CompuChron - Hidden Settings, Digital Trimmer ?

[webvan]

First message here so hello all. Great place, found a lot of info !

Just got a CompuChron (the one in my avatar) with a Hughes Module (6th module apparently since it has the leap year) and I'm having a few questions/problems :

1. I saw a reference in a topic here to instructions available for dowload on dwf, but couldn't find a link in the forums or in the galleries, can anyone point me to it ?

2. I think I figured out the settings but there is an odd one : with the seconds permanently displayed (left+right), pushing the recessed settings button takes me to an alternative settings menu where the data is generally not displayed (date, am/pm, etc...) but pushing 6 more times on the recessed button takes me to running seconds. At that point pushing on the right button zeroes out the second. I was happy to find that to set it against my atomic clock.

The problem is that after doing that I found it was running a massive 20 seconds per minute slow ! I don't think it had that problem when it came is but I didn't check it specifically for time. After pulling up that menu a few times and seeing if I could figure something out, it seems to be losing 12 seconds per minute, not sure if that change was due to something I did.

So the question, is, did I mess up some kind of hidden regulation ? I thought that regulation could only be done with the trimmer I've seen on pictures but mayber there is a "digital one" too. In which case I'd be interested to know how to set my watch straight!

Thanks for any help !

[azimuth_pl]

I have never heard about this hidden procedure and never tried it on any Hughes before but after trying on your watch it didn't reset seconds but went totally blank without any signs of life. I tried twice with the same effect and had to remove batteries and install again.
it's very likely that you activated a flaw by accident because the watch is now loosing massive amounts of time.
I hope that it will recover after a few days as before and keep excellent time as advertized.
setting seconds perfectly to zero is a bit tricky but I think that the best idea is to press the top button to advance minutes exactly in the moment your time signal indicates zero. keep holding the button until you set minutes properly to a desired value. in the background seconds should start running from zero from the moment you had pressed the button although it takes 2-3 seconds for the minutes to start advancing.

[webvan]

Strange no one would have noticed this setting over the past 35 years! Not sure why it went blank on you, did you keep on pressing the left button (6 times in my notes) before reaching the running seconds and pressing the recessed button to reset the seconds? Then press the recessed button and you're back to the usual screens.

But you're right if it confuses the Hughes model it's best to avoid it and set the seconds as you describe even if there is some latency.

[azimuth_pl]

Microsoft :) that was a good one.
no harm done.

I followed exactly the same procedure.
bear in mind that old LED modules have a life of their own.
the microchips tend to age and malfunction in all sorts of ways, either going totally bust, some functions going corrupt or by entering into this strange procedure.

[bruce wegmann]

Gentlemen, welcome to the age of geriatric horology. The original manufacturers probably didn't have to deal with much of this sort of thing, because the companies didn't live long enough to see it. NOW, we're seeing failure modes that take twenty or thirty years to develop. But we might wring some solace from this; imagine what the next generation of collectors will have to contend with .

[azimuth_pl]

your more than correct Bruce.
I love LED's and it's my main field of expertease but that's why I have decided to diversify into jump hours and other breakthrough technologies of the 1970's that will very likely last forever.