Adjustment and Maintenance
4
!
THE POSITION OF THE DELTA RODS DETERMINES THE
CLEARANCE BETWEEN THE VOICE COIL (PUSHER) AND THE
MAGNET ASSEMBLY. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE ASSEMBLY NOT
RUB OR DRAG!
To field check the alignment, measure the gap between the
support structure pins and the center tube assembly with a feeler gauge.
This gap should be equally spaced (approximately .003-.005”) all around. If
the support pins touch the center tube assembly, a bent delta rod is indicated.
4.4.
Timing
System and Data
Acquisition
4.4.1.TIMING
The timing system consists of the avalanche photo diode (APD) board, the
scaler-counter board, the rubidium oscillator and the universal time interval
counter (UTIC). Data are taken by two different interface cards inside an
IBM-compatible 386 (or better) personal computer. The computer processes
the data, compiles statistics, and computes a gravity value, including certain
corrections (e.g., for the tides and the gradient).
Optical fringes are produced in the interferometer by combining the portion
of the laser beam hitting the freely falling and reference retroreflectors (the
corner cubes) with the portion traveling directly through both beam splitters.
A fringe is produced every time the falling object traverses a distance equal to
the wavelength of the laser, lambda, over two (
λ
/2). As the velocity of the
falling object changes, the frequency (f) of the fringe signal is swept according
to f = 2gt/
λ
, where g = gravity and t = time. The optical fringes are detected
by an APD mounted in the interferometer base.
4-25
The zero-crossings of the fringes provide very good fiducial marks which can
be used for timing. The zero-crossing points of the a.c.-coupled fringe signal
are determined using an ultrafast comparator. The comparator outputs a
square-wave version of the frequency-swept fringe signal. The comparator is
located on the APD circuit board.
Summary of Contents for FG5
Page 22: ...Design Components and Function 2 Figure 2 10 The Superspring 2 14 ...
Page 31: ...Design Components and Function 2 Figure 2 13 Rotation Monitor 2 23 ...
Page 32: ......
Page 42: ...How to Set Up and Run the FG5 3 3 10 ...
Page 44: ...How to Set Up and Run the FG5 3 Figure 3 2 V Post 3 12 ...
Page 53: ...How to Set Up and Run the FG5 3 1 Backup the data 2 Shut off computer power 3 21 ...
Page 87: ...Adjustment and Maintenance 4 4 29 ...
Page 91: ...Adjustment and Maintenance 4 4 33 ...
Page 104: ...Troubleshooting 5 5 2 ...
Page 117: ...Troubleshooting 5 5 15 ...
Page 131: ...Checklists and Logs Appendix D 9 3 ...
Page 140: ...Checklists and Logs Appendix D Table 9 6 Replacing Drive Belt 9 12 ...
Page 145: ...Checklists and Logs Appendix D Table 9 10 Replace Linear Bearings 9 17 ...
Page 149: ...Checklists and Logs Appendix D Table 9 13 Replace Shaft Encoder 9 21 ...