Time Nuts

Time-Nuts is an international mailing list for amateur enthusiasts of precise timekeeping and frequency measurement, including ham radio operators and electronics hobbyists. Its discussions range from quartz oscillator stability and comparisons of rubidium or cesium clocks to using GPS, WWVB, and Loran-C as timing references. Members also exchange advice on nanosecond- and picosecond-level measurements, surplus test equipment, instrument repair, and home-built hardware and software projects. The list has about 1,800 members, a public posting address, subscription and administrator contacts, and an archive dating back to 2004.

For newcomers, the guidance is practical: join the list, ask questions, run experiments, and learn how timing instruments work. Suggested resources include surplus equipment from established manufacturers, manuals and wikis, technical tutorials and books, NIST materials, research papers, commercial and government laboratory sites, and other amateur timing websites. Archive searches can be made through Google by restricting results to the FEBO domain. The group began in 2001, building on an earlier NASA mailing list focused on GPS timing and the Motorola Oncore receiver. Its founders wanted a broader forum for precision time and frequency topics, with shared knowledge and an enduring archive; the list has since moved between hosts and is now administered and hosted by John Ackermann.