Re: [time-nuts] History of HP Mercury Clocks Digest, Vol 199, Issue 6
Richard’s description is close. They were shipped to the USNO in the mid-80s, and they didn’t work well. I was the only physicist there at the time, and was asked to take time off from VLBI and Earth rotation to work on it. That’s how I entered the timekeeping world.
My contribution was to discover that frequencies would go bananas in coincidence with vacuum and heater events. That was published as "Eight Years of Experience with Mercury Stored-Ion Devices", D.N. Matsakis, A. Kubik, J. De Young, R.P. Giffard, and L. Cutler, Proceedings of IEEE Frequency Control Symposium, 86 (1995). I may have a copy of it somewhere.
The shipping disaster was before my time, but I certainly heard about it. It had come upside down. I was told the insurance covered it, but I don’t know if some special branch of HP served as the self-insurer. I remember Len Cutler telling me that they had to pay HP for any HP equipment involved, even though everybody worked for HP.
Later, at a pulsar meeting, I heard a talk by Lute Maleki about the JPL device, and we ordered one of those from them. Thereafter JPL made a steady stream of improvements, including hiring one of my employees - Eric Burt. And the rest is history. Or will be once the Deep Space Atomic Clock data are published.
On Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:55:07 -0700
"Richard (Rick) Karlquist" richard@karlquist.com wrote:
FWIW, about 20 years ago, Len Cutler and Robin Giffard of 5071A fame
built several Hg ion clocks to be shipped to some govt customer I
don't remember. One of the clocks was dropped by the shipping company
UPS or FedEX) and destroyed. Only then did Len learn that HP was
self insured, probably as part of a package deal to get a low
corporate shipping rate. HP products were packed extremely well, so
the only real risk was the unit getting stolen. I vaguely remember
Len saying they were out $10K, which was probably just the cost of
parts. Nevertheless, it didn't seem like building an Hg clock was
all that big of a project. Way simpler than the 5071A.
Now a days, the electronics would be considerably easier and cheaper.
The mechanical parts would all be CNC'ed by an online machine shop.
Magnus just send me out to chase an (unrelated) paper and I stumbled
over [1] which describes the Hg standard that Cutler & Co built.
Remembering this discussion I thought it might be interesting to
some.
Attila Kinali
"Trapped Mercury 199 Ion Frequency Standard", Cutler,
Giffard, McGuire, PTTI, 1981
http://time.kinali.ch/ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
--
The driving force behind research is the question: "Why?"
There are things we don't understand and things we always
wonder about. And that's why we do research.
-- Kobayashi Makoto
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2021 14:29:35 -0500
From: Bob kb8tq kb8tq@n1k.org
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Used Hydrogen Maser
Message-ID: C43DEF80-9E83-4501-8895-815836C3FF24@n1k.org
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Cool !!!
On Feb 6, 2021, at 1:05 PM, Attila Kinali attila@kinali.ch wrote:
Moin,
On Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:55:07 -0700
"Richard (Rick) Karlquist" richard@karlquist.com wrote:
FWIW, about 20 years ago, Len Cutler and Robin Giffard of 5071A fame
built several Hg ion clocks to be shipped to some govt customer I
don't remember. One of the clocks was dropped by the shipping company
UPS or FedEX) and destroyed. Only then did Len learn that HP was
self insured, probably as part of a package deal to get a low
corporate shipping rate. HP products were packed extremely well, so
the only real risk was the unit getting stolen. I vaguely remember
Len saying they were out $10K, which was probably just the cost of
parts. Nevertheless, it didn't seem like building an Hg clock was
all that big of a project. Way simpler than the 5071A.
Now a days, the electronics would be considerably easier and cheaper.
The mechanical parts would all be CNC'ed by an online machine shop.
Magnus just send me out to chase an (unrelated) paper and I stumbled
over [1] which describes the Hg standard that Cutler & Co built.
Remembering this discussion I thought it might be interesting to
some.
Attila Kinali
"Trapped Mercury 199 Ion Frequency Standard", Cutler,
Giffard, McGuire, PTTI, 1981
http://time.kinali.ch/ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
--
The driving force behind research is the question: "Why?"
There are things we don't understand and things we always
wonder about. And that's why we do research.
-- Kobayashi Makoto
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2021 12:23:38 -0800
From: Tom Van Baak tvb@LeapSecond.com
To: time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Used Hydrogen Maser
Message-ID: 2a0a5548-5ee7-a7e2-76fc-7b4024c500f2@LeapSecond.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
Note the dialog on the last page. Dave Wineland went on to win the 2012
Nobel prize in Physics:
https://www.nist.gov/nist-and-nobel/dave-wineland/person-behind-nobel-prize-dave-wineland
The first photo is fun, "Before he was a quantum mechanic...". Then
there's this recent press release:
https://around.uoregon.edu/wineland
The lovely photo of NBS-6 (NIST cesium clock) comes from:
https://www.nist.gov/image/img044jpg
And for a nice trip through the past, including NBS-1 and NIST-7 see:
https://www.nist.gov/si-redefinition/second/second-past
/tvb
On 2/6/2021 10:05 AM, Attila Kinali wrote:
Moin,
On Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:55:07 -0700
"Richard (Rick) Karlquist" richard@karlquist.com wrote:
FWIW, about 20 years ago, Len Cutler and Robin Giffard of 5071A fame
built several Hg ion clocks to be shipped to some govt customer I
don't remember. One of the clocks was dropped by the shipping company
UPS or FedEX) and destroyed. Only then did Len learn that HP was
self insured, probably as part of a package deal to get a low
corporate shipping rate. HP products were packed extremely well, so
the only real risk was the unit getting stolen. I vaguely remember
Len saying they were out $10K, which was probably just the cost of
parts. Nevertheless, it didn't seem like building an Hg clock was
all that big of a project. Way simpler than the 5071A.
Now a days, the electronics would be considerably easier and cheaper.
The mechanical parts would all be CNC'ed by an online machine shop.
Magnus just send me out to chase an (unrelated) paper and I stumbled
over [1] which describes the Hg standard that Cutler & Co built.
Remembering this discussion I thought it might be interesting to
some.
Attila Kinali
"Trapped Mercury 199 Ion Frequency Standard", Cutler,
Giffard, McGuire, PTTI, 1981
http://time.kinali.ch/ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2021 15:44:10 -0700
From: Bill Notfaded notfaded1@gmail.com
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Used Hydrogen Maser
Message-ID:
CADToqn2fk64qa0=xnf1+7Xib+zcPGuP7WyeWkeSDjvUOD9ryVg@mail.gmail.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Let me know when I can buy one please! I'm not kidding. ;^}
Bill in Arizona
On Sat, Feb 6, 2021, 1:25 PM Tom Van Baak tvb@leapsecond.com wrote:
ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
Note the dialog on the last page. Dave Wineland went on to win the 2012
Nobel prize in Physics:
https://www.nist.gov/nist-and-nobel/dave-wineland/person-behind-nobel-prize-dave-wineland
The first photo is fun, "Before he was a quantum mechanic...". Then
there's this recent press release:
https://around.uoregon.edu/wineland
The lovely photo of NBS-6 (NIST cesium clock) comes from:
https://www.nist.gov/image/img044jpg
And for a nice trip through the past, including NBS-1 and NIST-7 see:
https://www.nist.gov/si-redefinition/second/second-past
/tvb
On 2/6/2021 10:05 AM, Attila Kinali wrote:
Moin,
On Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:55:07 -0700
"Richard (Rick) Karlquist" richard@karlquist.com wrote:
FWIW, about 20 years ago, Len Cutler and Robin Giffard of 5071A fame
built several Hg ion clocks to be shipped to some govt customer I
don't remember. One of the clocks was dropped by the shipping company
UPS or FedEX) and destroyed. Only then did Len learn that HP was
self insured, probably as part of a package deal to get a low
corporate shipping rate. HP products were packed extremely well, so
the only real risk was the unit getting stolen. I vaguely remember
Len saying they were out $10K, which was probably just the cost of
parts. Nevertheless, it didn't seem like building an Hg clock was
all that big of a project. Way simpler than the 5071A.
Now a days, the electronics would be considerably easier and cheaper.
The mechanical parts would all be CNC'ed by an online machine shop.
Magnus just send me out to chase an (unrelated) paper and I stumbled
over [1] which describes the Hg standard that Cutler & Co built.
Remembering this discussion I thought it might be interesting to
some.
Attila Kinali
"Trapped Mercury 199 Ion Frequency Standard", Cutler,
Giffard, McGuire, PTTI, 1981
http://time.kinali.ch/ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2021 20:29:50 -0500
From: Bob kb8tq kb8tq@n1k.org
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Used Hydrogen Maser
Message-ID: 8D18F76D-79C7-4F68-9A4D-025D8D7DDBF1@n1k.org
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Hi
On Feb 6, 2021, at 5:44 PM, Bill Notfaded notfaded1@gmail.com wrote:
Let me know when I can buy one please! I'm not kidding. ;^}
This thread has drifted from Hydrogen Masers, to Mercury Ion clocks,
to long beam Cs standards, and passes things like 5071?s while doing so.
Which of those items are you after?
In some cases the answer is maybe $100K, in others maybe 5X that. For
other items on that list you would be funding a development project ?..
Bob
Bill in Arizona
On Sat, Feb 6, 2021, 1:25 PM Tom Van Baak tvb@leapsecond.com wrote:
ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
Note the dialog on the last page. Dave Wineland went on to win the 2012
Nobel prize in Physics:
https://www.nist.gov/nist-and-nobel/dave-wineland/person-behind-nobel-prize-dave-wineland
The first photo is fun, "Before he was a quantum mechanic...". Then
there's this recent press release:
https://around.uoregon.edu/wineland
The lovely photo of NBS-6 (NIST cesium clock) comes from:
https://www.nist.gov/image/img044jpg
And for a nice trip through the past, including NBS-1 and NIST-7 see:
https://www.nist.gov/si-redefinition/second/second-past
/tvb
On 2/6/2021 10:05 AM, Attila Kinali wrote:
Moin,
On Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:55:07 -0700
"Richard (Rick) Karlquist" richard@karlquist.com wrote:
FWIW, about 20 years ago, Len Cutler and Robin Giffard of 5071A fame
built several Hg ion clocks to be shipped to some govt customer I
don't remember. One of the clocks was dropped by the shipping company
UPS or FedEX) and destroyed. Only then did Len learn that HP was
self insured, probably as part of a package deal to get a low
corporate shipping rate. HP products were packed extremely well, so
the only real risk was the unit getting stolen. I vaguely remember
Len saying they were out $10K, which was probably just the cost of
parts. Nevertheless, it didn't seem like building an Hg clock was
all that big of a project. Way simpler than the 5071A.
Now a days, the electronics would be considerably easier and cheaper.
The mechanical parts would all be CNC'ed by an online machine shop.
Magnus just send me out to chase an (unrelated) paper and I stumbled
over [1] which describes the Hg standard that Cutler & Co built.
Remembering this discussion I thought it might be interesting to
some.
Attila Kinali
"Trapped Mercury 199 Ion Frequency Standard", Cutler,
Giffard, McGuire, PTTI, 1981
http://time.kinali.ch/ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2021 19:16:09 -0700
From: Wes wes@triconet.org
To: time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Used Hydrogen Maser
Message-ID: a5c69007-5343-1436-a1f3-058722b7579f@triconet.org
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
Although Mr. Wineland's IQ must be at least 50 points higher than mine, we do
have something in common. I too owned a '36 Ford in my youth, about the same
time as he did, although mine was a Cabriolet not a coupe, and I fitted it with
an OHV Studebaker V8, a smaller displacement clone of a Cadillac V8.
Wes? N7WS
On 2/6/2021 1:23 PM, Tom Van Baak wrote:
ptti/1981papers/Vol%2013_30.pdf
Note the dialog on the last page. Dave Wineland went on to win the 2012 Nobel
prize in Physics:
Message: 7
Date: Sat, 06 Feb 2021 18:47:52 -0800
From: Hal Murray hmurray@megapathdsl.net
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Cc: hmurray@megapathdsl.net
Subject: [time-nuts] Anybody plotted the ADEV of a V8 idle speed?
Message-ID:
20210207024752.A11AC406061@ip-64-139-1-69.sjc.megapath.net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
wes@triconet.org said:
Although Mr. Wineland's IQ must be at least 50 points higher than mine, we do
have something in common. I too owned a '36 Ford in my youth, about the same
time as he did, although mine was a Cabriolet not a coupe, and I fitted it
with an OHV Studebaker V8, a smaller displacement clone of a Cadillac V8.
Speaking of V8s...
Just a simple graph of idle speed vs time for the first few minutes after a
cold start might be a fun high school science project.
Is the idle speed of a modern warm engine locked to the CPU's crystal or is
there a feedback loop setting some pollution or mileage parameter?
In the old days (pre computer), there was some thermal input to the idle
speed. I assume it was a bimetalic element.
--
These are my opinions. I hate spam.
Message: 8
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2021 22:34:46 -0500
From: Martin VE3OAT ve3oat@storm.ca
To: time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Subject: [time-nuts] Some old Time & Frequency stuff for sale, eastern
Ontario, Canada
Message-ID: add901fb-e887-80d4-a51b-52865a7dd8fd@storm.ca
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Trying to down-size a bit and these must go, as I will probably never
use them again. All units are rack-mountable. Heavy stuff, only
local pick-up (in Greely, just south of Ottawa) or can meet within an
hour's drive of Ottawa. Value $160, take it all home for $100!
-
and 2. Two General Radio 1123-A digital synchronometers (clocks).
Displays time HH:MM:SS. Requires input of 1 MHz or 100 kHz, sine or
square wave. Can be synced by local clock pulse, with provision for
propagation delay. One (black panel) was working fine when taken out
of service. The other one (white panel) worked but did not reset at
23:59 (the old missing reset pulse problem). I never found time to
fix it while the first one was working fine. These units are typical
GR construction and work reliably, except that the display modules
are a bit of a pain to keep working due to recurring contact problems
(annual maintenance recommended). With photocopy of the manual and
fold-out schematics in a binder. And a box of spare bulbs for the
display modules. Needs GR-type power cord. $40 for the pair. -
Fluke 207-13 VLF Receiver/Phase Comparator.
- See Note. Phase comparison receiver, tunes 8.0-31.9 and 60.0
kHz. Local standard comparison input 100 kHz or 1 MHz. Modified
antenna input circuit. Was working fine when taken out of service,
and checked OK in recent "lash-up" test. With bound photocopy of
manual with fold-out circuit diagrams, and a box of untested spare
circuit cards from a cannibalized Fluke 207. $30.
- Spectracom 8164 NBS Receiver/Disciplined Oscillator.
- See Note. A 60 kHz phase comparison receiver. Local standard
input 0.1, 1.0, 5.0, or 10.0 MHz. Modified to add 10 MHz, 100 kHz
and 1 Hz TTL outputs, and to remove 12VDC from 10 MHz sine wave
outputs (distribution amplifier) to remote sites. Was working fine
when taken out of service when WWVB changed to phase modulation.
With original manual and diagrams. $30.
- Kinemetrics/TrueTime 60-TF LF Receiver/Frequency Comparator.
- See Note. Phase comparison receiver for 60 kHz, compact
construction (1.75-inch rack panel). Local standard comparison input
1 MHz but might work with others. Was working fine when taken out
of service, and checked OK in recent "lash-up" test. Digital phase
display and strip chart recorder on front, analog voltage output on
rear. Unfortunately, no manual or other documentation. $20.
-
Beckman Instruments 905 WWV Receiver.
HF AM receiver, all vacuum tubes, selectable channels 2.5, 5, 10, 15,
20, or 25 MHz, with fine tuning, audio filters, internal speaker,
S-meter, modified for AGC voltage output on the rear (BNC). With
photocopy of the manual and schematic. Working fine but power cord
should be replaced. $20. -
Lavoie LA-800D WWV Frequency Comparator.
Compares local standard frequency (50 kHz to 10 MHz) with WWV on 5 or
15 MHz. Vacuum tubes. Scope trace is good but screen has small burn
mark (does not affect operation). Tested with 1 and 10 MHz local
standards and seems to be working fine, except there is no derived 400
kHz standard output (not needed). Probably needs alignment. When fed
with a good local standard, it is fun to watch the phase changes on
WWV signal caused by propagation. Big and heavy. With 19" cabinet
and photocopy of operation and service manual. $20.
- NOTE -- The VLF receivers do not work by themselves with the new
WWVB signal format. You must first de-phase-modulate the raw 60 kHz
WWVB signal to remove the PSK time code modulation before passing the
signal to the receiver's antenna input. See the article at :
http://maxmcarter.com/rubidium/2012_mod/index.html for one solution.
Take all seven units for $100 cash.
73,
... Martin Potter VE3OAT
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2021 23:42:47 -0500
From: "Tom Holmes" tholmes@woh.rr.com
To: "'Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement'"
time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Anybody plotted the ADEV of a V8 idle speed?
Message-ID: 133c01d6fd0b$af203740$0d60a5c0$@woh.rr.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Idle speed is simply controlled to an rpm value,
which thus makes it tied, loosely, to the CPU
clock. The phase noise is quite awful, by anyone's
standards, mainly because the parameters measured
to control fuel and spark timing, are noisy.
Tom Holmes, N8ZM
-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts time-nuts-bounces@lists.febo.com
On Behalf Of Hal Murray
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2021 9:48 PM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency
measurement time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Cc: hmurray@megapathdsl.net
Subject: [time-nuts] Anybody plotted the ADEV of a
V8 idle speed?
wes@triconet.org said:
Although Mr. Wineland's IQ must be at least 50
points higher than mine, we do
have something in common. I too owned a '36
Ford in my youth, about the same
time as he did, although mine was a Cabriolet
not a coupe, and I fitted it
with an OHV Studebaker V8, a smaller
displacement clone of a Cadillac V8.
Speaking of V8s...
Just a simple graph of idle speed vs time for the
first few minutes after a
cold start might be a fun high school science
project.
Is the idle speed of a modern warm engine locked
to the CPU's crystal or is
there a feedback loop setting some pollution or
mileage parameter?
In the old days (pre computer), there was some
thermal input to the idle
speed. I assume it was a bimetalic element.
--
These are my opinions. I hate spam.
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_l
ists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
Message: 10
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2021 08:57:49 -0500 (EST)
From: John Franke jmfranke@cox.net
To: Martin VE3OAT ve3oat@storm.ca, Discussion of precise time and
frequency measurement time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Some old Time & Frequency stuff for sale,
eastern Ontario, Canada
Message-ID: 1876722254.62090.1612706269608@myemail.cox.net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
I would pay $250, via PayPal, including shipping, if you would ship the pile. If not, I would understand. I figured I had to at least give it a shot.
John Franke WA4WDL
4500 Ibis Ct
Portsmouth, VA 23703
On February 6, 2021 at 10:34 PM Martin VE3OAT ve3oat@storm.ca wrote:
Trying to down-size a bit and these must go, as I will probably never
use them again. All units are rack-mountable. Heavy stuff, only
local pick-up (in Greely, just south of Ottawa) or can meet within an
hour's drive of Ottawa. Value $160, take it all home for $100!
-
and 2. Two General Radio 1123-A digital synchronometers (clocks).
Displays time HH:MM:SS. Requires input of 1 MHz or 100 kHz, sine or
square wave. Can be synced by local clock pulse, with provision for
propagation delay. One (black panel) was working fine when taken out
of service. The other one (white panel) worked but did not reset at
23:59 (the old missing reset pulse problem). I never found time to
fix it while the first one was working fine. These units are typical
GR construction and work reliably, except that the display modules
are a bit of a pain to keep working due to recurring contact problems
(annual maintenance recommended). With photocopy of the manual and
fold-out schematics in a binder. And a box of spare bulbs for the
display modules. Needs GR-type power cord. $40 for the pair. -
Fluke 207-13 VLF Receiver/Phase Comparator.
- See Note. Phase comparison receiver, tunes 8.0-31.9 and 60.0
kHz. Local standard comparison input 100 kHz or 1 MHz. Modified
antenna input circuit. Was working fine when taken out of service,
and checked OK in recent "lash-up" test. With bound photocopy of
manual with fold-out circuit diagrams, and a box of untested spare
circuit cards from a cannibalized Fluke 207. $30.
- Spectracom 8164 NBS Receiver/Disciplined Oscillator.
- See Note. A 60 kHz phase comparison receiver. Local standard
input 0.1, 1.0, 5.0, or 10.0 MHz. Modified to add 10 MHz, 100 kHz
and 1 Hz TTL outputs, and to remove 12VDC from 10 MHz sine wave
outputs (distribution amplifier) to remote sites. Was working fine
when taken out of service when WWVB changed to phase modulation.
With original manual and diagrams. $30.
- Kinemetrics/TrueTime 60-TF LF Receiver/Frequency Comparator.
- See Note. Phase comparison receiver for 60 kHz, compact
construction (1.75-inch rack panel). Local standard comparison input
1 MHz but might work with others. Was working fine when taken out
of service, and checked OK in recent "lash-up" test. Digital phase
display and strip chart recorder on front, analog voltage output on
rear. Unfortunately, no manual or other documentation. $20.
-
Beckman Instruments 905 WWV Receiver.
HF AM receiver, all vacuum tubes, selectable channels 2.5, 5, 10, 15,
20, or 25 MHz, with fine tuning, audio filters, internal speaker,
S-meter, modified for AGC voltage output on the rear (BNC). With
photocopy of the manual and schematic. Working fine but power cord
should be replaced. $20. -
Lavoie LA-800D WWV Frequency Comparator.
Compares local standard frequency (50 kHz to 10 MHz) with WWV on 5 or
15 MHz. Vacuum tubes. Scope trace is good but screen has small burn
mark (does not affect operation). Tested with 1 and 10 MHz local
standards and seems to be working fine, except there is no derived 400
kHz standard output (not needed). Probably needs alignment. When fed
with a good local standard, it is fun to watch the phase changes on
WWV signal caused by propagation. Big and heavy. With 19" cabinet
and photocopy of operation and service manual. $20.
- NOTE -- The VLF receivers do not work by themselves with the new
WWVB signal format. You must first de-phase-modulate the raw 60 kHz
WWVB signal to remove the PSK time code modulation before passing the
signal to the receiver's antenna input. See the article at :
http://maxmcarter.com/rubidium/2012_mod/index.html for one solution.
Take all seven units for $100 cash.
73,
... Martin Potter VE3OAT
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
Message: 11
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2021 09:48:47 -0500
From: Bob kb8tq kb8tq@n1k.org
To: John Franke jmfranke@cox.net, Discussion of precise time and
frequency measurement time-nuts@lists.febo.com
Cc: Martin VE3OAT ve3oat@storm.ca
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Some old Time & Frequency stuff for sale,
eastern Ontario, Canada
Message-ID: D7147533-779E-42AA-ACBF-FC97BA76DE22@n1k.org
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Hi
There?s six pretty big gizmos there. My local UPS store would charge
me $20 to $30 a box to pack each of them (and barely do an adequate job).
Looking up shipping rates from here to there, each of the 6 packages
would run about $70 to ship. Net would likely be in the $400 to $600 range.
Yes, there?s a lot of guesswork in those numbers. They probably would go
a bit cheaper via the post office.
Bob
On Feb 7, 2021, at 8:57 AM, John Franke jmfranke@cox.net wrote:
I would pay $250, via PayPal, including shipping, if you would ship the pile. If not, I would understand. I figured I had to at least give it a shot.
John Franke WA4WDL
4500 Ibis Ct
Portsmouth, VA 23703
On February 6, 2021 at 10:34 PM Martin VE3OAT ve3oat@storm.ca wrote:
Trying to down-size a bit and these must go, as I will probably never
use them again. All units are rack-mountable. Heavy stuff, only
local pick-up (in Greely, just south of Ottawa) or can meet within an
hour's drive of Ottawa. Value $160, take it all home for $100!
-
and 2. Two General Radio 1123-A digital synchronometers (clocks).
Displays time HH:MM:SS. Requires input of 1 MHz or 100 kHz, sine or
square wave. Can be synced by local clock pulse, with provision for
propagation delay. One (black panel) was working fine when taken out
of service. The other one (white panel) worked but did not reset at
23:59 (the old missing reset pulse problem). I never found time to
fix it while the first one was working fine. These units are typical
GR construction and work reliably, except that the display modules
are a bit of a pain to keep working due to recurring contact problems
(annual maintenance recommended). With photocopy of the manual and
fold-out schematics in a binder. And a box of spare bulbs for the
display modules. Needs GR-type power cord. $40 for the pair. -
Fluke 207-13 VLF Receiver/Phase Comparator.
- See Note. Phase comparison receiver, tunes 8.0-31.9 and 60.0
kHz. Local standard comparison input 100 kHz or 1 MHz. Modified
antenna input circuit. Was working fine when taken out of service,
and checked OK in recent "lash-up" test. With bound photocopy of
manual with fold-out circuit diagrams, and a box of untested spare
circuit cards from a cannibalized Fluke 207. $30.
- Spectracom 8164 NBS Receiver/Disciplined Oscillator.
- See Note. A 60 kHz phase comparison receiver. Local standard
input 0.1, 1.0, 5.0, or 10.0 MHz. Modified to add 10 MHz, 100 kHz
and 1 Hz TTL outputs, and to remove 12VDC from 10 MHz sine wave
outputs (distribution amplifier) to remote sites. Was working fine
when taken out of service when WWVB changed to phase modulation.
With original manual and diagrams. $30.
- Kinemetrics/TrueTime 60-TF LF Receiver/Frequency Comparator.
- See Note. Phase comparison receiver for 60 kHz, compact
construction (1.75-inch rack panel). Local standard comparison input
1 MHz but might work with others. Was working fine when taken out
of service, and checked OK in recent "lash-up" test. Digital phase
display and strip chart recorder on front, analog voltage output on
rear. Unfortunately, no manual or other documentation. $20.
-
Beckman Instruments 905 WWV Receiver.
HF AM receiver, all vacuum tubes, selectable channels 2.5, 5, 10, 15,
20, or 25 MHz, with fine tuning, audio filters, internal speaker,
S-meter, modified for AGC voltage output on the rear (BNC). With
photocopy of the manual and schematic. Working fine but power cord
should be replaced. $20. -
Lavoie LA-800D WWV Frequency Comparator.
Compares local standard frequency (50 kHz to 10 MHz) with WWV on 5 or
15 MHz. Vacuum tubes. Scope trace is good but screen has small burn
mark (does not affect operation). Tested with 1 and 10 MHz local
standards and seems to be working fine, except there is no derived 400
kHz standard output (not needed). Probably needs alignment. When fed
with a good local standard, it is fun to watch the phase changes on
WWV signal caused by propagation. Big and heavy. With 19" cabinet
and photocopy of operation and service manual. $20.
- NOTE -- The VLF receivers do not work by themselves with the new
WWVB signal format. You must first de-phase-modulate the raw 60 kHz
WWVB signal to remove the PSK time code modulation before passing the
signal to the receiver's antenna input. See the article at :
http://maxmcarter.com/rubidium/2012_mod/index.html for one solution.
Take all seven units for $100 cash.
73,
... Martin Potter VE3OAT
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End of time-nuts Digest, Vol 199, Issue 6