[time-nuts] B.V.A. 8600 for sale

[Tom Van Baak]

The pursuit of precision tends to be exponential rather than linear. When you push the envelope of frequency and time accuracy or stability or measurement (e.g., phase noise and short-term ADEV) prices go up accordingly, as if each decimal point of time/frequency precision magically adds a zero to the purchase/operational cost. It's probably the same in many fields: from voltage standards to F1 racing. As a rough example in the ADEV world:

- for 1e-11, you can buy almost any XO, TCXO, or risky OCXO for $10.
- for 1e-12, you can find a reputable OCXO on eBay for under $100.
- for 1e-13, you can find an old but maybe working cesium clock for 1 k$.
- for 1e-14, spend 10 k$ and get a certified working hp 5071A.
- for 1e-15, spend 100 k$ and find a used active H-maser.
- for 1e-16, spend 1 M$ to hire physicists and build a Cs fountain.
- for 1e-17, spend 10 M$ to fund a national research institute to build ion or optical clocks.

All this to say that a BVA oscillator at $3K is not unreasonable. Unless of course, when you test it, you find it's no better than a lucky 10811A you once found inside a HP 5328A counter for $100. But the seller is offering a 14-day trial so that's very considerate.

Thanks,
/tvb