Comparison of VLBI, TV, and Traveling Clock Techniques for Time Transfer

H. Spencer, E.B. Waltman, K.J. Johnston, N.J. Santini, W.J. Klepczynski, D.N. Matsakis, P.E. Angerhofer, G.H. Kaplan

Abstract:	A three part experiment was conducted to develop and compare time transfer techniques. The experiment consisted of: I. a VLBI between Maryland Point Observatory at Riverside, Maryland and NRAO at Green Bank, West Virginia: T. high precision portable clock time transfer system between the two sites coordinated by the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D. C. and II. a television time transfer between the U. S. Naval Observatory and the Maryland Point Observatory using local Washington, D. C. television station, WTTG. A comparison of the WBZ and traveling clock shows each technique can performs satisfactorily at the five osec 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 up 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.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 13th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting December 1 - 3, 1981 Naval Research Laboratory Washington, DC
Pages:	231 - 241
Cite this article:	Spencer, H., Waltman, E.B., Johnston, K.J., Santini, N.J., Klepczynski, W.J., Matsakis, D.N., Angerhofer, P.E., Kaplan, G.H., "Comparison of VLBI, TV, and Traveling Clock Techniques for Time Transfer," Proceedings of the 13th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Washington, DC, December 1981, pp. 231-241.
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