jkh@meepmeep.pcs.com (Jordan K. Hubbard) (05/29/91)
Not having any specs on my chip (I got it from Steve Liggett), I was wondering.. I figure it either has a very small lithium-type battery someplace (in which case I wonder about its lifetime), or a small nuclear reactor of the Pons & Fleischman (or Fleischman/Pons, for our english readers) type. If it's the latter, how often do I need to sprinkle it with heavy water? I suppose it might also be a sliver of plutonium and a miniature thermocouple, but that's REALLY farfetched! :-) :-) :-) for the sarcasm impaired. Jordan
george@wombat.bungi.COM (George Scolaro) (05/29/91)
[In the message entitled "How does the Dallas Semiconductor chip retain the time?" on May 27, 15:27, Jordan K. Hubbard writes:] > > Not having any specs on my chip (I got it from Steve Liggett), I was > wondering.. > It does use a lithium battery. As per most lithium batteries that are drained at leakage current levels, the lifetime is a nominal 10 years. Either that or it has a non-volatile time offset which it then applies to the time value it obtains from WWV (US standard time transmissions) via its tiny radio receiver :-) P.S. Congrats on fixing your broken traces... best regards, -- George Scolaro george@wombat.bungi.com [37 20 51 N / 122 03 07 W] -- Dave Rand {pyramid|mips|bct|vsi1}!daver!dlr Internet: dlr@daver.bungi.com
maniac@vector.dallas.tx.us (06/01/91)
> Not having any specs on my chip (I got it from Steve Liggett), I was > wondering.. > > I figure it either has a very small lithium-type battery someplace > (in which case I wonder about its lifetime), or a small nuclear > reactor of the Pons & Fleischman (or Fleischman/Pons, for our english > readers) type. If it's the latter, how often do I need to sprinkle > it with heavy water? > > I suppose it might also be a sliver of plutonium and a miniature > thermocouple, but that's REALLY farfetched! Actually, it's a combination of the two. It does need a drop of water every hundred thousand years, and it has a thermocouple around a mini plasma fusion generator, underneath a bunch of insulation, which just BARELY fits in the case/socket. (Actually it is a small lithium battery, life is rated at 10+ years. The reason I know all this, is a) I have one in my pc532. b) my company makes them [Dallas Semiconductor is an interesting place, and vector is just a name for the network impared 8-(] and c) I just spent a LONG time trying to get one to work with a serial ported sram controller chip (DS1280)) > :-) :-) :-) for the sarcasm impaired. (smilies, SMILIES, we don' need no stinkin' smilies!...) -- Jon Buller jonb@vector.dallas.tx.us ..!texsun!vector!jonb FROM Fortune IMPORT Quote; FROM Lawyers IMPORT Disclaimer;