World’s most precise clock, made in Adelaide, to help JORN radar network spot enemies
THIS is the world’s most precise clock, the Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator — and it’ll be used to see over the curve of the world to watch for enemy attacks. And it was made in Adelaide.
ADELAIDE scientists will demonstrate the world’s most precise clock, which will help an over-the-horizon radar to spot enemy attacks and people smugglers.
Adelaide University’s Sapphire Clock, named after the lab-grown crystal at its heart, gains or loses just one second every 40 million years.
That extreme precision will be tested as part of a $1.2 billion upgrade to BAE’s Jindalee Over-The-Horizon Radar Network, or JORN.
JORN is also a world-first, developed in Adelaide.
It uses an Australia-wide network to see over the curvature of the Earth, so it can spot boats and planes up to 3000km away.
Sapphire Clock project leader Associate Professor Martin O’Connor said the demonstration next month was the culmination of two decades’ work.
“The signals are travelling thousands of kilometres and travelling back; the precision of the antennae has to be so precise,” he said.
“A clock that’s a thousand times more precise gives the radar an ability to look for smaller objects, further away, travelling more slowly.”
In layman’s terms, the network works by bending a beam through the ionosphere so it can go over the curve of the Earth to detect a plane or boat, then reflect back its location.
BAE’s Steve Wynd is overseeing JORN’s overall upgrade.
He said JORN worked as an early warning system so enemy fighter jets might be spotted with hours to act rather than minutes.
“It gives you coverage where you can look and detect things down to a fighter jet or a patrol ship anywhere from the Indian Ocean all the way around to the north of us,” he said. “That lets the Royal Australian Air Force detect things early enough to prepare or to scramble to put aircraft out into the region to get a closer look.”
It’s also used in search and rescue missions.
Another Adelaide venture is also part of the JORN upgrade. Dedicated Systems will provide integral software to increase the area the radar can cover and the amount of information that can be gathered.
BAE Systems chief executive officer Gabby Costigan said the new technology would “help ensure Australia maintains a capability edge and superior situational awareness to ensure our northern approaches are secure”.
The Sapphire Clock’s full name is the Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator.
The crystal at its core is cooled to about -267C.
Why can’t we get these clocks to work though?
Town Hall Clock
The Albert Tower Clock began stopping intermittently last year. Parts were flown in from Germany at a cost of $5000, but then they stopped working earlier this year. The parts were under warranty and were replaced.
GENERAL POST OFFICE
Despite being required to be maintained under heritage legislation, as part of a $235 million office tower project on the site, the GPO clock has routinely been out of synch. Last September new parts were ordered for it.
