Well I have already talked about red & yellow "'Time Balls'" in harbors, now about
Time checks onboard ships ...
☕
1924-2024... almost a century of Time beeps!
In 1924 the BBC introduced the
Time pips, beeps sounding like hourly time checks, a signal technically called the
GTS - Greenwich Time Signal.
Post World War II, in the USA,
ROLEX had the idea to sponsor these hourly time checks as " ROLEX time " each hour of the day.
In March 1964, the offshore unlicensed " Radio Caroline " started broadcasting from a converted three-master cargo ship in the North Sea. They also transmitted hourly Time checks but sponsored by
Bulova, so Radio Caroline time became " Bulova time ".
Meanwhile the " Hollanders " also had their offshore pirate radio called " Radio Veronica " which soon became the most popular radio station in the Netherlands. Broadcasts were targeted to the Netherlands only, transmitting power was deliberately kept moderate to avoid interference with international radio stations. No idea if they used time checks.... maybe our Dutch members can chime in ?
These 1960s radio broadcasting vessels were the inspiration for the 2009 movie "
The Boat that Rocked" !
Time ... aka the fourth dimension but it remains
"a Riddle wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma"
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