Haven't had a watch review in a while. Either headphones, or knives, or flashlights - it's time to write something about watches;)
A bit of history.
Bulova is an old American watch company that dates back as far as 1875 (yep, 140 years this year). The brand was very popular in the 50s and 60s, and is still quite famous for its line of Accutron with a tuning fork mechanism.
In 2008, the company was acquired by Citizen and did not completely absorb it, but left it as a manufacturer of several lines of watches under the Bulova brand.

The Bulova Precisionist.
Precisionist is a very interesting line that surprised many watch fans when it went on sale.
The surprise is associated with the use of thermo-compensated quartz in some models, as well as with the “floating” second hand. In principle, the technology of a “floating” arrow is not new, for example, it is found in Seiko Spring Drive, which cost an order of magnitude more expensive.
According to Bulova, the accuracy of a quartz watch depends on two things: changes in ambient temperature and vibration frequency of the quartz resonator. Thermal compensation fights the consequences of temperature changes, but everything is much more interesting with the vibration frequency.
Ordinary quartz watch they make one tick per second, 60 per minute, 3600 per hour, due to the simplicity of the design, despite the fact that the standard frequency of the quartz resonator in hours is 32 kHz:


Seiko Monster with six ticks per second runs more smoothly:


The mechanics on the ETA 2824-2 make it even smoother with eight ticks per second:


The previously mentioned Seiko Spring Drive on a five second interval looks like this:


Three of the four models mentioned above are mechanical.
As for Bulova, with the declared frequency of the quartz resonator of 262 kHz and with sixteen ticks per second, it looks like this:

Speaking of accuracy.
Bulova claims a maximum travel error of 10 seconds per year for this line.
A few years ago, on the watchuseek forum, a hard-nosed friend took accuracy measurements every week for a year. While he wore them for 20 weeks, the watch ran away by 1 second, the remaining 32 weeks the watch lay and ran away by 8 seconds during this time. those. claims of a rate error of 10 seconds/year are well deserved.

travel accuracy graph

So Bulova Precisionist Claremont 96B128
Round watch, 42.2mm in diameter and 12mm thick, polished steel case, mineral crystal, display of the date of the month, lume on the hour and minute hand, 3ATM water resistance, 78g weight.
By the way, the shape of the glass is quite interesting - it is slightly domed in one of the projections. The downside is that the glass is still mineral and not sapphire.
The strap for the money should be leather, but there are some doubts. In any case, it is too hard and thick for me, so a good leather strap of the same brown color and a metal bracelet are already going to replace it.
The “factory” head has 3 positions: in the middle position the date is set, in the extreme position the time is set with a stop second.

oh and pics

Multi-link suspension has been installed on cars since the mid-twentieth century. It is currently the most popular. The suspension of a car consists of components and parts. It is designed to create an elastic connection between the car frame and its wheels. With its help, the load on the wheels and the body is reduced, it dampens vibrations, and also helps to control the position of the car body on the road when driving, especially when cornering. Thus, the suspension makes the car more stable on the road with a smooth ride.

A multi-link suspension is most often installed on the rear axle, but it is quite possible to install it on the front axle as well. In addition, it is installed on all types of drives: front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive. Multi-link suspension is a combined concept, as indicated by the name "multi-link". It does not have a clear design, but it combines the advantages of a double wishbone suspension with longitudinal and transverse levers. Thus, it was possible to achieve optimal kinematics and control effect. The multi-link suspension makes the car's movements smoother, reduces the noise level, and makes it easy to control the car on the road.

The design of the suspension consists in the fact that the wheel hubs are attached thanks to four levers, which allows for adjustment both in the longitudinal and in the transverse plane. For the suspension to work correctly, it is necessary to correctly calculate the rigidity of the hinges and the compliance of the levers. To make the dimensions optimal, the suspension is mounted on a subframe. The design is complex and is done by computer.

The design of the multi-link suspension includes the following components and parts:

• subframe used for attaching levers;
• hub support;
• longitudinal and transverse levers;
• springs;
• shock absorbers;
• anti-roll bar.

The basis of the design is the subframe. To it are attached transverse levers connected to the hub support. They provide the position of the hub in the transverse plane. Their number can be from three to five. In the simplest design, three are used: one upper and two lower - front and rear.

The upper arm is designed to connect the wheel support to the subframe and transmit transverse forces. The rear one experiences the main load from the weight of the car frame, which is transmitted through the spring. The front lower is responsible for the convergence of the wheel. The trailing arm is attached to the body by means of a support, its function is to hold the wheel in the direction of the longitudinal axis. The other side connects to the hub support. Each wheel is equipped with its own trailing arm.

On the hub are bearings and wheel mounts. The bearings are attached to the support with bolts. For loads in the suspension, a helical spring is designed. Its support is the rear lower wishbones. One of the components of a multi-link suspension is an anti-roll bar, which serves to reduce body roll of the car when it is cornering. In addition, the stabilizer ensures good grip of the rear wheels with the road. The anti-roll bar is secured with rubber mounts. The rods are connected to the hub supports with special rods. Shock absorbers are connected to the hub support and are most often not connected to the spring.

Pros and cons

When evaluating the suspension, its consumer properties are taken into account: the stability of the car on the road, ease of control and comfort. Most often, motorists have little interest in the technical details of the car. These questions are dealt with by the engineers who create it. They choose the type of suspension, select the optimal dimensions and specifications individual nodes. The machine undergoes many tests during development, therefore it meets all the requirements of the consumer.

It is known that comfort and handling are properties that are often opposite, as they depend on the stiffness of the suspension. You can combine them only in complex multi-link suspensions. The smooth running of the car is ensured by silent blocks and ball joints, as well as well-calibrated kinematics. When hitting obstacles, shocks are well extinguished. All suspension elements are attached to the subframe thanks to powerful silent blocks, so the interior is isolated from the noise of the wheels. The main advantage is manageability.

This suspension is used on expensive cars, providing good grip on the road surface and the ability to clearly control the car on the road.

The main advantages of multi-link suspension:

1. the wheels are independent of each other;
2. low suspension mass, thanks to aluminum parts;
3. good road grip;
4. good handling when cornering;
5. possibility of use in the scheme 4×4.

Multi-link suspension requires high-quality roads, so it wears out quickly on domestic roads. The complexity of the design makes the cost of the suspension very expensive. Many manufacturers use non-separable levers on their models. Because of this, their cost is quite high.

Suspension diagnostics and repair

Multi-link suspension requires constant care and, if necessary, timely repair. Despite the complexity of the design, you can check the condition of the multi-link suspension yourself.

For diagnostics, the car must be driven into a viewing hole or raised with a jack. During the check, you should have a car maintenance manual on hand, which describes its main parts and gives the necessary recommendations.

First of all, shock absorbers are removed, which are checked for cracks. Then the integrity of ball bearings, rods, levers, silent blocks is checked. All mounting bolts and rubber seals are checked. All parts must not have any damage. If damaged parts are found, they must be replaced: either independently, using the diagrams in the manual, or at a service station.

On the rear suspension, in addition to shock absorbers, it is necessary to check the traction and seals. There is an exhaust pipe near the rear suspension, which can cause extraneous sounds. The muffler should be carefully examined, shake it in different directions, check the fasteners. These actions can remove the resulting extraneous sound.

If you regularly diagnose the car and carry out its timely repair, this will extend its service life and improve driving safety.

Video “Repair of the front multi-link suspension”

The recording shows how to replace the rear silent blocks of the front levers on a Ford Focus.

Our Community has collected excellent material about painting and decoupage of watches.

But we missed one moment - clockwork installation.

Helpful information about watch movements:

The clockwork case has the following dimensions: width: 56 mm, height: 56 mm, thickness: 16 mm, stem diameter: 8 mm (diameter of the hole for the stem in the dial).

The stem is the part of the mechanism that is threaded through a hole in the center of the dial. It consists of a threaded part, a seat for the hour hand, a seat for the minute hand and a hole for installing the second hand.

The threaded part of the stem must be at least 2 mm larger than the thickness of the dial. This is necessary in order to secure the mechanism (install the washer and tighten the nut).

For example: stem 16/9 means that the height of the threaded part = 9 mm. This means that the thickness of the dial must be no more than 7 mm so that the mechanism with such a stem can be fixed.

In the name of the movement, the first is the overall size of the rod, and the second is the size of the threaded part (12/6, 16/9, 18/12, etc.)

Watch mechanisms differ in the course of the second hand:

For a metal loop, the clock can be hung:

The size of the arrows is indicated from the center of the hole to the tip of the arrow:

There is a protective film on the arrows, which must be removed during installation:

Installing the clockwork and hands on the workpiece:

1. Install the mounting loop on the mechanism

2. Pass the rod of the mechanism into the hole on the product. Fit the washer, tighten the nut.

3. Put arrows on the rod: first the hour hand, then the minute and second (it must be inserted into the hole). In order not to damage the arrows during mounting on the stem, it is recommended to use a tube of the desired diameter. If there is no special tool at hand, you can use a simple ballpoint pen.

Rejoiced at the wall clock that came from the Chinese store, they fully justified the expectations, they started mounting the clock on the wall. At night it turned out that they were ticking and it was audible even in the next room. The ticking is not loud, a normal sound for such a mechanism, but in absolute silence, after using only an electronic clock, I wanted to get rid of the extra sound.

I must say that over time, the packaging of the mechanism has changed significantly. Previously, they were often in an additional case, behind glass, the mechanism behind was covered with an additional cover of this case. This dampened the noise. Now there are many watches in which the mechanism and hands are open, sometimes even glued to the wall separately from the numbers. This is convenient, for example, glass does not glare and you can use colored and dark background images, which with glass would turn into mirrors that reflect light and make it difficult to see the arrows. But soundproofing naturally became worse.

This can be combated by building a case that dampens the sound as much as possible. If not in front, where the arrows are, then at least the closing mechanism. The case can be pasted over with noise-suppressing material. From improvised rubber, to a special “Shumka” bought in a store. This is perhaps the most efficient option. But the body needs to be done, this is time and painstaking work.

The second option is to replace the ticking mechanism with a smooth-running mechanism. The ticking will go away, instead a monotonous hum will appear, but it is quieter. The minutes of this method is that the smooth-running mechanism consumes noticeably more energy, the battery will have to be changed more often. According to reviews, once every half a year, and this coincides with personal experience of use. In addition, my smooth-running mechanism noticeably lied, maybe it just got caught.

The third option is to glue the clock mechanism with electrical tape. A simple method, which I did not have much hope for, turned out to be fast and incredibly effective. Carefully glue the whole mechanism behind with several layers of electrical tape. We glue the strips on top of each other, leaving only the battery compartment and the wheel for eyeliner unglued. The last step is to seal the battery compartment with a strip. When it comes time to replace it, one strip is not difficult to peel off and then put back.

Watches sealed in this way are practically inaudible during the day, even if you hold them in your hands. At night, in absolute silence, the ticking ceased to be heard in the next room and became noticeably quieter, even if he was in the same room with them.

If there is no electrical tape at hand and you are going to buy it specifically for this purpose, it is better to buy a thick, domestic-made one. As an electrical tape, it is often not very good, but for the purposes of noise reduction it will work well. her rubber is thick.

That's all, enjoy the silence)))

Vehicle vibrations affect almost all the main operational properties of the car: comfort and smoothness, stability, handling and even fuel consumption.
Fluctuations increase with an increase in the speed of movement, an increase in engine power, and the quality of the road has a significant impact on the fluctuations.
Vibrations and vibrations in vehicles are a source of noise. Vibrations, vibrations and noise have a harmful effect on the driver, passengers and the environment.
Norms and standards have been established that determine the permissible levels of oscillations, vibrations and noises of vehicles. Quality and price depend on these indicators. passenger car.
Tests of vehicles to determine the level of oscillations, vibrations and noise are carried out in laboratories and on special roads of auto-polygons.
It is impossible to make a passenger car in which there are no oscillations, vibrations and noise, just as it is impossible to build a perpetual motion machine. However, it is entirely possible to create a car with minimal levels of oscillation, vibration and noise.

Vibrations occur primarily when the wheels interact with the road surface. As a result of the deflection of the pneumatic tires and the deformation of the suspension, the wheels and the body make complex vibrations. The vibrations of the wheels are judged on the stability and controllability of the car. Body vibrations directly determine the smoothness of the ride.
Oscillations along the longitudinal axis appear during braking and acceleration, but cannot be decisive for smooth running. Horizontal oscillations along the transverse axis of the body (lateral oscillations) are possible only due to the lateral deformation of the tires. As a result of using the wheel suspension, the body performs mainly vertical, longitudinal-angular and transverse-angular oscillations. These vibrations determine the smoothness of the car.
Evaluation of the smoothness of the car. What is ride smoothness and why is it given special attention in the design, operation and comparative evaluation of various passenger cars? Of course, the smoothness of the ride depends not only on the design of the car and its suspension, but also on the quality of the road surface and speed. The following definition can be given: smoothness is the property of a car to protect the driver, passengers and the cargo being transported from oscillations and vibrations, shocks and shocks resulting from the interaction of the wheels with the road.
The very concept of smoothness arose a long time ago. Carriage craftsmen skillfully made the suspension of horse-drawn carriages, achieving a high smoothness of motion. The suspension of old carriages was very soft, had long springs with a large deflection and low rigidity. It is curious that in these parameters it surpassed the wheel suspensions of many modern cars. At the beginning of their journey, cars had far from record speeds among land vehicles. For example, in 1894, during the first Paris Rouen car race, cars with Daimler engines showed an average speed of 20.5 km / h. However, over the first 10 ... 15 years of the existence of the car, its speed increased sharply, exceeding 100 km / h.
The first world speed records were held by cars with electric motors (electric cars). In 1898, the electric car of Charles Janto (France) with two electric motors (total power of 36 hp) set the world's first absolute speed record of 63.149 km / h, and in 1899 the electric car of the Always dissatisfied Belgian Camille Zhenatzi (electric motor power of 40 hp) surpassed the hundred-kilometer barrier of 105, 876 km / h. However, electric car records did not last long. In 1902, the Frenchman Henri Fournier drove a Merce car with a 60 hp gasoline engine. raised the absolute record to 123.772 km / h.
The passage of cars at the speed limit of 100 km / h was not without casualties. At the Paris Madrid race in 1903 due to high speed(more than 100 km / h), bad roads, dust, poor ride, disasters occurred, and the French government forbade the continuation of the race. Horse-drawn vehicles were delivered to the railroad.
In 1904, young Henry Ford reached a speed of 147 km / h in his Arrow car.
The comfort and smoothness of the first record cars can be judged by the Ford Strela car, in which the drive wheels were rigidly attached to the frame, and the engines did not have mufflers. Why the driver did not fly out of his seat, holding only the control handle, is completely unclear. The most important thing was speed.

The speed of 205.443 km / h in 1906 was achieved on a race car rocket of the American company Stanley. The machine had a 150 hp steam engine. It was the "swan song" of steam cars. In 1937, on an Auto-Union car, all wheels of which had independent suspension, with an engine power of up to 640 hp. set a speed record of 406.3 km / h.
What inventions and improvements in the design of the car made it possible to increase speed so quickly? The main ones were an increase in engine power, the use of streamlined body shapes, improved steering and brakes, and, of course, essential role played by the invention of the pneumatic tire and the use of independent wheel suspension of the car.
With such a suspension in the early 20s. the Lambda car began to be produced in Italy. In the USSR, the famous GAZ M-20 (Victory) was the first passenger car with independent suspension. The use of an independent suspension not only saved the car from dangerous oscillations of the steered wheels (shimmy phenomenon), but also contributed to a significant improvement in ride smoothness. Nowadays, a further increase in the smoothness, stability and controllability of a passenger car is unthinkable without the use of controlled (adjustable) suspension systems.
Obviously, the smoothness of the ride needs to be quantified. However, this is not an easy task, in which you cannot rely only on your own impressions. The impressions of the driver and passengers about the smoothness of the ride may vary depending on many circumstances: their age, health, etc. You cannot rely on a subjective assessment.
It has long been known that cars with a soft suspension have the best ride. It is possible to reduce the stiffness of the springs (springs) by increasing their deflection, and hence increasing the wheel travel relative to the body. It is not always possible to make the suspension soft and long-stroke. An obstacle to increasing wheel travel is not only the need to increase the size of the wheel arches of the body, but also the difficulties associated with the placement of transmission devices, brakes and steering.
Static is the deflection of the springs (or the draft of the springs) when the car is stationary. By the magnitude of the static deflection, you can evaluate the stiffness of the suspension and the smoothness of the ride.
The simplest and most accessible indicator of ride smoothness is the natural frequency of the car body. Experience shows that if the frequency of these oscillations lies within 0.5 ... 1.0 Hz, then the machine has a high smoothness. (It is interesting to note that these frequencies coincide with the frequency of shocks that a person experiences when walking at a speed of 2 ... 4 km / h.)
Being in the back of a car, a person experiences two main types of complex oscillatory movements: relatively slow oscillations with large amplitudes and fast oscillations with small displacements. Vibrations with small displacements can be protected by seats, rubber mounts, gaskets, vibration isolators and other devices. To protect against vibrations with low frequencies and large amplitudes, elastic wheel suspensions are used.

The vibration load standards are set so that on the roads for which the car is intended, vibrations of the driver and passengers do not cause them discomfort and fatigue, and vibrations of loads and structural elements of the car do not lead to their damage. The oscillations that occur during the movement of the car, caused by road roughness, affect not only the smoothness of the ride, but also a number of other operational properties. So, when operating trucks on roads with unsatisfactory surface condition, the average speed decreases by 40...50%, the overhaul run - by 35...40%, fuel consumption increases by 50...70%, and the cost of transportation - by 50...60%. The car is an oscillatory system, which includes inertial, elastic and dissipative elements. Inertial masses include the masses of the body, bridges with wheels, people and goods. There are sprung masses (weights of the body, cargo and passengers) and unsprung masses (masses of axles and wheels). Elastic and dissipative elements form the basis of the vehicle vibration protection system. This system includes: suspension, tires, driver and passenger seats. Suspension includes all structural elements that connect axles or individual wheels to the frame or body. In addition to elastic and dissipative elements, it includes guide devices that determine the kinematic characteristics of the movement of the wheels relative to the frame or body and ensure the transfer of forces and moments between them. The impact of road roughness on the oscillatory system of the car cause vibrations of the masses and lead to a change in their kinetic energy. Elastic elements are designed to convert the energy of shocks and impacts generated by road irregularities into the potential energy of elastic elements. The purpose of dissipative elements is to dampen oscillations. They provide energy dissipation by converting the mechanical energy of vibrations into thermal energy. The intensity of vibration damping depends on the amount of friction of the dissipative element (hydraulic resistance of the shock absorber, internal friction tire and seat components).