Timezones

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}TCP{Coco
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Timezones

Post by }TCP{Coco »

Hi!

Because of the trouble we have with the timezones, time formats and winter-/summertime sometimes, I have looked it up and want to give you a short overview, which should eliminate all obscurities hopefully. ;-)

Here we go with the facts...

1. GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is obsolete and was replaced by UTC (Universal Time, Coordinated) nowadays. But it still is the same thing, so merely just the name has changed.

2. UTC does not change with the summertime! That means, whenever you change to summertime, the offset to UTC increases by 1 hour.

3. CET (Central European Time) is used in most European countries and has an offset of +1 hour to UTC. This means CET = UTC +1.

As far as I can see, we just have members from 3 nations which have different timezones than CET: USA, UK and Portugal. UK and Portugal are UTC +0 and the place in the USA where Van and Nosh are located should be UTC -5 (correct me if I'm wrong). Finland would be UTC +2, but we don't have Finnish members members anymore.

For you to check out, here's a map linked from Wikipedia. All red countries have CET and the blue ones have UTC.

Image

4. Summertime (or Daylight Saving Time, DST, which is the correct English term) is used over entire Europe and most parts of the USA. It starts at the last Sunday in March and ends at the last Sunday in October. During summertime, you have to add another hour to the offset towards UTC. Because of this, all people living in Central Europe are at UTC +2 during this time. Towards CET, seen strict, you would also add 1 hour. But be careful, there's also the CEST (Central European Summer Time), which is CET +1 (or UTC +2).

Again, here's a map linked from Wikipedia, which shows the countries using summertime/DST. Blue means summertime is used, orange means summertime was used (but isn't anymore) and red means summertime was never used.

Image

That's it! I hope, everything's clear now. :-)

Coco.
}TCP{Ramses
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Post by }TCP{Ramses »

Thanks Coco, that's a very clear explanation, but I am afraid the confusion will remain. You see we have posted similar explanations at least twice before on the forum :? .

The best policy is if the match arrangers use the European time that is current when the match is to be played (ie use the summer time in summer and the winter time in winter :P).

All UK and Portuguese in TCP know to always deduct an hour from this, and Van knows to deduct 5 hours (or whatever it is :) ).

The summertime/wintertime change makes no difference for 95% of the year, and even when it changes I think only Van would have to think twice because (from memory) some parts of USA have changed on a different weekend to Europe.

Simple ... providing the match arrangers clarify the correct time with the opposition 8) :D


edit: and who says GMT is obsolete ? I know the French have pushed for a change for years, but the BBC still uses GMT :P
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}TCP{Coco
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Post by }TCP{Coco »

Hi!
}TCP{Ramses wrote:Thanks Coco, that's a very clear explanation, but I am afraid the confusion will remain. You see we have posted similar explanations at least twice before on the forum :? .
Hmm, ok, I hope this one will still be useful. :-)
}TCP{Ramses wrote:The best policy is if the match arrangers use the European time that is current when the match is to be played (ie use the summer time in summer and the winter time in winter :P).
Yes, that's what I also think. But to make things really clear, we should use the abbreviations CET and CEST. This way, we would get rid of the summertime problem and could simply add/subtract the same offset each time.
}TCP{Ramses wrote:edit: and who says GMT is obsolete ? I know the French have pushed for a change for years, but the BBC still uses GMT :P
Hmm, that's what they wrote at Wikipedia. Anyway, we should just remember that GMT is the same to calculate with as UTC. ;-)

Coco.
}TCP{Ramses
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Post by }TCP{Ramses »

Personally I think that the confusion starts as soon as you use the abbreviations (CET or CEST). Peeps start scratching their heads. Ironic isnt it :lol: . Clearer for most if you just use, for example, 7 pm European time imo. These days we only tend to play in Europe to eliminate lag ... if we do ever play in USA it would be appropriate to quote the time in both zones.

KISS (thats the acronym not an inappropriate sign of affection btw :P)
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blackpool
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Post by blackpool »

cool i wounderd when they go back
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