[time-nuts] Tour of METAS (Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology) time lab: any questions or requests?

Bob Camp kb8tq at n1k.org
Thu May 7 17:48:38 EDT 2015


Hi


> On May 7, 2015, at 8:02 AM, Pete Stephenson <pete at heypete.com> wrote:
> 
> On 5/7/2015 1:22 PM, Bob Camp wrote:
>> Hi
>> 
>> I guess on a general level:
>> 
>> 1) How do they generate the Swiss version of UTC (fleet of hydrogen masers run into to a .. :)
> 
> According to their website they use an ensemble of commercial cesium
> clocks (they show some photos of HP 5071As) and a hydrogen maser. I'll
> be sure to ask them for details.
> 
>> 2) How do they link that version of UTC with the rest of the world? (BIH etc)

BIH = Bureau International de l’Heure
They are the people who (by treaty) decide what time it *really* is. In order to do this they need to
be able to evaluate the various time scales around the world. That evaluation process requires some
method of direct inter comparison of time scales over very long distances. Typical approaches range
from “clock trips”  to TWSTT ( or TWSTFT) to GPS based techniques. 

In addition to the comparison process it’s self, there is also a lot of internal cross checking and analysis
that goes into a typical time scale. Often the associated equipment base is pretty substantial. It’s also a 
good thing to look at to pick up ideas for (lower cost) implementation in a basement lab.

Bob

> I'm not familiar with that particular acronym (BIH), but I am curious
> how they link their version of UTC.
> 
>> Not so much a picture of this or that. More a tour of an entire process. 
> 
> Right.
> 
> Cheers!
> -Pete
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