Tom Completely agree. You pay for what you need like all things. I did turn down a very nice 5071 for $1600 from another Time-nut. Looked like it was in quite good condition. I just could not actually justify that cost for the hobby. Regards Paul WB8TSL
On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 12:43 PM, Tom Van Baak <t...@leapsecond.com> wrote: > The pursuit of precision tends to be exponential rather than linear. When > you push the envelope of frequency and time accuracy or stability or > measurement (e.g., phase noise and short-term ADEV) prices go up > accordingly, as if each decimal point of time/frequency precision magically > adds a zero to the purchase/operational cost. It's probably the same in > many fields: from voltage standards to F1 racing. As a rough example in the > ADEV world: > > - for 1e-11, you can buy almost any XO, TCXO, or risky OCXO for $10. > - for 1e-12, you can find a reputable OCXO on eBay for under $100. > - for 1e-13, you can find an old but maybe working cesium clock for 1 k$. > - for 1e-14, spend 10 k$ and get a certified working hp 5071A. > - for 1e-15, spend 100 k$ and find a used active H-maser. > - for 1e-16, spend 1 M$ to hire physicists and build a Cs fountain. > - for 1e-17, spend 10 M$ to fund a national research institute to build > ion or optical clocks. > > All this to say that a BVA oscillator at $3K is not unreasonable. Unless > of course, when you test it, you find it's no better than a lucky 10811A > you once found inside a HP 5328A counter for $100. But the seller is > offering a 14-day trial so that's very considerate. > > Thanks, > /tvb > > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > _______________________________________________ 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.