[time-nuts] Morion MV89A position

Charles Steinmetz csteinmetz at yandex.com
Thu Jan 30 07:30:48 UTC 2014


Dave wrote:

>What I'm interested in achieving is the lowest posible energy 
>requirement for a set of quartz frequency stds. It seems to me that 
>using the close to iso-thermal 'hole in the ground' arrangement is a 
>useful step in that direction as it should minimise the power 
>necessary for environmental control.

Very interesting.

I think the answer is, maybe, and maybe not.  Assuming that the 
average ground temperature is lower than the average air temperature 
wherever they would be located if they were not underground, the 
ovens would have to run harder (on average) in the underground 
location.  On the other hand, if you were able to reduce the crystal 
temperature because of much greater subterranean temperature 
stability, you might make it a wash or even lower the heater power 
consumption.  However, crystals work best at their design 
temperature, so obtaining good performance at a lower crystal 
temperature might require a complete oscillator redesign with 
crystals made specifically for the lower temperature.  So, the 
"oscillator in a box" could end up being the most efficient choice if 
you aren't going to redesign the oscillators and do not want to 
sacrifice the specified frequency stability of your off-the-shelf oscillator.

Decisions, decisions.

Would it be practical to install solar/wind/geothermal/etc. power 
generating equipment sufficient to support the standards in an 
emergency?  (I'd think solar would be the least likely to be 
interrupted by natural disasters, but as soon as you go that way your 
next disaster would surely be a volcanic eruption that blots out the 
sun for months....)

Best regards,

Charles






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