[time-nuts] Beginner's time reference

[Jean-Louis Oneto]

If you want a _Time_ reference, somewhat you need a way to 
compare/synchronize your time reference with others, event if it's the best 
cesium or maser available. If you "only" need a _Frequency_ reference, a 
rubidium will probably get you happy, even without exterior comparison...
Best regards,
Jean-Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charl" <charl at turingbirds.com>
To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement" 
<time-nuts at febo.com>
Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:00 PM
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Beginner's time reference


> Dear Hal and others,
>
> Thank you for your suggestions. I suppose I should have emphasised that I
> was looking to have my own reference, i.e. something not dependent on GPS,
> LORAN, or other signals from the aether. Indeed I might get better 
> accuracy
> for less money by tapping the GPS time signal, but to me that's not as 
> much
> fun as building my own atomic reference.
> Hal, is there much difference in quality for these rubidium tubes? Will I
> get what I pay for? In any case, you make a good point about measuring the
> accuracy. I'm a university student, so perhaps I can pay the physics
> department a visit. Otherwise, maybe I could compare it to the GPS signal?
>
> Kind regards,
> Charl
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 9:30 AM, Hal Murray <hmurray at megapathdsl.net> 
> wrote:
>
>>
>> > I'm hoping to build my own circuit around the device, which might cut
>> > down the costs somewhat. Some rubidium sources on eBay go for less
>> > than $100, but I'm not sure what quality to expect. Any advice or
>> > suggestions are appreciated!
>>
>> Short answer:  Sure, get one of the $100 rubidium boxes and see what you
>> can
>> do with it.
>>
>> Long answer:  You just stuck you toe into a huge tar pit.  Pick a corner
>> that
>> seems like fun and dive in.
>>
>> How are you planning to measure if whatever you build is any good?
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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