Collaborate Disseminate
Although most people are probably familiar with the different energy levels that the electron shells of atoms can be in and how electrons shedding excess energy as they return to …read more Continue reading Poking Atomic Nuclei With Lasers For Atomic Clocks and Energy Storage
As far as timekeeping goes, there’s nothing more accurate and precise than an atomic clock. Unfortunately, we can’t all have blocks of cesium in our basements, so various agencies around …read more Continue reading Simulating a Time-Keeping Radio Signal
We think of crystals as the gold standard of frequency generation. However, if you want real precision, you need something either better than a crystal or something that will correct …read more Continue reading Inside a Rubidium Frequency Standard
We normally think of atomic clocks as the gold standard in timekeeping. The very definition of a second — in modern times, at least — is 9,192,631,770 periods of the …read more Continue reading Move Over Cesium Clock, Optical Clocks are Taking Over
Half the fun of getting vintage test equipment is getting to open it up. Maybe that’s even more than half of the fun. [CuriousMarc] got an HP 5061A Cesium clock, a somewhat famous instrument as the model that attempted to prove the theory of relatively. The reason? The clock was …read more
Continue reading Cesium Clock Teardown, or Quantum Physics Playground
Could there be a worse fate for a guy with a Swiss accent than to be subjected to a clock that’s seconds or even – horrors! – minutes off the correct time? Indeed not, which is why [The Guy With the Swiss Accent] went to great lengths to keep his …read more
Advanced timekeeping could help unify quantum and gravitational physics, predict earthquakes, and navigate in deep space. Continue reading The Physicist Building the World’s Most Precise Clock
[Cameron Meredith] starts the Hackaday.io page for one of his projects by quoting a Hackaday write-up: “A timepiece is rather a rite of passage in the world of hardware hacking“. We stand by that assertion, but we’d say most of the clocks we feature aren’t as capable as his project. He’s made a real-time-clock module controlled by a rubidium frequency standard, and since it also includes a GPS clock he can track local time dilation effects by comparing the two.
Surplus rubidium standards are readily available, but each description of one seems to feature a lot of old-fashioned …read more
[Mark Gibson] probably has nothing against silicon. He just knows that a lot that can be done with simple switches, relays, and solenoids and wants to share that knowledge with the world. This was made abundantly clear to me during repeat visits to his expansive booth at Denver Mini Maker Faire last weekend.
In the sunlight-filled atrium of the Museum of Nature and Science, [Mark] sat behind several long tables covered with his creations made from mid-century pinball machines. There are about two dozen pieces in his interactive exhibit, which made its debut at the first-ever Northern Colorado Maker Faire …read more
