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How an Atomic Clock Really Works: Inside the HP 5061A Cesium Clock
About this video
CuriousMarc powers up a vintage HP 5061A cesium beam clock and explains both the quantum principle and the HP implementation in detail. It is part of a longer atomic clock series.
Why it appears in the archive
HN calls it one of the best explanations of how atomic clocks actually work.
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From the Hacker News discussion
CuriousMarc has an excellent episode on an atomic clock. [VIDEO] I like to pretend I can fix computers, this guy can actually fix computers, which is probably why I find his show so fascinating.
Read original comment ↗If you want to see how an actual application of this works, I've yet to see a description better than in CuriousMarc's HP 5061A series: [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗CuriousMarc made a video last week where he uses a vintage HP 5061A atomic clock and explains how it works. It's interesting to see that atomic clocks aren't just some giant laboratory thing, but a product you could buy, even in the 1960s. [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗CuriousMarc uploaded a video to Youtube showing the startup procedure for an HP 5061A cesium clock [0]. They switch on the clock and compare it to a GPS reference. Seeing the abstract description realized in concrete terms through hot cesium tubes, phase locked loops, and Lissajous curves was really fascinating. [0] [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗