[Lowfer] Atomic Clock Oddities.

[Zack Widup]

I remember the club station W9YH at the University of Illinois was once
given a REAL atomic clock - a cesium clock. It was a rack of equipment about
a foot wide and 5 feet tall with a dial clock with hands at the top. I think
the University replaced it with something more modern. We always jokingly
referred to it as the "atomic grandfather clock."
:-)

73, Zack W9SZ

On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 9:37 AM, Andy - KU4XR <ku4xr at yahoo.com> wrote:

> > On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 11:04 PM, KD7JYK DM09 <kd7jyk at earthlink.net>
> > wrote:
>
> > What would cause different atomic clocks in different states to
> > suddenly show random dates and days, even days and dates that
> > don't match?
> >
> > Kurt
>
>
> --- On Wed, 9/30/09, Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Most of those "atomic clocks" are really WWVB receivers.
> > Maybe QRM got to them somehow?
> >
> > 73, Zack W9SZ
>
>
> Hello All:
>
> A few days ago, I was calibrating some software using WWVB as a
> signal source. I wanted the signal to be very weak so I disconnected
> all but a 4 foot jumper cable. During the daytime, and the 4' jumper,
> WWVB was still aubible here in Tn. I shorted the center pin to the
> outer ring, and with the cable " grounded " I was still hearing
> WWVB very faintly. I was a little surprised that my ground system
> could have that much RF capability. That brings up another thought
> about DC ground vs. RF ground ( different subject )
> As Zack said, the clocks are mini WWVB receivers with loop bar ant.
> WWVB sends binary data thru carrier power adjustment. Since it is a
> radio wave; QSB, atmospherics, and QRN can all have a factor in what
> the mini receiver " hears " at any given moment. Ground wave, and
> skywave possibly causing phase cancellation of the signal. If the
> binary code sent is corrupted in any way; the wrong interpretation
> could be made at the receiver end.
>
>
> Andy - KU4XR - EM75xr - Friendsville, TN.
> LOWfer Beacon " XR " @ 184.322 KHz ( QRSS-60 )
> Coordinates:  N:  35* 43' 54" - W:  84* 3' 16"
> http://www.myspace.com/beaconxr
>
>
> --- On Wed, 9/30/09, Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > From: Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Lowfer] Atomic Clock Oddities.
> > To: "Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European, &, UK) and MedFer bands" <
> lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
> > Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 1:53 AM
>  > Most of those "atomic clocks" are
> > really WWVB receivers. Maybe QRM got to
> > them somehow?
> >
> > 73, Zack W9SZ
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 11:04 PM, KD7JYK DM09 <kd7jyk at earthlink.net>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Yesterday, a friend mentioned her atomic clock was
> > showing the day as next
> > > friday, the date correctly.  This afternoon, I
> > come home to find one of my
> > > three atomic clocks indicating next Saturday, both by
> > day and date, an
> > > identical model in another room shows the correct day
> > and date.
> > >
> > > My friends clock is seven seconds slow on the time, I
> > have not been able to
> > > check mine.
> > >
> > > What would cause different atomic clocks in different
> > states to suddenly
> > > show random dates and days, even days and dates that
> > don't match?
> > >
> > > Kurt
> > >
> > >
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