[time-nuts] Neat little cesium box

[Attila Kinali]

On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:15:25 -0600
"Gregory Muir" <engineering at mt.net> wrote:

> Most of the problems have been solved including the power source.
>  This is not your typical kitchen table project.  And, as new frequency
> references are developed and the design feasibility phase is still open,
> small and minimal power-consuming products such as the Novus unit will
> garner our attention.

If you are weight limited, then i'd use the CSAC directly instead of
a packaged version like the Novus box. You will save quite a bit.
You also want to temperature stabilize it, as this will probably be
the major source for long term instability. After that comes probably
the frequency wander of its small Cs vapor cell.

Alternatively, look for a supplier of a Rb vapor cell that uses
coherent population trapping (CPT) for interrogation instead of the
"standard" microwave cavity vapor cells. These should be smaller
and a bit more stable. But i don't think they have been around long
enough for reliable long term data (at least i'm not aware of any).

Also, it might be worth checking out spectratime, who are building
the hydrogen masers for the Galileo satelites.

			Attila Kinali

-- 
The people on 4chan are like brilliant psychologists
who also happen to be insane and gross.
		-- unknown