Add to this ion-pumps (in the case of EFOS type masers 2 every ~2 years), plus substantial tooling (turbomolecular vacuum pump, anyone?) to service the thing - unless you want the manufacturer to do so..
Ole On Tue, Jan 10, 2017 at 11:12 PM, Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd) < [email protected]> wrote: > On 10 January 2017 at 15:35, Ole Petter Rønningen <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > ... having said that, I for one think I'm with Bob on this one. The thing > > about masers are that they are big. At least active masers. And they > > require a substantial volume be kept at ultra high vacuum - which is not > > trivial, especially not in a homeshop. The cavity needs to be kept at a > > temperature stable to 0.001 degree C. With 4-5 magnetic shields. Add to > > this costly pumps to keep the vacuum this low even if you succeed at > > reaching that vacuum.. There's easily 1-2KUSD running cost per year just > to > > keep the maser running. > > > > Looking at the Microsemi MHM 2010 Active Hydogen Maser data sheet, the > maser has a peak power of 150 W and an operating power of 75 W. Based on a > power consumption of 75 W, that is 657 kW hr / year of energy. I pay around > £0.20 (GBP) per kW hr for electricity, so that's £131 (GBP) annually. I > believe electricity is cheaper in the USA than here in the UK, but > converting £131 (GBP) to USD, that's around $161/year in electricity. So > running costs don't seem to be an issue. > > But I must admit, the thought of spending a lot of time/money to build > something I could have bought for a lot less with higher performance is not > that attractive, although of course there would be a satisfaction from > building it yourself. > > Dave > _______________________________________________ > 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.
