FWIW, about 20 years ago, Len Cutler and Robin Giffard of 5071A fame
built several Hg ion clocks to be shipped to some govt customer I
don't remember. One of the clocks was dropped by the shipping company
UPS or FedEX) and destroyed. Only then did Len learn that HP was
self insured, probably as part of a package deal to get a low
corporate shipping rate. HP products were packed extremely well, so
the only real risk was the unit getting stolen. I vaguely remember
Len saying they were out $10K, which was probably just the cost of
parts. Nevertheless, it didn't seem like building an Hg clock was
all that big of a project. Way simpler than the 5071A.
Now a days, the electronics would be considerably easier and cheaper.
The mechanical parts would all be CNC'ed by an online machine shop.
Rick N6RK
On 7/10/2019 9:41 AM, jimlux wrote:
I wonder what it would cost to build a trapped Hg ion clock - I don't
think it's $10M, but it might be in the range of $500k-1M if you pay
people to do the work. Things like the quadrupole trap and ion sources
are catalog items. The whole vacuum system, including a turbo pump, is
probably in the $10k range (looking at the Cole Parmer catalog, first
hit on google), maybe another $5k in various vacuum plumbing bits and
pieces.
back in 2005-2006 (published in 2007), Prestage et al had a lab version
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4319251
pumped, backfilled with Ne, then sealed
_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe, go to
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe, go to
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
