KCCS
Precision Timing
GNSS-disciplined oscillators and rubidium standards engineered for multi-week seabed deployments, sub-microsecond holdover, and battery-critical node designs.
Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) and ocean bottom cable (OBC) seismic crews spend tens of millions of dollars per campaign. Every node must record the same seismic trace to microsecond accuracy; if the internal clock of a dropped node drifts by more than a fraction of a sample interval, the data is unusable and the ship has to come back. The nodes sit on the seabed for weeks to months, often at 1,000–3,000 m depth, with no GNSS reception and no wired reference.
This is why oilfield service companies and their OEM instrument makers have, for two decades, specified GNSS-disciplined oscillators (GPSDO) and rubidium frequency standards as the node's heart — the same architecture used by Western integrators from Sercel to Fairfield/NXT. KCCS KDO and KRA families are engineered for exactly this duty cycle: tight 1PPS sync at the surface, then long, drift-controlled holdover on the seafloor.
| Model | Best For | Holdover | 1PPS Sync | Power | Package |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KDO65 / KDO27 | High-end node recorder, longest deployment | ±1.5 μs/24h, sub-μs over 30 days | ≤50 ns | ~1.5 W | DIP 65 / 27 |
| KDOD27L (dual output) | Dual-channel recorder with rugged deck use | ±2 μs/24h, -55~+85°C | ≤100 ns | ~1.8 W | DIP 27 dual-output |
| KDO11 / KDO9 / KDO5 (Micro) | Small-form-factor node, battery-critical | ≤10 μs/24h (KDO5), ±10 ppb f-T | 50 ns | < 0.8 W | 14.8×11.8 / 12.5×9 / 7×5 mm |
| KRA50 / KRA76 Rubidium | Central deck recorder, multi-node master clock | ±1E-12/24h aging, holdover < 0.1 μs/day | 1PPS disciplined | ~15 W warm-up | DIP 50.8 / 76 |
| KCSA35 CSAC | Ultra-low-power backup clock where OCXO warm-up is impossible | ≤3E-11/100s drift | — | 130 mW | SMD 41×35 |
| KOP27 low-power OCXO | Battery-critical node clock, free-running backup during surfacing | ±0.5 ppb f-T, low inrush on 3.3 V | — | 33 mA steady | DIP 27×27 |
A free-running OCXO drifts too fast across a multi-week seabed mission even after surface calibration; a rubidium is more stable but consumes battery. The GPSDO is the sweet spot: it locks to the vessel's GNSS before launch, then holds the discipline during the node's burial. KDO families ship with a 1PPS input, a disciplined 10 MHz (or customer-specified) output, and a simple lock-status signal that the recorder can log into the SEG-Y trace header.