Hi: A possible explanation is cosmic rays. The actual particle that gets to the surface of the Earth is so energetic that it would take a very thick lead shield to stop them. The Earth has enough mass that they can not go all the way through. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon
So a test would be to stack a few crystals very close together (it's just plain geometry) and monitor their frequency to look for coincident jumps. Have Fun, Brooke Clarke http://www.prc68.com/P/Prod.html Products I make and sell http://www.prc68.com/Alpha.shtml All my web pages listed based on html name http://www.PRC68.com http://www.precisionclock.com http://www.prc68.com/I/WebCam2.shtml 24/7 Sky-Weather-Astronomy Web Cam Ron Smith wrote: > Hello Antonio, > > A.W.Ladner and C.R.Stoner in their book "Short Wave Wireless Communication" > describe a phenomenon called "stepping", which may be the same effect as the > jumps you are > investigating. > > The book is quite old, 4th edition published in 1942 by Chapman and Hall, > and refers (on page 321) to stepping in X- and Y-cut crystals, which may not > be common these days, but perhaps crystals of all cuts are affected to some > degree. > > The text says the curve of frequency against plate thickness does not give a > straight line, but has discontinuities in it. These discontinuities they > call "stepping points" and are a result of edge vibrations coinciding with > sub-multiple frequencies of the wanted thickness vibration mode. The degree > of coupling between the wanted and unwanted modes varies with crystal > dimension. If there is zero coupling, the stepping points should not affect > the main oscillation. But perhaps even the smallest change in dimension can > cause it to cross one of these discontinuities and jump to and fro? I > suspect that crystal sensitivity to stepping or jumping may be correlated > with its temperature coefficient, although there are other factors > (including gravitational) that influence frequency of oscillation at very > small levels. > > Antonio, these frequency jumps are not a phenomenon I have come across > myself, so I have nothing to log, > but I am interested in what you discover. Wouldn't it be fascinating if you > discovered a global trigger to many simultaneous frequency steps? > The book reference is a bit old I'm afraid - things have moved on since > 1942. > Good luck. > > > Ron Smith > G3SVW > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "time-nuts" <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 11:06 PM > Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Question on crystal jumps > > >> Hi Rick >> >>> I'm not quite sure what the question is here.... >>> .... >> The question is: >> may anybody tell me (date and time) when a crystal jumped? >> (a sample response could be: my crystal jumped on January 22, 2006 12:25 >> UT). >> >> I would like to map in time as many jumps as possible. >> >> I hope someone in the list has a log of his jumps. >> >> Thanks and 73, >> Antonio I8IOV >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe, go to >> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts >> and follow the instructions there. >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
