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The exact time atomic clock has
been achieved as a result of our insatiable quest to achieve precision
time. Most people use the term exact time atomic clock when refering to
the atomic clock operated by the nist in the U.S.
Atomic clocks burst into the clock world three decades
after quartz technology had revolutionalised the clock industry. The cesium
atom's natural frequency was formally recognized as the new international
unit of time in 1967:
This led to the creation in 1972 of the International
(UTC) Universal Time Co-ordinating Center.
Today the atomic clock systems from over 25 countries World-Wide and the
USA, feed continous data to the UTC to create the exact time atomic clock
for most countries.
In the U.S. radio signals beamed from the National Institute of Standards
(NIST) in Fort Collins, Colorado are received by atomic clocks sold in
the USA which empowers us to tell the exact time. These are atomic clock
time sets such as atomic alarm clocks, atomic desk clocks, atomic wall
clocks and even your computer atomic clock.
These are also called radio controlled clocks because they have a radio
inside, which receives a signal that comes from a place where an exact
time atomic clock is located.
In the US the radio signal is transmitted by the famous radio station
wwvb, operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST,
based in Fort Collins, Colorado. |
