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From satellite navigation to the NTP time server, Atomic Clocks are used the world over.

We are all used to our watches and clocks running a minute or two fast or slow. However, the odd minute doesn’t affect our lives too much and we can get by. However, for some technologies and applications a far greater level of accuracy is needed.  Atomic Clocks are the most precise time keeping devices on earth. They were invented over fifty years ago when it was discovered that the oscillations of certain atoms at particular energy levels never altered and vibrated at such a high frequency (over 9 trillion times each second for caesium).

Modern Atomic Clocks are so accurate they will not lose as much as a second in 100 million years but who on earth would need such accuracy? Atomic Clocks provide the basis for many modern applications and technologies and have also helped in our understanding of the physical universe.

Atomic Clocks form the basis of the GPS satellite navigation system that we use in our cars. The signals from the Atomic Clocks onboard the satellites are what is used to triangulate accurate positioning. It ca only be done because of the highly precise nature of the time signals. A one second inaccuracy of a GPS clock could see positing information out by 100,000 km as light can travel this far in that time.

Atomic Clocks have also been used as a method of testing theories by Einstein and others. Using Atomic Clocks we can accurately measure gravity and the way it affects time. Modern clocks are so accurate that scientists can even measure the difference in gravity (and therefore time) at each subsequent inch above the earth’s surface. They can also be used to measure slow moving processes like continental drift or the slight changes of the earth’s rotation.

Other applications where accuracy is essential also rely on Atomic Clocks such as air traffic control where the precise nature enables safe monitoring of air traffic. Road traffic systems like traffic lights are increasingly using time servers hooked up to Atomic Clocks to ensure perfect synchonization. Even internet the internet relies on Atomic Clocks, particularly when it is used for time sensitive transactions such as banking, trading in stocks and shares and even online seat reservation. Without accuracy in time then applications like this wouldn’t be possible as too errors could occur such as double booked seats, shares sold before they were bought.

Computer networks synchronize to Atomic Clocks by using network time servers. Often these devices use the protocol NTP and receive the atomic clock time from either the GPS system or a radio transmission. NTP time servers monitor and adjust all clocks on devices on a computer network to match the atomic clock time.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and specialist in Atomic Clocks, telecommunications, NTP and network time synchronisation helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about an NTP server or other NTP time server solutions.

Guess the hottest spot on the Internet to advertise your business? No, it’s not on a blog, forum or a website. It’s on an Internet talk radio station. Quite simply, an Internet talk radio station is the latest hotspot on the Internet, the place where all the action is. If you are not already taking advantage of it, you’re missing out on something! Let me explain.

Most of us love and enjoy listening to the good old radio. The times have changed and so have the ways we entertain ourselves. This is the age of the Internet and online entertainment. Our habit of listening to the radio has found a new platform – the Internet. That’s right, presenting the Internet radio or e-radio, the latest avatar of the radio in this cyber era.

All one needs is an Internet connectivity to experience the phenomenon called the Internet Radio. Get access to hundreds of stations at the simple click of your mouse. Everyday, more and more people are tuning in to their favorite online radio stations and enjoying the music they love to hear around the clock. But this is only half of what Internet radio has in store for you.

If you are looking for something more out of your Internet radio, tune in to an Internet talk radio station. Internet talk radio? That’s right, you read it right (no typos here)! It’s the latest thing sweeping the Internet radio community. Do you want a break from the music and the incessant Top-10 and Top-20 hits? If you are looking for some stimulating conversation and discussion, just tune in to an Internet Talk radio station and get the gold pass to a whole new world of alternative entertainment.

The whole Internet talk radio scene is bustling with activity. There is no dearth of stations and all it takes is just a little bit of searching around to find and tune in to an Internet talk radio station discussing your favorite topic or hosting a talk show on your area of interest. From politics to religion, health to women’s issues, sports and entertainment to literature and special interests – you will always find a talk radio station on your favorite topic.

Apart from the obvious entertainment possibilities of Internet radio, there are also excellent commercial prospects in the notion. In other words, Internet radio is a great new place to advertise your business. Internet Radio advertising is just like conventional radio advertising – but more powerful. This is because it gives you more precise targeting opportunities, lets you combine audio ads with synchronized banners and buttons to maximize visibility and retain attention, lets your listeners take an immediate action (after all, they are only a click away from your site) and puts you in control of your advertising campaign (you can pay the service provider on the basis of the actual number of impressions).

Internet Radio is growing rapidly, and is already a significant part of many companies’ marketing campaigns. A recent report revealed some exciting facts, such as, over 50% of Internet users consume streaming media; the number of Americans who listen to radio stations online has nearly quadrupled in three years; streaming media attracts a highly compelling advertising target; Americans are spending less time in front of the TV or reading printed media, and devoting more time to the Internet.

It’s easy to see why an Internet talk radio station is such a hot destination to advertise your business. Discover the power of Internet radio. Steal an edge over your competition.

Suzzane Macguire is an expert author, currently studying features associated with Internet radio and Internet Pay-Per-View. For more information, visit http://www.voiceamerica.com

The Global positioning System (GPS) is a US military system primarily intended for global navigation. The system provides highly accurate positioning information for navigation. The GPS system consists of a constellation of 24 orbiting satellites. Each satellite has an on-board atomic clock, which is ideal for providing a highly accurate timing reference.

This article discusses how the GPS clock can be used to provide an accurate timing reference for computers and computer networks. The GPS system is often used for computer timing applications, such as NTP time servers and accurate timing references.

GPS Time

GPS time is continuously broadcast by the GPS system. Time is referenced to UTC (Universal Coordinated Time), which is the same worldwide and does not vary with time zones. GPS timing information can be received with relatively low-cost equipment, such as a GPS receiver and antenna.

The GPS signal is very weak low-power radio signal. The signal has two designated frequencies, L1 and L2. Frequency, L1, is the civilian GPS frequency transmitted at 1575.42 MHz. The signal travels in a straight line and can pass through clouds, glass and plastics but is blocked by objects such as metal and brickwork. The ideal location for a GPS antenna is therefore on rooftop with a good view of the sky. Often, antenna installation on the side of a building or in a window can provide a good enough view of the sky to give adequate results.

GPS Clock

The GPS system provides a free-to-air time synchronisation service; there are no on-going set-up or subscription charges. Many computer systems utilise the GPS clock as an accurate timing reference. Highly accurate NTP server systems use the GPS clock as an external reference to synchronise Network Time Protocol servers. Typically, a GPS receiver can provide timing information to within a few nanoseconds of UTC. The accuracy achieved with a GPS receiver is generally more than required for most computer network timing applications.

GPS Receiver Output

The GPS receiver constantly outputs position and timing information. Generally, information is transmitted to and from the receiver via a RS232 serial interface. Standard GPS interface protocols exist, the most common being NMEA. The NMEA protocol consists of a number of sentences, or character strings, transmitted at 4800 bits per second. Contained within each character string is accurate time and position information. Due to the latencies involved in serial communication, the NMEA sentences are not generally accurate enough to provide a timing reference. Therefore a pulse per second (PPS) output is utilised. A PPS output is an accurate pulse output each second that is aligned to the start of each second. The PPS output can be fed into a control line on the RS232 interface to provide a hardware interrupt input for accurate timing. Often the DCD RS232 line is utilised as a PPS input from the GPS receiver. The PPS output combined with NMEA timing and positioning information provides a highly accurate timing reference for computers.

GPS Antennas

The GPS antenna is a signal amplifier that boosts the GPS signal for transmission along a cable, usually coax, to the receiver. GPS antennas used for timing purposes are generally dome-shaped pole mounting devices for permanent installation in a static location. Typically, the GPS antenna is fairly small in size, measuring less than 900 mm in diameter

GPS Cabling

The cable distance that can be utilised by a GPS antenna and receiver depends on the amplification of the GPS antenna and the quality of coax used in the installation. A typical GPS antenna may have a gain of 35 db. Low-quality coax such as RG58 has an attenuation of 0.64 db/m at 1575 MHz. Therefore, a cable run of 55m can be obtained using RG58 cable. Higher quality coax, such as LMR400, an unaided cable run of 200m can be achieved. However, very high quality coax can be expensive. A good compromise is LMR200 cable, which can be run unaided to 80m. Longer distances can be achieved with the aid of GPS amplifiers, which amplify the GPS signal still further, to increase cable distance.

D. Evans develops GPS clock and NTP server synchronization solutions that ensure accurate time on computers and computer networks. David has been involved in the development of dedicated time servers, NTP synchronized digital wall clock systems and atomic clock synchronization products. Click here to find out more about NTP Server and GPS clock solutions.

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As with the advance of computer technology that seems to exponentially increase in capability every year, Atomic Clocks too seem to increase dramatically in their accuracy year on year.

Now, those pioneers of atomic clock technology, the US National Institute of Standards Time (NIST), have announced they have managed to produce an atomic clock with accuracy twice that of any clocks that have gone before.

The clock is based in a single aluminium atom and NIST claim it can remain accurate without losing a second in over 3.7 billion years (about the same length of time that life has existed Earth).

The previous most accurate clock was devised by the German Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and was an optical clock based on a strontium atom and was accurate to a second in over a billion years. This new atomic clock by NIST is also an optical clock but is based on aluminium atoms, which according to NIST’s research with this clock, is far more accurate.

Optical clocks use lasers to hold atoms still and differ to the traditional Atomic Clocks used by computer networks using NTP servers (Network Time Protocol) and other technologies which are based on fountain clocks. Not only do these traditional fountain clocks use Caesium as their time keeping atom but instead of lasers they use super-cooled liquids and vacuums to control the atoms.

Thanks to work by NIST, PTB and the UK’s NPL (National Physical Laboratory) Atomic Clocks continue to advance exponentially, however, these new optical Atomic Clocks based on atoms like aluminium, mercury and strontium are a long way from being used as a basis for UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

UTC is governed by a constellation of caesium fountain clocks that while still accurate to a second in 100,000 years are by far less precise than these optical clocks and are based on technology over fifty years old. And unfortunately until the world’s science community can agree on an atom and clock design to be used internationally, these precise Atomic Clocks will remain a play thing of the scientific community only.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and specialist in Atomic Clocks, telecommunications, NTP and network time synchronisation helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about an NTP server or other NTP time server solutions.

Your Pocket PC (http://ppc.handster.com/) is a cool gadget to carry around. But does it serve any meaningful purpose when it just sits in the cradle, charging or synchronizing? Turn your docked PDA from a waste of space on your table into a cool looking time-measuring machine with endless customization possibilities and an abundance of features!

While charging and synchronizing, your PDA (http://pda.handster.com/) is mostly useless, just sitting on a table and occupying the already limited space on your desk. Free up some space and get rid of your desktop clock if you have one! You can get a cool, big, bright and crisp desktop clock if you install Spb Time (http://handster.com/product.php?id=2) to your PDA. It will give you everything you could want from a time measuring device: multiple world clocks to show you exactly what time it is anywhere in the world, customizable alarms, an analog or digital look, and much more.

Is Christmas coming? Just upload a special Christmas theme to your PDA to get the coolest looking Christmas clock ever! Are you a Matrix fan? Get that black-and-green stylish clock. Want something classy? Check out the Moscow Kremlin clock or the Big Ben clock. Arty mood? Salvador Dali painted his famous liquid clock, and Spb Diary (http://handster.com/product.php?id=15) animated it. It looks really surrealistic!

Simply visit http://www.Handster.com to choose among dozens of carefully crafted themes to make your desk clock look special. Just one application allows you to have an Egyptian clock today and an Aqua look tomorrow, a cartoon style on the following day and a Picasso clock the day after – not just on your computer screen, but on your table!

Did I mention you could use Spb Time while on the go, too? Plan your time better and more efficiently with numerous custom alarms, world clocks, timers, and stopwatches. Control all the features with your fingertips, thanks to Spb Time’s efficient design optimized for fingertip operation. Simply tap your screen with your finger to change the look of your clock or access advanced features such as alarms and timers.

Have you ever imagined that your PDA could be used at night while you’re sleeping? Spb Time is a rare find, as it will turn your PDA into a perfect night watch for your bedside!

Put your PDA on your nightstand, and you will get the coolest and most convenient alarm clock ever. Just imagine how much a dedicated, CPU-driven, programmable alarm clock with a huge, clear, high-resolution screen and customizable alarms (and we’re not talking about ‘beep-beeps’ here!) would run for at Radio Shack? You can have it for a mere $14.95 if you buy Spb Time! Wake up to your favorite song – you can upload it into your PDA and select it as your default alarm tune.

Don’t wait! Turn your PDA into a highly versatile day-and-night time measuring machine with Spb Diary! Download your free evaluation copy here: http://handster.com/product.php?id=2

Iren Birken is IT specialist, heavily using Windows Mobile devices every day.

DAB radios give you a far superior audio quality, make it easier to find the station you are after and even offer pause and rewind features. This article is an objective review of three of the latest radios launched in the UK.

Revo Technologies has announced the launch of the first one-box DAB and DAB plus and internet radio to include full iPod docking functionality in the world.

The iBLIK RadioStation, with a bold, contemporary design, will be sold via Apple as well as online and features full DAB and DAB plus digital radio reception, FM radio coverage with RDS, Wi-Fi internet radio, MP3 media streaming from PC or Mac, full electronic alarm clock features and iPod docking station functionality.

The multi-tasking device, described by the company as the ultimate digital radio device will cost 179.95 GBP and will be on sale in the UK from 18 August.

Following on from the launch of the black high gloss retro DAB radio, Bush has launched a red version, the TR04DABRED. In luscious new lip gloss red, Bush says the sexy touch screen sensitive control panel has an instant wow factor.

Users can touch the panel to flick through the DAB stations alphabetically, and automatically store 10 DAB and 10 FM stations at a touch of a screen. It has a matching retro red gloss and chrome handle and the classic 1950s Bush logo on the front speaker grille to give an extra touch of nostalgia. The DAB radio is available on the high street from July onwards at 49.99 GBP.

The PURE ONE Elite is the company claims a stereo evolution of the best-selling Pure ONE. The radio is available in black or white with chromed controls and smooth curves, and with a warm, tactile soft-touch finish.

Key features of the DAB radio include ReVu for live DAB radio pause and rewind, Intellitext which allows the radio to store scrolling text; tone or radio alarm; countdown and sleep timers; 50 station presets; separate bass and treble controls; USB socket for future updates; aux input for your MP3 player; and textSCAN, which lets listeners pause and control scrolling text, giving them time to jot down any details.

The ONE Elite is the seventh PURE radio to be endorsed by the Energy Saving Trust Energy Saving Recommended scheme. Easy on the earth and easy on the ears, the Pure ONE Elite DAB radio can be yours for 69.99 GBP.

Shaun Parker is an expert on DAB Radio and provides impartial advice on all aspects of audio visual equipment.

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