Comparison of VLBI, TV, and Traveling Clock Techniques for Time Transfer
Abstract
A three part experiment was conducted to develop and compare time transfer techniques. The experiment consisted of: I. a Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) between Maryland Point Observatory at Riverside, Maryland and NRAO at Green Bank, West Virginia; II. a high precision portable clock time transfer system between the two sites coordinated by the U. S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D. C.; and III. a television time transfer between the U. S. Naval Observatory and the Maryland Point Observatory using a local Washington, D. C. television station, WTTG. A comparison of the VLBI and traveling clock shows each technique can perform satisfactorily at the five nsec level. There was a systematic offset of 59 nsec between the two methods, which we attributed to a difference in epochs between VLBI formatter and station clock. The VLBI method had an internal random error of one nsec at the three-sigma level for a two-day period. Thus, the Mark II system performed well, and VLBI shows promise of being an accurate method of time transfer. The TV system, which had technical problems during the experiment, transferred time with a random error of about 50 nsec.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA497489
Entities
People
- D. N. Matsakis
- E. B. Waltman
- G. H. Kaplan
- J. H. Spencer
- K. J. Johnston
- N. J. Santini
- P. E. Angerhofer
- W. J. Klepezynski
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory