13 Dec
2009
13 Dec
'09
4:45 p.m.
On Dec 13, 2009, at 4:29 PM, Brent Hilpert wrote:
Yes, the paper by Paul Forman. He's with the Smithsonian. He's a
very personable old fellow; I've spent many an hour on the phone with
him comparing notes. He's their resident Atomichron expert (amongst
many other things)...yes, there's an Atomichron just like this one in
the Smithsonian. =)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Second, I
have an Atomichron. Yes, a real one, a National Company
model NC-1001. One of the very few left in existence. If you don't
know what this is, you probably won't be interested, but in a
nutshell it's the first commercially-produced atomic resonance
frequency standard ("atomic clock"), built in 1956. As far as I've
found in my research there are three of these left of the
approximately fifty that were built between 1956 and 1960. I've
written a short research paper describing this instrument and its
history, including photos; I can provide copies of it upon request.
Not that I'm in a position to purchase, but it sounds pretty neat,
Dave.
Found this online, for some history of chronology and the
development of the Atomichron:
http://www.ieee-uffc.org/main/history.asp?file=atomichron