REMOTE CLOCK CALIBRATION VIA GPS

Carl F. Lukac, George H. Luther, Laura G. Charron, Richard E. Keating

Abstract: During the summer of 1986, the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) equipped an automotive van as a Mobile Electronic Laboratory for a dual purpose experiment. The equipment consisted of LORAN-C receivers, counters, oscilloscope, two portable cesium clocks and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The first purpose was to calibrate the propagation delays and timing between USNO and the LORAN-C transmitters at Cape Fear, NC (9960Y), Seneca, NY (9960M) and Caribou, ME (9960w/5930M). The emitted LORAN pulses would be compared to a cesium portable clock as it was systematically moved away from the transmitter. Accurate positions in the vicinity of each transmitter could be obtained from survey markers in the area or determined by the GPS receiver at any desired location. While the GPS receiver was used to obtain positions for the LORAN part of the experiment, it was also used to monitor the performance of the cesium clocks (thus determining their rates). As a second part of this experiment, the GPS receiver would be used in the same manner as a portable cesium clock at selected field installations to examine the operational feasibility of such an application of GPS receivers. At various sites the GPS receiver and one portable cesium clock were used to obtain measurements against each on-site clock. There were, thus, two independent methods used to determine the difference USNO Master Clock (USNO MC) minus Site Clock. This paper will address the second part of the dual experiment only.
Published in: Proceedings of the 18th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting
December 2 - 4, 1986
DuPont Plaza Hotel
Washington, DC
Pages: 283 - 293
Cite this article: Lukac, Carl F., Luther, George H., Charron, Laura G., Keating, Richard E., "REMOTE CLOCK CALIBRATION VIA GPS," Proceedings of the 18th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Washington, DC, December 1986, pp. 283-293.
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