The Master Clock Building at USNO Infrastructure

reportActive / Technical Report | Accession Number: ADA503432 | Open PDF

Abstract:

The U.S. Naval Observatory recently completed a new facility to house its rubidium fountains as well as hydrogen masers, cesium-beam-tube clocks, and future clocks. The design and performance of the building itself is key to providing a good environment to house the clocks. Additionally, the measurement, dissemination, and future capabilities of the infrastructure electronics are critical to achieving mission goals and supporting requirements into the future. This paper reviews some of the building design choices and then describes the ac power, dc power, telemetry, and measurement system configurations. The United States Naval Observatory is in the process of building up six rubidium fountains to support and improve the clock ensemble that produces UTC USNO. In order to provide the best environment for the new fountains, as well as other current and future clocks, a new building was designed and constructed at the USNO facility in Washington, DC. This paper looks at some of the features of this new building along with the support electronics, measurement gear, and distribution hardware.

Author(s):
Walls, Warren F.
Author Organization(s):
NAVAL OBSERVATORY WASHINGTON DC TIME SERVICE DIV
Descriptive Note:
Conference paper
Supplementary Note:
See also ADM002186. Presented at the Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Systems and Appliations Meeting (40th) held in Reston, Virginia on 1-4 December 2008. Published in the Proceedings of the Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Systems and Appliations Meeting (40th), p17-28, 2008. The original document contains color images.
Pagination:
0013

Security Markings

DOCUMENT & CONTEXTUAL SUMMARY

Distribution:
Approved For Public Release
Distribution Statement:
Approved For Public Release; Distribution Is Unlimited.

RECORD

Collection: TR
Identifying Numbers
Monitor Series:
NOBS
 Subject Terms
Joint Capability Areas:
JCA_4.6_Engineering; JCA_4.6.1_General Engineering; JCA_5_Command and Control
Modernization Areas:
Directed Energy
Communities of Interest:
Energy and Power Technologies
Descriptor(s):
*ATOMIC CLOCKS, *RUBIDIUM, *NAVY, *ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORIES, *INFRASTRUCTURE, *BUILDINGS, HYDROGEN, ELECTRIC POWER, POWER, DIRECT CURRENT, ELECTRONIC SUPPORT MEASURES, MASERS, TELEMETER SYSTEMS, ALTERNATING CURRENT, DISTRIBUTION, CLOCKS, SYMPOSIA, MEASUREMENT, ELECTRONICS, REPRINTS
Field(s)/Group(s):
Astrophysics, Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Structural Engineering and Building Technology, Test Facilities, Equipment and Methods
Keyword(s):
*USNO(UNITED STATES NAVAL OBSERVATORY), *UTC(UNIVERSAL TIME COORDINATED), RUBIDIUM FOUNTAINS, HYDROGEN MASERS, CESIUM BEAM TUBE CLOCKS
Report Date:
2008 Dec 01
Creation Date:
2009 Aug 26