[time-nuts] Determining Time-Nut infection severity.

[k6rtm at comcast.net]

Dave suggests a wonderful metric for our disease! 

Of course a single scalar value can't completely cover it. I suggest that it needs an error bound (I hesitate to suggest "deviation"), perhaps relating to the accuracy of other time devices under common ownership. As an example, in addition to two tbolts, two LPROs, a few 10811's (most of them in instruments, only one running around loose), I have a 100+ year old Seth Thomas mantle clock that has a temperature variation which would make Warren cry. The 40+ year old Regulator-style wind-up clock in a different part of the house runs about five minutes fast. And then there's the other Regulator-style clock that's dead on, twice a day (broken mainspring that still needs replacement)... 

Then again, some members of this esteemed list should get values assigned based on the contributions they've made. I'm thinking of my neighbor down the street, Rick N6RK, who deserves at least a 16 based on his work, and Warren who has earned a similar number based on helping (and educating) others. 

respectfully submitted, 

bob k6rtm in drizzly silicon valley 
------------------------------ 

Message: 4 
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:53:37 -0700 
From: David Martindale <dave.martindale at gmail.com> 
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Determining Time-Nut infection severity. 
To: mccorkle at ptialaska.net, Discussion of precise time and frequency 
measurement <time-nuts at febo.com> 
Message-ID: 
<AANLkTimn4VuYLMmSRpm+oAaxq4R1yOBfU42boZ3-b7g4 at mail.gmail.com> 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 

... 

On the other hand, this does suggest a plausible metric for nuttiness: 
the negative of the base-10 log of the frequency uncertainty of the 
best reference you own. So the scale for fully qualified nuts starts 
at 9 and goes upward. Lower numbers are indicative of non-nuts (just 
owning a quartz watch puts you at about 5, at least if you care about 
its accuracy). 

Dave 



------------------------------