Search

The Minitrack,. an artificial earth satellite, which was developed as a part of Project Vanguard, is described briefly, and the time standard equipment which provides the system time reference is described in detail. The measurements made by the Minitrack system are phase comparisons between Signals received on five pairs of antennas. The time standard provides the means for synchronizing the system with WWV time signals to an accuracy of +/- 1 millisecond, the 500-cps separation frequency for the receivers, the means for synchronizing the operation of the digital phase meters with the standard time, and the time bases for the data records. The detailed the specifications for the time standard, and details of the counters, are given in appendixes.