In physical terms, the direction the C-field does not matter in a atomic frequency standard, it just has to be of constant magnitude.
The ambient magnetic fields adds to the C-field, most notably the geomagnetic field, and any (strong) nearby DC currents. Some of the "telecom" rubidiums reverses the C-field periodically, presumably to average out any stray magnetic fields which get past their puny, if any, mu-metal shielding. The HP5065A is stationary and shielded, so the stray fields should be small and almost constant, and implementing periodc reversal would likely convert it from a frequency normal to geomagnetometer. But if one reversed the C-field, by swapping the wires to the solenoid, and measured the frequency-shift, wouldn't that give a measurement of how good the magnetic shield works ? Has anybody ever tried this ? -- Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20 [email protected] | TCP/IP since RFC 956 FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence. _______________________________________________ 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.
