to use NMI Network Time Protocol Servers to Obtain Traceable Time and Frequency, https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-11/nmi-using-ntp-for-traceable-time-and-frequency.pdf.
