Hi

I suspect that a lot of people are wondering who the buyer might be ….

Bob

Just a change to the last part of the name then ;)
https://www.ft.com/content/10192a2a-1d99-11e8-956a-43db76e69936
"semi" -> "chip"

On Sat, Jan 27, 2018 at 1:27 AM, Clint Jay cjaysharp@gmail.com wrote:

I asked the CBT manager at Microsemi about this
rumor and he disavowed any knowledge of this.
He told me they were making 8 a week (not clear
if this is just 5071A's, or includes replacement
CBT's).  I don't remember the production ever
being anywhere near this level.  The reason
for the relatively brisk sales is that the risk
of GPS spoofing means that various military and
3 letter agencies need to own dedicated 5071's.
With a large installed base of 5071's, there will
be a guaranteed market for replacement tubes.
The US government considers the 5071A to be of
great strategic importance and would be certain
to "encourage" its continued production in case
of any business reorganization.

When we designed the 5071A twenty five years ago,
it seemed that there were two safe bets:

1. Working Cs standards (outside the lab) would
   obsoleted by what HP called "smart clocks" running
   off of GPS.

2. Magnetic state selection, as used in the 5071A,
   would be replaced by optical pumping.  Len Cutler
   was heartbroken that HP/Agilent management wouldn't
   fund this effort.

It turns out that, even now in 2018, optical pumping
is not ready for prime time in a working standard
because the lasers drift over time.  The 5071A's
claim to fame is that you turn it on and it just
works ... until it runs out of cesium.  That is
another reason the 5071A isn't going away any time soon.

Rick Karlquist N6RK
Member: 5071A design team

On 3/3/2018 1:22 AM, Anders Wallin wrote:

The manager many not know but the market does and there have been announcements and the stock is up and for the day the fifth most active of all US markets. At 2 pm #2    Bert Kehren

Sent from my Galaxy Tab® A
-------- Original message --------From: "Richard (Rick) Karlquist" richard@karlquist.com Date: 3/3/18  9:30 AM  (GMT-05:00) To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement time-nuts@febo.com, Anders Wallin anders.e.e.wallin@gmail.com Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Microsemi up for sale?
I asked the CBT manager at Microsemi about this
rumor and he disavowed any knowledge of this.
He told me they were making 8 a week (not clear
if this is just 5071A's, or includes replacement
CBT's).  I don't remember the production ever
being anywhere near this level.  The reason
for the relatively brisk sales is that the risk
of GPS spoofing means that various military and
3 letter agencies need to own dedicated 5071's.
With a large installed base of 5071's, there will
be a guaranteed market for replacement tubes.
The US government considers the 5071A to be of
great strategic importance and would be certain
to "encourage" its continued production in case
of any business reorganization.

When we designed the 5071A twenty five years ago,
it seemed that there were two safe bets:

1.  Working Cs standards (outside the lab) would
obsoleted by what HP called "smart clocks" running
off of GPS.

2.  Magnetic state selection, as used in the 5071A,
would be replaced by optical pumping.  Len Cutler
was heartbroken that HP/Agilent management wouldn't
fund this effort.

It turns out that, even now in 2018, optical pumping
is not ready for prime time in a working standard
because the lasers drift over time.  The 5071A's
claim to fame is that you turn it on and it just
works ... until it runs out of cesium.  That is
another reason the 5071A isn't going away any time soon.

Rick Karlquist N6RK
Member: 5071A design team

On 3/3/2018 1:22 AM, Anders Wallin wrote:

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and follow the instructions there.

Rick,

On 03/03/2018 03:30 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote:

We sure have seen more or less "smart" clocks being put into use an
decommissioned for hobbyists delight.

Interestingly enough, Oscilloquartz claim to have one, showcasing it
etc. but it's been "coming real soon" for a bit of a time now. I do not
know how that progresses.

Moving a technology from the lab environment into production is indeed a
challenge.

It belongs clearly to the moderns cesiums which just operates and trims
up itself well. In my basement I currently have two where one had a
workiing CBT and failing electronics while the other had failed CBT and
working electronics. So I got to long-time borrow them to swap tubes and
use them. :)

Cheers,
Magnus