Arecibo's long-standing maser (Symmetricom MHM-2010) died right at the end of 2018. In communications with the mfr it came to pass that "repair" was deemed to be economically infeasible. so the observatory fell back on a FS725 locked to PPS from a CNS Clock II, both of which I had purchased a few years prior to my retirement "just in case". (The FS725 is a PRS-10 at heart, but built into a nice looking enclosure along with the power supplies and several isolating 10 MHz distribution amplifiers.)
Sometime last year (I don't recall just when) the GPSDRb system was replaced by another H-maser, a loaner as I understand it. I never heard what brand or model it is. As of a few minutes ago when I checked, it is still ticking along just fine. The Clock Room at Arecibo is located in the operations bldg, at 18.346559, -66.753496 (these coordinates are even roughly at the right location in the bldg). That building complex was very lucky in coming through the collapse essentially undamaged, and continues in operation to this day. Remember, the Arecibo Observatory is more than just the big telescope. There are two optical labs on campus, one dedicated to LIDAR studies of the upper atmosphere and the other to airglow studies. Also there is a separate 12m fully-steerable radio telescope on a hilltop at roughly 18.348394, -66.751469 (I say "roughly" because that seems to be on s stitching boundary in the Google Earth image of the hilltop, and my attempted coordinate determination for the dish itself failed). That telescope is partly operational, but may have suffered some damage from H. Maria back in 2017. Anyway, each of these other research activities requires either (or both of) accurate time and frequency. Bob is correct in saying that groups are looking at what could be done to "rebuild" the large telescope, in altogether new form, to surpass (not just replace) the old one in performance. Persuading the NSF *not* to scuttle the affair, and finding several hundred megabucks in funding, are the big issues right now. Dana (former Keeper of The Clock at Arecibo, retired ~4 years ago) On Tue, Mar 30, 2021 at 6:07 AM ew via time-nuts <[email protected]> wrote: > GOOD Morning Tom > > Thank you for the super information Read it over and over. > To me no joy, sadness for Astronomy, Science, Puerto Rico and the US. China > is now the leader with a 500 meter unit! Did follow it since the seventies > because of the low noise receivers. Remember the 417 Triodes? I had some > for Ham use. > Any body knows what happened to its Maser? > > Bert Kehren > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] -- To unsubscribe send > an email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] -- To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
