"Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:slrnf0tkts.7i.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com
> On 2007-03-30, Ivor Jones <ivor@despammed.invalid> wrote:

[snip]

> > Eh..? Atomic clocks at the antenna site..? Here's me
> > thinking the clocks were at NPL in Teddington, or have
> > I got it wrong all these years..?
>
> The people who know what time it is run the clocks at
> NPL. The caesium oscillators at the transmitter site will be
> used to control the transmitter frequency and time code
> transitions, but the time and frequency of the oscillators at
> the transmitter will be controlled by reference to the NPL
> clocks (the article mentions time transfer between the sites
> via GPS, which is typical). NPL finds out how its time is
> doing from BIPM in Paris, which assembles a consensus
> view of the time by taking measurements from national labs
> all over the world.

Ah, fair enough, thanks for the info.

> This is the usual arrangement. There is one or more
> caesium oscillators at each Loran C transmitter, and in each
> GPS satellite, controlling the output. Each of these is steered
> by reference to the collection of clocks at a national lab
> somewhere, with these being steered in turn with
> reference to BIPM. Owning a caesium clock isn't as big a
> deal as it once was. You can buy one for your basement,
> if you want, for about the price of a car.

Hmm, no thanks, I'll stick with the MSF signal, it's cheaper..!

Besides, I haven't got a basement <g>

Ivor