Sailing Glossary - Term Marvin sunshine recorder

A sunshine recorder of the type in which the time scale is supplied by a chronograph. It consists of two bulbs, one of which is blackened, which communicate through a glass tube of small diameter. The tube is partially filled with mercury and contains two electrical contacts. When the instrument is exposed to sunshine, the air in the blackened bulb is warmed more than that in the clear bulb. The warmed air expands and forces the mercury through the connecting tube to a point where the electrical contacts are shorted by the mercury. This completes the electrical circuit to the pen of the chronograph.