[time-nuts] Timing Distribution in Mountainous Terrain

Mark J. Blair nf6x at nf6x.net
Fri Sep 10 16:49:49 UTC 2010


I presume that there's a good reason for the selection of antenna sites which don't have LOS to each other. However, would it be possible to select additional sites at which to install repeaters to allow timing calibrations to be made between pairs of primary receiving sites? These repeaters could also provide backup communications so that a primary receiving site isn't necessarily taken out of action if its communication channel (wireline?) gets cut by a wandering backhoe. Each repeater site would be selected to have LOS to two or more primary receiving sites, or when that's not possible, to one primary receiving site and another repeater that can see a different site.

While multiplying the number of sites wouldn't be cheap (even considering that the repeater sites may host much less expensive equipment than the primary receiving sites, and may be able to operate without wireline communications or power lines to the sites), it might be cheaper than installing hydrogen masers and radio telescopes, designing custom aircraft and flying them overhead every 20 minutes, etc.


-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
Web page: http://www.nf6x.net/
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