[time-nuts] Reflections and Low Phase Noise

[Magnus Danielson]

Hi,

On 09/21/2013 07:50 PM, Tom Knox wrote:
> If this at first appears to be off topic read on.
> Having this year survived fire evacuations and most recently what has been called anything from a five to 1000 year flood here in Boulder, I have has a little time to reflect on just how lucky I was. Over the last few years I have made a few upgrades to harden my home against natural disasters. Adding sprinklers to the roof and a industrial sump pump in my basement. To say the least it paid off in a big way last week, since if my basement had flooded I would have lost my lab that I have spent several decades building. It has motivated me to finish upgrading my grounding and lightning protection with a new eye to detail. I write this post to encourage others to do the same by spending a few minutes to look for any vulnerabilities and spend a few days addressing them. Or at least upgrading insurance. For many here in Boulder lately there is nothing they could have done,  but for amny other a few minutes could have saved them months of work. If I can help just one Time-Nut save his lab 
>  it is worth it.
For those that have not been in Boulder, you should realize that it is
just downhill from the mountains. Multiple small creeks run through
Boulder as the rain poors off the Rocky Mountains, like the Flatirons
that dominate the view of Boulder. Boulder really stops at the Rocky
Mountains.

Tom's house has one of those smaller creeks just behind it. Having seen
his basement, and knowing the other opportunities, it is not strange
that he take precaution. Having seen the lovely display of thundering
just outside Boulder, I know what that means.

Good to hear you coped OK-ish with it.
> Now for the good stuff, We all have our idea of what a low or Ultra Low
>         phase noise oscillator is. For 5 and 10MHz references I usually
>         look first at 1Hz offset then the noise floor. At 5MHz I
>         consider 125dB @ 1Hz state of the art. But now
>         Arcihita Hati and colleges at NIST has designed a State-of-the-Art RF Signal Generation From Optical Frequency Division that sets a new standard for low phase noise with nearly -155dB @ 1Hz for a 5MHz reference. All I want to know is when will it be available as a
>         single chip. And how long before Magnus, TVB, and other Senior
>         Time-Nut have a workable prototype in their labs? The NIST link is not yet active, but if you would like a copy of the paper now email me off list I will send you the paper as an attachment. I think it may also be posted on IEEE's pay to play site.
Giveme :)

Cheers,
Magnus