In 25 countries of Europe watches in the microwave and radios began to go slower

The inhabitants of Europe found that electronic clock in their appliances suddenly broke down: time they start to lag behind real for a few minutes. For example, in the Slovak forum Slotech reportedabout failures in a clock installed in the radios, ovens and alarm clocks. One user told me that he even thought to change my clock due to a failure.

Members drew attention to the fact that the alarms on the battery continued to work fine, and suggested that the failure was caused by the work from the mains.

ENTSO-E, European network of transmission system operators for electricity, announced March 3 that since mid-January in the electric system of the continent was observed "significant deviations". They were led to a small decrease in the frequency of the alternating current outlets, and it just entailed a slowing of the clock powered by electricity. The consequences are manifested in 25 European countries.

The fact that some household appliances, are constantly plugged in (the same as microwave ovens), time is measured using the alternating current frequency, not the crystal oscillator. Current frequency in European sockets is stable at about 50 Hz; the system enough of this indicator is to count the passage of time ("initial" position when the connection is set by the user).

In fact, the frequency changes slightly during the day, but usually reduce it kompensiruet enhancements, and an average clock show the correct time. However, due to deviations in the European power grid, the average frequency was 49,996 Hertz; hours from January accumulated backlog in six minutes.

March 6, ENTSO-E announcedthat the failure occurred in the mains on the territory of Serbia and Montenegro, particularly in Kosovo. Because of this, emphasizes the organization, "lost" 113 gigawatt-hours of energy.

In ENTSO-E believe that the cause of the failure was disagreement between the authorities of Serbia and Kosovo. The organization announced that in addition to technical measures to restore the correct frequency in the electricity network need political steps by the EU countries.

To correct the deviation time, ENTSO-E intends to launch a "compensatory program". Users can also reset the time on their own — but they will have to repeat the operation when the frequency in the mains is restored.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»