What type of clock is capable of measuring periods of milliseconds?

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To measure periods of milliseconds, a clock with a frequency significantly higher than the signal frequency is required, typically around 100 times the signal frequency for accurate measurements. Crystal oscillators operating in the 10MHz-100MHz range are commonly used for this purpose. A stopwatch is not suitable for measuring milliseconds due to its lower accuracy. Instead, frequency counters are the appropriate instruments for measuring frequency and period accurately. These devices utilize high-frequency clock signals to enable precise timing measurements.
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Homework Statement


Hi,
I have been asked to research two types of clock. The first to measure periods of nanoseconds and the second, milliseconds. Obviously I have talked about atomic clocks first but what clock can measure periods of milliseconds?

Cheers


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The Attempt at a Solution

 
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Millisecond clocks are easier than nanosecond clocks. You would typically have an accurate crystal oscillator running in the 10MHz-100MHz range, and enable a counter with the signal that you want to measure the period of. Does that make sense?
 
Yes it makes perfect sense but what is the type of clock called? Could a stopwatch working under this principle measure milliseconds?
 
swain1 said:
Yes it makes perfect sense but what is the type of clock called? Could a stopwatch working under this principle measure milliseconds?

No, a stopwatch is too slow. You need a clock that is many times the signal to be measured, in order to get good accuracy on the measurement. You need approximately 100x the signal frequency, in order to get 1% accuracy in the period measurement, right?

So a 100x clock for a 1ms signal (with a frequency of 1kHz) would be 100kHz, which is easy. More likely you would use a crystal clock oscillator module to generate a 10MHz clock, and feed that into the digital counter string that I mentioned.

Instruments called "frequency counters" are used to make the frequency and period measurements that you are asking about. Here is a wikipedia.org page with basic info on them. You can google frequency counter for more links and info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_counter
 
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