Greg, the only power source I am aware off that can provide the ~5W power required by that Novus box for 10-12 years with 20lbs weight limit without any external power sources or maintenance is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) such as those used on Spacecraft. The Russians used to use those also in light houses. Maybe the atomic decay could be counted and used for improving timing some how?! That said the radiation would probably have a very negative effect on any electronics near it for long-term stability. I would also not call that solution "disposable" anywhere on earth. Definitely not hobby level stuff.. bye, Said In a message dated 6/13/2013 17:15:45 Pacific Daylight Time, engineer...@mt.net writes:
Tom, Thank you for your concern. I unfortunately cannot disclose many details about the proposed project only to say that the application transcends much of the typical "Time-Nuts" areas of normality. At present we are evaluating typical frequency references to see if they will fit into this project. What I can say is that phase noise is of little interest but log-term frequency drift is. The completed unit will unfortunately not see GPS signals during most of its lifetime, be constrained to a weight not exceeding 20 lbs, be considered non-recoverable (disposable) due to areas of deployment thereby require a relatively cost-conscious design, have no access to a source of power let alone any natural power-producing resources and have an expected lifetime of 10-12 years without maintenance access. Most of the problems have been solved including the power source. This is not your typical kitchen table project. And, as new frequency references are developed and the design feasibility phase is still open, small and minimal power-consuming products such as the Novus unit will garner our attention. Thanks for your offer, Greg _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.