[time-nuts] need recomendation for a portable 10mhz reference oscilator

[Hal Murray]

> There's just that minor problem with the snow melted by the E1938A.

That was mostly in jest, but on the other hand, if you want a stable 
temperature snow can be a useful tool.

It often comes in large quantities.  A E1938A isn't going to melt many cubic 
meters per day.

Snow is often a very good insulator.  Toss a couple of shovels full on top to 
avoid the sun or cold night sky.

I doubt if would useful for a long term solution, but it might work for a run 
that's only a week or two.



> Snow is stable at its transition temperature.  Below that, it varies
> with  the ambient temperature.  Snow temperatures in Greenland are
> often near -40  degrees.

Yup.  I was thinking of not-crazy temperatures where the unit you are trying 
to keep at a stable temperature would warm the snow up to melting.

I'm not sure what would happen if the ambient temperature is super cold.  
After a while you would have a big block of ice.  Ice conducts much better 
than snow.  I can't do the math, but I'll bet for a given ambient temperature 
(assuming an infinite block of ice) there is some amount of heat the unit 
would have to put out to keep its puddle from freezing.



-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.