Path: utzoo!censor!comspec!daveb From: daveb@comspec.uucp (dave berman) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.time.ntp Subject: Glossary of Technical Words Required Message-ID: <1990Jul5.044200.3261@comspec.uucp> Date: 5 Jul 90 04:42:00 GMT Organization: Comspec Communications Inc., Toronto Ontario Canada Lines: 135 Dear new friends - I am very new to news in general, and have almost ZERO knowledge of LORAN-C, except that a close friend of mine spent an entire year trying to repair a defective STS (brand) Loran receiver. From my reading the manual that accompanies the receiver, I learned that the LORAN-C waves are extremely identical and sent in a predictable pattern at a standard time from 3 or 4 locations at a standard, very low radio frequency (? 8940? 8490? Hz for my part of North America). This can be used to determine (among other things) your exact location within a few hundred meters. This may not be accurate, but this summarizes what I know. I think I understand the postings here are kinda personal for you all who use this stuff in your labs. But I am interested in following the cross talk anyway. (I hope you don't mind). To this end, these are the terms which I could not understand from 3 postings. I have included the postings at the end for your information. Could you or someone define (or loosely define) these terms, please? I have included the few I know, just to show you how *little* definition would do the trick. To Mills, Dave or Richard, or whoever answers this posting: Thank you in advance. Maybe others have wanted to know about this stuff too - I hope I also thank you on their behalf. - Dave Glossary of Unknown Terms apple (in context) chimer, chimers clepsydra ECO, ECOs fuzz, fuzzball fuzzball hardware GPS JvNC JvNC fuzzy LORAN-C: an international time and location low frequency standard? MIT: Mass. Inst. of Technology? NEARNET net 128.175 friskers net 128.4 rascals norad (in context): ? a ____ site NSFNET NSS NTP ntpdc ntpdc billboards oxide plow: informal description of disk head collecting disk scrape stuff pelt, pelting primary server (in this context) Selective Availability umd1 UDP/TIME USCG: United States Coast Guard USNO The above list was gleaned from these messages: From: Mills@udel.edu Newsgroups: comp.protocols.time.ntp Subject: SDSC spins harder Folks, The legions of chimers now pelting primary server fuzz.sdsc.edu will be happy to learn that fuzzball has abandoned pelt of floppy disk in favor of the hard stuff, a 30-megabyte disk and controller kindly furnished courtesy the DEC folk. This should result in some improvement in accuracy, since the silly kernel loop necessary to hack the floppy-disk controller no longer spins. Similar equipment has been installed at ncarfuzz.ucar.edu and truechimer.cso.uiuc.edu, but so far has not been coaxed to life, due ECOs, cables or whatnot. The goal is a general upgrade of fuzzball hardware and removing the potential for the floppy drives to become oxide plows. Meanwhile, the JvNC fuzzy arrived here for temporary storage. We are hoping to find a home at MIT, assuming the NSFNET NSS is installed there and NEARNET agrees to house the critter. Dave From: Mills@udel.edu Newsgroups: comp.protocols.time.ntp Subject: Re: GPS News from CANSPACE Richard, According to the latest USCG newsletter, LORAN-C time-transfer accuracy is expected to be inproved to the order of 100 ns; at least, that's what the USCG has interpreted Congress to mandate. This is about three times more accurate that available with GPS Selective Availability as verified by published USNO weekly corrections. Accordingly, I have abandoned efforts to pursue GPS in favor of LORAN-C, which is potentially much cheaper and yields better accuracy, at least within groundwave range (which most of us are). Yes, I know LORAN-C groundwave is vulnerable to weather, season, etc., but not to the extent, as verified by measurements in my lab, to change my conclusion. Dave P.S. When the GPS community gets its hat on right and kills the Selective Availability nonsens, my conclusion may well change. DLM From: Mills@udel.edu Newsgroups: comp.protocols.time.ntp Subject: Re: New clock in the world Dave, Your chimer remains elusive to my net 128.4 rascals, but at least responds to ntpdc from net 128.175 friskers. Your ntpdc billboards show you have chime only from the radio and not from anybody else, including clepsydra (down at the moment), apple and norad (both up). Did we ever resolve this problem? Not that I would care a lot, but two of the NSFNET bunch are broken at the moment and the fuzzballs are groaning under the load of well over 120 chimers per machine, so any little help is spreading the load is much appreciated. Just for giggles, I see that umd1 is under pelt from misguided UDP/TIME chimers, some of which give pelt every couple of minutes and then machine- gun the victim several times in one second. This results in a packet flux six times the rate permitted by NTP. Most destructive. I suggest nobody use umd1, whose time is now degraded to the point my servers never select it. Kick those UPD/TIME brokons off the machine and maybe it would return to the useful. Dave -- Dave Berman 436 Perth Av #U-907 daveb@comspec.UUCP Computer at work Toronto Ontario uunet!mnetor!becker!comspec!daveb Canada M6P 3Y7 416-785-3668 Fax at work