[time-nuts] Why would I want a rubidium

[David I. Emery]

On Mon, Oct 05, 2009 at 12:35:17PM -0700, J. Forster wrote:
> 
> My main gripe w/ Rb and especially Cs is they have very limited lives.
> IMO, it's just not worth paying extra money for stability I don't need. If
> I ever do need their capabilities, there are several on the shelf, but
> until then they can sit unpowered.

	The telcom grade (LPRO and similar) Rb's that show up cheap are
supposedly designed for 20 years life continuously operating... and some
have only a few hundred hours on them or less when surplussed.  They
should typically last 10-15 years at least in continuous home lab
service and given their price these days the electricity to power them
for that time interval is much more money than the hardware.

	Cesiums have REALLY expensive tubes with limited life, but on the
other hand I understand the tubes don't like to be kept turned off... they
deteriorate when sitting on a shelf and may not recover.




-- 
  Dave Emery N1PRE/AE, die at dieconsulting.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493
"An empty zombie mind with a forlorn barely readable weatherbeaten
'For Rent' sign still vainly flapping outside on the weed encrusted pole - in 
celebration of what could have been, but wasn't and is not to be now either."