The Rheinturm. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s the tallest building in Düsseldorf, Germany. It transmits the signals for radio and television, and it even has a restaurant on top. How original.
However, what is original is what’s on the wall of the tower. I knew of it before, but never actually seen it. I went to the city last week for some course type thing with other assistants, and we visited the Landtag, which is the parliament house for Nordrhein-Westfalen and also happens to be neighbours with the tower.
And going through my photos, I kept looking at the dots of light going up the tower. White, red and yellow dots of light, and these lights kept changing and flashing. It’s intriguing when looking at it. Such an original thing. And what is it?
The world’s largest digital clock.
Now, when we think of digital clocks, we think of squared-off numbers made of lines, which blink on your wrist.
But digital doesn’t have to be just made of numbers. Digital is something computerised or electronically driven. So even lights or anything can be a clock, as long as they represent the numbers of the clock, of course.
So, how can a series of blinking lights be a clock?
It’s quite simple, really. On this particular clock on the Rheinturm, it is divided into three sections, each dividing into two sub-sections. Reading from the top, we have hours in 10s, then the hours in 1s, then the minutes in 10s and then the minutes in 1s and then the seconds in tens and then the seconds.
Each main section is divided by red lights. The only lights not to change.
So… how does it all come together?
The seconds start from the bottom up. So, one second shows 1 white light. Two seconds show 2 white lights. Three seconds show 3 white lights. And so on.
When is reaches the tenth second, the first light on the sub-section above (the seconds in 10s) light up. And the seconds start again. So, for the twelfth second, there are 2 second lights, but one 10-second light. And the process carries on this way, by every ten seconds, another light on the 10-second section lights up. Such as 4 second lights and three 10-second lights are lit for 34 seconds.
When is comes to the 59th second, there are 9 second lights and 5 10-second lights visible. And the 60th second (or first minute) is shown by the first 1-minute light showing. And then the process starts again until the tenth minute. And when the time comes for 9 minutes and 59 seconds to pass (which will show as nine 1-second lights, five 10-second lights and nine 1-minute lights), the first 10-minute light will show.
This all repeats itself in the same way, up until the 59:59, only a second before the first hour. Then all those lights will switch off, and then the first 1-hour light will glow. And the process starts again for that hour.
And when the time is 0959 (in the morning, remember that these Germans believe in 24 hour clocks), the lights on the tower will be showing the nine 1-second lights, five 10-second lights and nine 1-hour lights. Then a flash of all the lights will happen, then they’ll all disappear, apart from one. Which will be right up top on the 10-hour section. But it’ll only be by itself for a second.
And then the process starts all over again.
And then it goes through all that during the day and into the evening, until 1959 (the time, not the year).
So, for eight o’clock in the evening, there’s another big flash of those lights, just like 10 in the morning. But then, after that, there are two lights in the 10-hour section. Meaning the time is 2000 hours. Or 8pm.
So, when it’s coming up to midnight, the light will be showing as (for 23:59): nine 1-second lights, five 10-second lights, three 1-hour lights and two 10-hour lights.
But because the day has 24 hours, it doesn’t go any further. There are no more lights. So the whole thing is restarted from scratch.
But looking at it, it’s very interesting, and also logical to work out. It isn’t as easy as looking at a couple of numbers, but it’s very original. Though it seems doubtful it’ll catch on in the wrist watch market, it’s something that will attract people, intrigue people and get them thinking for once.
To see a smaller online version of the clock in action, there’s a website which is on computer design, and mentions the clock and a li’l diagram of it ticking away.
http://www.behind-the-web.com/index.html
However, what is original is what’s on the wall of the tower. I knew of it before, but never actually seen it. I went to the city last week for some course type thing with other assistants, and we visited the Landtag, which is the parliament house for Nordrhein-Westfalen and also happens to be neighbours with the tower.
And going through my photos, I kept looking at the dots of light going up the tower. White, red and yellow dots of light, and these lights kept changing and flashing. It’s intriguing when looking at it. Such an original thing. And what is it?
The world’s largest digital clock.
Now, when we think of digital clocks, we think of squared-off numbers made of lines, which blink on your wrist.
But digital doesn’t have to be just made of numbers. Digital is something computerised or electronically driven. So even lights or anything can be a clock, as long as they represent the numbers of the clock, of course.
So, how can a series of blinking lights be a clock?
It’s quite simple, really. On this particular clock on the Rheinturm, it is divided into three sections, each dividing into two sub-sections. Reading from the top, we have hours in 10s, then the hours in 1s, then the minutes in 10s and then the minutes in 1s and then the seconds in tens and then the seconds.
Each main section is divided by red lights. The only lights not to change.
So… how does it all come together?
The seconds start from the bottom up. So, one second shows 1 white light. Two seconds show 2 white lights. Three seconds show 3 white lights. And so on.
When is reaches the tenth second, the first light on the sub-section above (the seconds in 10s) light up. And the seconds start again. So, for the twelfth second, there are 2 second lights, but one 10-second light. And the process carries on this way, by every ten seconds, another light on the 10-second section lights up. Such as 4 second lights and three 10-second lights are lit for 34 seconds.
When is comes to the 59th second, there are 9 second lights and 5 10-second lights visible. And the 60th second (or first minute) is shown by the first 1-minute light showing. And then the process starts again until the tenth minute. And when the time comes for 9 minutes and 59 seconds to pass (which will show as nine 1-second lights, five 10-second lights and nine 1-minute lights), the first 10-minute light will show.
This all repeats itself in the same way, up until the 59:59, only a second before the first hour. Then all those lights will switch off, and then the first 1-hour light will glow. And the process starts again for that hour.
And when the time is 0959 (in the morning, remember that these Germans believe in 24 hour clocks), the lights on the tower will be showing the nine 1-second lights, five 10-second lights and nine 1-hour lights. Then a flash of all the lights will happen, then they’ll all disappear, apart from one. Which will be right up top on the 10-hour section. But it’ll only be by itself for a second.
And then the process starts all over again.
And then it goes through all that during the day and into the evening, until 1959 (the time, not the year).
So, for eight o’clock in the evening, there’s another big flash of those lights, just like 10 in the morning. But then, after that, there are two lights in the 10-hour section. Meaning the time is 2000 hours. Or 8pm.
So, when it’s coming up to midnight, the light will be showing as (for 23:59): nine 1-second lights, five 10-second lights, three 1-hour lights and two 10-hour lights.
But because the day has 24 hours, it doesn’t go any further. There are no more lights. So the whole thing is restarted from scratch.
But looking at it, it’s very interesting, and also logical to work out. It isn’t as easy as looking at a couple of numbers, but it’s very original. Though it seems doubtful it’ll catch on in the wrist watch market, it’s something that will attract people, intrigue people and get them thinking for once.
To see a smaller online version of the clock in action, there’s a website which is on computer design, and mentions the clock and a li’l diagram of it ticking away.
http://www.behind-the-web.com/index.html
The Rheintur and the Landtag. The time here is 18:15:49.
Click on the image to enlarge!
Ive been up there, I also remember the clock lights!
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