Time-Nuts is a mailing list for amateurs interested in precise time and frequency. Its roughly 1,800 members are mostly hams and electronics hobbyists. Discussion covers the stability of quartz oscillators, measurements of rubidium and cesium atomic clocks, and long-term comparisons using WWVB, Loran-C, and GPS. Topics also include the acquisition, repair, and operation of surplus electronic instruments, work at the nanosecond and picosecond level, and results from homebrew timing hardware and software projects.
To join, members send a blank email to the subscription address and reply to the confirmation message that arrives within about 10 seconds. Subscribers must join before posting to the list. Administrative questions, subscription problems, and email formatting issues go to a separate private owner address. The list archive, covering 2004 to the present, is publicly available online, and most users search it with Google using the site:febo.com operator.
Newcomers are encouraged to ask questions, run experiments, and share results. Suggested starting points include searching eBay for cesium, rubidium, quartz oscillator, and frequency counter equipment, and looking for surplus gear from manufacturers such as Symmetricom, Spectracom, Truetime, and Hewlett-Packard/Agilent. Many hobbyist and professional websites, government timing laboratories, and reference books on quartz frequency standards are also recommended.
The group traces its roots to the 1990s, when Tom Clark set up a GPS-timing mailing list at NASA for people interested in his work with the Motorola Oncore-series GPS receiver.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing