[time-nuts] Sub mm measurements with gps timing antennas?

Chris Albertson albertson.chris at gmail.com
Wed Apr 25 19:29:59 UTC 2012


On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:42 AM, Attila Kinali <attila at kinali.ch> wrote:

> Moin,
>
> After installation the system
> runs on solar power with a backup battery. But this doesn't guarrantee
> power at all. The solar panel could be below a meter or two of snow.
> Hence the whole system has to cope with periodic power los and has to
> be as low power as possible (ie no OCXO, no Rb, no temperature
> stabilization).
>
> The snow also prevents the use of choke rings, because they would
> accumulate
> a lot of snow and ice, which would then cover the whole antenna.


A few ideas..

1) You could use a choke ring if you were willing to build a large size
conical cover or (say) fiberglass

2) Seems that you might want a much taller mast for you solar cells.  If
they are covered by a meter of snal make the mast a meter taller,

3) This would take quite a bit of physical work but you can always find a
stable temperature if you are willing to dig or drill a deep enough hole.
I think even in your location there is a depth at with the temperature
reins at the average yearly night/day temperature.   Here in California, I
think I only need to dig down about 12 feet to find a constant 58F.   Maybe
other places you need one of those tools use for water wells.      I've
been wanting to try an experiment where I bury A cheap XO 20 feet and see
if that does not make it stable.   Except for aging it should work.

BTW a big hole in the ground is a good source of free energy because it is
nearly always a different temperature than at the surface, some times by 10
or 40 degrees.  Heat pumps can exploit the difference.   People who can
design and install these systems are working overtime and making a mint
right now.   No I would not powerwer your GPS with this, but maybe a
house's heating and AC system.



Chris Albertson
Redondo Beach, California


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