[time-nuts] Re: Creating a D.I.Y Rubidium Atomic Clock

[Bob Camp]

Hi

Back when I was with EG&G, they spent a *lot* of effort on the “glassware” side
of things. It was a major undertaking for a facility that already made vacuum 
tubes. 

Was what they did overkill? In the end that was a bit unclear. Their whole “accurate
dose” gas fill was still being debated years later. That said, you still need some
way to get a very precise mix into each and every cell. 

Bob

> On Jun 6, 2023, at 8:26 PM, Richard Karlquist via time-nuts <time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:
> 
> In a former life, I was on the design team of a mini rubidium standard
> at Hewlett-Packard.  We built some working prototypes before it was
> cancelled.  It was going to have the model number 10816.  I was the RF
> person, but I worked very closely with the other team members. 
> Remembering what we had to go through to make "glassware", it is
> inconceivable that you could do that as a "home brew" project.  And this
> was the same HP facility that already made the 5065 rubidium standard. 
> The best you could hope to do is to start with a commercial "physics
> package" as we called it, and make your own electronics for it.  Reading
> books about how rubidium standards work, etc is fine, but again, you
> can't home brew the glassware.
> 
> ---
> Rick Karlquist
> N6RK 
> 
> On 2023-06-06 15:39, Tom Van Baak via time-nuts wrote:
> 
>> Hi Leo,
>> 
>> That sounds like a fun project. Here are some extremely informative resources:
>> 
>> "Introduction to the Rubidium Frequency Standard"
>> by Michael Parker, 358 pages
>> http://www.leapsecond.com/u/parker/ParkerIntroRFS-PPCP.pdf
>> 
>> "Rubidium Frequency Standard Primer"
>> by Bill Riley, 163 pages
>> http://www.wriley.com/Rubidium%20Frequency%20Standard%20Primer%20102211.pdf
>> 
>> "Selection Criteria for Rubidium Frequency Standards"
>> by Bill Riley, 51 pages
>> http://www.wriley.com/Selection%20Criteria%20for%20Rubidium%20Frequency%20Standards.pdf
>> 
>> Also read service manuals for commercial Rb products. Didier's site has a nice collection. Search by product number (e.g., 5065a) or by title (e.g., rubidium):
>> 
>> http://www.ko4bb.com/getsimple/index.php?id=manuals
>> 
>> /tvb
>> 
>> On 6/6/2023 12:25 PM, Leo Ahluwalia via time-nuts wrote: 
>> 
>>> Hello, my name is Leo, and I was wondering about the feasibility of
>>> creating a simple rubidium atomic clock at home, and good places to source
>>> parts for this sort of project. I was also wondering what instruments and
>>> specialized knowledge would be required depending on how pre-built the
>>> parts are, for example, the prerequisite knowledge for creating PLL(s) for
>>> both frequency division to provide an output and also to modulate the input
>>> of the microwave oscillator. Any good resources or PDFs would be greatly
>>> appreciated, as I am very new to frequency analysis and phase manipulation
>>> in general. I was also hoping to keep the cost of the project soft-line
>>> below 500$, though that would be assuming a decent level of precision and
>>> already possessing basic equipment (oscilloscope, multimeter, etc...). Safety
>>> is also a major concern, as I know while the intensity of the EM waves
>>> involved is low, the power source may or may not be. This is all of course
>>> assuming a basic design, where my assumption is that it will involve the
>>> microwaves being shot at a rubidium vapor cell which is directed towards a
>>> photodetector. This would then be connected up to the PLL and circuitry to
>>> both provide a stable standard while also modulating the microwave
>>> oscillator to offset any external environmental factors. I don't have a
>>> clear vision of what would truly be the best design for both simplicity and
>>> cost, though this is what I've found to be a common design in what I've
>>> looked at online.
>>> 
>>> Thanks, Leo
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