On 13/01/11 17:24, J. Forster wrote:
As I said last go-round, I think the chances of rebuilding an HP Cs tube
are slim to none.
BUT, if you were really dedicated, I think you could build up the physics
package from pretty much standard stuff, like the Kimball Physics gun
parts and Conflat SS vacuum hardware, etc. Check Duniway.
I'd start by reviewing the old, academic papers. Much of the electronics
can be bought on eBay as instruments now.
Yes, it'd be refrigerator size, but it is do-able, IMO.
Many of the pieces of a physical package can either be found off the
shelf (ionizer/masspectrometer) or at least be hammered up fairly easily
(microwave link) even if performance is far optimum. The cesium oven
should also be fairly buildable. The C-field coil could certainly be
built with some care. My-metal shields may take some effort. Outer
shield is a challenge for vacuum performance and there is such a thing
as high-vacuum nuts. Similarly the ionpump is off the shelf. The piece
that I would not expect to be easy to buy or build is the A and B
magnets which deflect wrong state atoms. Also, handle Cesium and
breaking the Cesium ampule may be a bit of a challenge to get right.
There is certainly be a bit of challenges to get something which works.
Being able to get good performance would take many many years of
experimentation and learning. The HP/Symmetricom efforts spans from the
60thies. Many steps of improvement, of which only some is found in
papers and patents. But they have left such traces too. There are many
practical solutions which can be learned from the archives.
The electronics could either be to reuse a HP5061 or whateer is
available, but most of it should not be all that hard depending on
background.
It would be a hell of a project. Just like building a H-maser.
In comparision a Rubidium is much easier.
Cheers,
Magnus
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