Biburo is a freeware developed by wolfman, a Japanese creator. You can regulate your watches with Biburo easily at reasonable cost.
Since I heard that there are so many Biburo fans all over the world, I build this page which shows the basic instruction of Biburo in English.
Because I am NOT wolfman, I cannot distribute Biburo. Please visit the site to download Biburo.
All you have to do is preparing a pickup and an amplifier. You do not have to spend much money on them. You can purchase a cheap pickup and amplifier for an acoustic guitar for $10 or so at your local electric-parts shop such as RadioShack in the U.S. Please remember that you must purchase piezoelectric-type pickup. If you purchase magnetic-type, your watches would be magnetized and should be repaired.
Piezoelectric-type pickup
Amplifier for electric guitar (ZOOM G1N EXT)
For better results, some people build their own pickup and amplifier with a solder wig. Based on my experience, however, I can say that cheap ready-made ones are fine enough to regulate watches.
The following pictures show my system. I used the pickup for acoustic guitar and the amplifier for an electric guitar. Of course, all effecters of the amplifier must be turned off for Biburo.
You have to configure your settings related with sound-card on your Windows. Although Windows7 is not officially supported, I configured my Windows7 64bit as following and it works fine.
The key point here is to maximize the level of input from the microphone and deactivate all other devices for recording.
I recommend you to prepare a mechanical watch which works fine to understand how Biburo works. Namely, just picking up the newest mechanical watch in your collection would work fine.
Please attach the pickup to your watch. You can hear the clicking sounds from your PC. If you cannot, please turn the volume on your PC up. If you cannot hear the sound with appropriate volume settings, something is wrong in your configuration for your recording device on your PC.
Basics
1. Capture the sounds from your watch by Biburo
Next, run Biburo.
You can see red waveform on the upper side of Biburo Window. Please adjust the sensitive level with slider on the left so that Biburo can tell noise and clicking sounds from your watch.
If you can see a single horizontal line, your adjustment is successful. You may see a tilted line or two parallel lines if your watch is not regulated appropriately.
If you cannot see the horizontal line, please try fixed bps. You can click “AUTO” on the Biburo window and configure bps to 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, or 8.0.
In most cases, you can see line(s).
2. Understand lines on Biburo window and regulate your watch
a. Two lines
If you see two lines on Biburo window, your watch is in asymmetric condition. You should adjust with the knob B.
b. Tilted line(s)
If you see tilted line(s) on Biburo window, your watch goes too fast or too slow. The ascending line means your watch goes too fast, and the descending line means your watch goes too slowly. You should adjust with the knob A.
If you move the knob B, angle would be affected also. If you move the knob A, you may see two lines. This means that you should move the knob A and knob B one after the other until you can see the single straight horizontal line on Biburo screen.
If your watch is magnetized or deteriorated too much, you may not be able to see single straight horizontal line with the adjustment of the knob A and B. In that case, your watch should be overhauled. Some parts should be demagnetized, cleaned, oiled, or replaced.
Advanced tips
1. Calibration
If possible, you should calibrate your Biburo for the first use. In Japan, Biburo can be calibrated with accurate 1 bps tones from phone provided by NTT, a telecom carrier in Japan. If a similar service is not available in your country, you may use a watch with a quartz movement. Some Japanese users, however, recommends tones from telecom providers rather than a quartz movement since Biburo sometimes cannot capture sounds from a quartz movement precisely.
If you cannot calibrate your Biburo, you do not have to worry so much. The clock on your PC would be accurate enough to regulate your watches.
2. Checking magnetism
With a compass which you can buy at a discount store, you can check magnetism of watches or pickups easily. Please attach the compass on the object to be examined. If the needle in your compass moves, the object may be magnetized. Please note that slight movement of the needle, say 10 degree, is not a problem when the object is made of metal which attracts a magnet.
If the object is magnetized, you will see the big move of the needle like following photos.
If your watch is magnetized heavily like this example, I am afraid that your watch is beyond adjustable rage and thus difficult to adjust by knobs inside the case. In this case, you have to have a demagnetizing tool which demagnetizes an object with strong alternate-current magnetic field.
Examples
・NOMOS ORION (NOMOS α) 21,600BPH
Here is the recorded sound (21,600BPH)
Biburo shows that this watch is in good condition.
・IWC PORTFINO non-date (cal-37521) 28,800BPH
I bought this watch at auction site.
I recommend you to examine your watch when you buy used one in an auction site. There are two reasons. One is to understand whether overhaul is necessary. In most cases, the history of overhaul of a used watch is unknown. If you see the two lines or tilted line on Biburo window, the watch may require overhaul. The other is to tell the real from the fake. Many fake watches carry a movement whose beat rate is different from that of real one. For example, recent model of Rolex carries a movement whose beat rate is 8bps. If you see 6bps or lower on Biburo window with your recent Rolex, it might be a fake. Of course, some fake Rolex carries 8bps movement. Therefore, 8bps movement does not give you a guarantee.
Here is the recorded sound (28,800BPH）
Biburo shows that this watch is losing time and should be overhauled.
If you watch seems to be a fake, opening the case and looking up the movement are recommended. You can tell a fake movement and a real movement in a second.
You do not have to have expensive opener to open the case. You can open the case with a knife for a non-screw-type case or a rubber ball for a screw-type case such as Rolex’s. Please press the rubber ball against back-cover and turn it to the anti-clockwise direction ton open the case with the rubber ball.
Please note that you should not open the case if unnecessary. Opening the case may lead to attrition.
・ ROLEX DATE JUST(cal-1570) 19,800BPH
This very old Rolex seems to be manufactured in ’50 and in bad condition. In this case, the watch should be overhauled immediately.
Here is the recorded sound (19,800BPH)
