We measured the voltage noise of the heater used to control the RC can temperature. It is large.

The above scope trace shows the voltage directly on the monitor outputs of the heater power supply. The steps are from the voltage resolution of the 4116 DAC.
We also measured the voltage noise on the monitor plugs on the front panel. If these are a true representation of the voltage noise which supplies the heater jacket, then we can use it to estimate the temperature fluctuations of the can. Using the spectrum of temperature fluctuations, we can estimate the actual length changes of the reference cavity.
I used the new fax/scanner/toaster that Steve and Bob both love to scan this HP spectrum analyzer image directly to a USB stick! It can automatically make PDF from a piece of paper.
The pink trace is the analyzer noise with a 50 Ohm term. The blue trace is the heater supply with the servo turned off. With the servo on (as in the scope trace above) the noise is much much larger because of the DAC steps. |