[time-nuts] Re: World's most accurate PC clock!

Magnus Danielson cfmd at bredband.net
Sun Jul 3 19:21:02 EDT 2005


From: "Tom Van Baak" <tvb at leapsecond.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Re: World's most accurate PC clock!
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 15:39:04 -0700
Message-ID: <000901c58020$0525cf80$260ff204 at computer>

> >...
> > since our 5 MHz is really 5 *2  Hz we need see that all of the 5s come
> into use
> > and only three of the 2s, the rest we need to synthesize, thus the 63/88
> ratio.
> 
> Magnus,

Tom,

> Since I see you're also a fan of the intersection
> of precise time and prime numbers, have a look
> at one of my favorite articles on the subject:
> 
> A Tutorial on Magic Numbers for High Definition Electronic Production
> http://www.poynton.com/PDFs/Magic_Numbers.pdf

Thanks! ;O)

I care about precission and working in factored form is really handy when one
wants to understand "magic ratios".

Working for a company doing high speed digital transmissions and in particular
for the video industry, that one came quite close to home so to speak. I do
stuff like frequency synthesis PLLs, network synchronisation and stuff like
that. Actually that is the fun fraction of my work. ;O)

I'm the kind of guy that is more fashinated on why numbers are the way they
are than being fashinated by the numbers themselfs. There is usually a good
and interesting reason for them and it gives you a deeper insight in the
inner workings, and in the end of the day, that the only things I recall.
Magic numbers rarely stick to me, but some people are fashinated by my ability
to remember strange details, where I usually find myself forgetting stuff, ah
well... ;O)

Not long before you posted that I actually went into my Philips PAL video-gen
and checked it out. The reference-oscillator seemed to be heated actually.
I tossed it into the HP5372A and it was doing a dive in frequency until it rose
slowly and planned out as it got over the initial chock of having been turned
off since well, early 80thies I guess.

Cheers,
Magnus




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