Re: [time-nuts] [Solved] Looking simple temperature logging

[Kevin Rosenberg]

Hi List,

Thanks for all the suggestions on monitoring temperature at the location
of the XO. A lot of fine ideas. I found a solution, not inexpensive,
at the same time tvb recommended it to me. It can be placed near
the XO, no construction needed, and continuously outputs data.

Some of the USB monitors with an external probe would work, but I
ended selecting Sparkfun's Weather Station: 
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10586

So, for my son's project, he can also test whether relative humidity,
air pressure, or ambient light are correlated with XO frequency.

Lastly, it's nice that it's setup to optionally use a XBee ZB radio. 
So, I bought a second one for a sheltered location outside
and will use the radio for monitoring.

Thanks to all,

Kevin



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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R]

Thanks for the input.
After reading your comments I placed a bid for a Racal.
Chances I will be outbid but nothing ventured

--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R c...@omen.com   www.omen.com
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
  Omen Technology Inc  "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231   503-614-0430


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Re: [time-nuts] multi input counter

[Jim Lux]

On 10/6/11 4:24 PM, Magnus Danielson wrote:


Consider that you have 7 digits of time-stamp value and 8 digits of hex
code for time-stamped inputs and a carrige return, you need to output 16
bytes. Considering that it takes 32 read-outs a second in peak. This
means 512 bytes a second or a rate of 5120 baud needed, so 9600 baud
output will do just fine. The time-stamper clock can count in BCD to
make conversion cheap (and easy to code, just slab 0010 on top of
digits). A 64 bit wide FIFO is needed to store time-stamps, as they can
come at high burst rate but low average flow.

It's doable and not too much work to cook up. I did something similar
before, but I just can't find the code lying around. Sad, since it had
the serial transmitt code and FIFO stuff more or less what we need.



That's basically what I was thinking..   9600 bps is also slow enough 
that you can do something on the receiving end like open the file, add a 
line, close the file, so it makes rolling over files every hour or 
whatever easy.


The experiment I have in mind will last about 2 months, with the batch 
of oscillators cycling in temperature either on a 100 minute cycle or a 
24 hour cycle. (Low orbit or earth/mars rotation period)


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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Gary Chatters]

On 10/06/2011 10:15 PM, Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R wrote:
[...]


I notice they seem to have fans. How much noise do
they make?



Lots.  HP does not seem to take acoustic noise level in to consideration 
in its designs.


I have an old HP5245L.  The fan is quite noisy.  When I upgraded to the 
more modern HP5345A counter I was disappointed to find that its fan is 
even louder.  The HP5335A also has a rather noticeable fan.


But they are not all bad.  If I recall correctly the HP5334A does not 
have a fan and some of the other small HP models do not.  But if noise 
is a consideration, you need to check the specific model to be sure.


I have several pieces of HP (and other brands) of test equipment.  A lot 
of it only gets turned on when I actually want to use it.  It is just 
too noisy to leave on otherwise.



gc

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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R]

Yes I have a Trimble Thunderbolt.  Two actually.

Some of these counters are impressive pieces of work.
Too bad they can't take you to Jupiter, or at least Mars.
(In some sense they probably can!)

I notice they seem to have fans.  How much noise do
they make?

--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R c...@omen.com   www.omen.com
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
  Omen Technology Inc  "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231   503-614-0430


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Re: [time-nuts] multi input counter

[John Miles]

> For a handy list of cheap fpga boards:
> 
> http://tristesse.org/CheapFPGADevelopmentBoards
> 
> 
> I notice he's recently added the SOIO to the list. I've had my eye on that
> board as well for a while. If all you want is say 20 odd counters as you
> mentioned, then that even fits in the cheapest spartan-6 LX4 board. That
> board I would personally get for integration purposes, not development.
For
> the latter the connectors etc are a little sparse. But once you're done
and
> don't need all the switches and leds then it's quite nice for the price
IMO.
> 
> For the bigger boards I'd say the nexys 2 (spartan-3E based) or nexys 3
> (spartan-6 based) are good value for money. I have the atlys + nexys 2,
and
> currently both are being hogged for counter related things. ;)

The Nexys2 is great - it has the I/O support you'd need for this
application, and not a lot of other expensive peripherals that you don't.
I've prototyped some pretty hardcore stuff with it.

They include full schematics in their manual.

-- john


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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Pete Lancashire]

i know I'm late .. but agree with some of the oldies, but a big question I ask
first, is size important ?

I'm going through the same exercise setting up a bench for someone who's
an ex EE who now wants to have a bench to do some design with again. He's
lucky. Many are not now days.

-pete

On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 3:27 PM, J. L. Trantham  wrote:
> What resolution do you want?
>
> The HP 5315A/B or 5316A/B offer 100 MHz, various time base options, the
> possibility of battery operation (5315A), HPIB, external time base input
> (5315B and 5316A/B) and 8 digit resolution.  They also offer an Option C, to
> 1 GHz.  Directly, they frequently go to 150 MHz if the drive level is high
> enough.
>
> I prefer the 5334B.  It is 9 digit resolution, 100 MHz, offers the option of
> a 10811 time base as well as HPIB and external time base input/output and
> also will go to around 150 MHz if the drive level is high enough.  Also,
> there is an option C that will go to 1.3 GHz (I think).  While not often
> seen for under $100, they can be.
>
> Good luck.
>
> Joe
>
> -Original Message-
> From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com]On
> Behalf Of Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 10:47 AM
> To: time-nuts
> Subject: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter
>
> I would like to get a counter that
>     a) has 10 MHz clock input
>     b) counts directly to 30 MHz (50 or 145 preferred)
>
> I would like it to be maintainable and well under $100
> including shipping.
>
> I have seen Fluke 1953a counters advertised on Ebay.
> Is this a good choice or would something else be better?
>
> --
> Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R     c...@omen.com   www.omen.com
> Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
>   Omen Technology Inc      "The High Reliability Software"
> 10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231   503-614-0430
>
>
> ___
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Re: [time-nuts] multi input counter

[Tijd Dingen]

For a handy list of cheap fpga boards:

http://tristesse.org/CheapFPGADevelopmentBoards


I notice he's recently added the SOIO to the list. I've had my eye on that 
board as well for a while. If all you want is say 20 odd counters as you 
mentioned, then that even fits in the cheapest spartan-6 LX4 board. That board 
I would personally get for integration purposes, not development. For the 
latter the connectors etc are a little sparse. But once you're done and don't 
need all the switches and leds then it's quite nice for the price IMO.

For the bigger boards I'd say the nexys 2 (spartan-3E based) or nexys 3 
(spartan-6 based) are good value for money. I have the atlys + nexys 2, and 
currently both are being hogged for counter related things. ;)

regards,
Fred




From: Jim Lux 
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement 
Sent: Friday, October 7, 2011 1:02 AM
Subject: [time-nuts] multi input counter

since I rudely tagged onto someone else's search for a suitable counter, I'll 
restate my need here..
I want to set up an experiment  to characterize a bunch (several dozen?) of 
cheap XOs (e.g. SiTime parts) over temperature  and time and power cycles. I'm 
not looking for 1e-15 adev at 100 seconds  kind
of performance: maybe more like 1E-6 or 1E-7 ADEV at 100-1000 seconds (i.e. 
does the frequency of a 10MHz oscillator vary more than 1 Hz over 20 minutes?)

Something like a programmable MUX into one counter would work, but if you have 
20 odd oscillators, making ADEV measurements for tau of 1-10 seconds on all of 
them would be tough.

If I were doing it in an FPGA, I'd just setup a bunch of counters and latch 
them once a second, then shoot the counts out a serial port in some fashion 
(might still wind up doing that).  Or, one could latch a single common counter 
with each of the unknowns divided down by, say, 10million. I think the two 
measurements are basically equivalent (one is measuring period, the other 
frequency, essentially).

Or, any of a variety of microcontrollers can do it.

Or, a combination of microcontroller + FPGA.

I think what I was hoping is that there's some already existing box that 
someone sells (or sold in the past) that does this. If not, I'll just build 
something. Probably the FPGA approach.. it seems simplest.. any suggestions 
from the assembled multitude for a inexpensive eval board that has an FPGA with 
suitable input pins for the output from those SiTime oscillators (and any other 
grungy oscillators I scrounge up)?

Something with, say, 32 inputs/pins brought out to a header on the eval board 
would be nice.  maybe the Spartan 3A or 3E for $200?  (I'll have to look at the 
data sheets)


or, given that I'm not looking for ultimate performance, are there any 
particular FPGAs to stay away from that are notoriously bad in this kind of 
timing application.


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Re: [time-nuts] Should be an interesting Discovery if LightSquared sue..

[Peter Gottlieb]

I predict this system will not be in operation any time soon.



On 10/6/2011 7:36 PM, Rix Seacord wrote:
I wonder if the government will allow a tax deduction for the modification of 
the gps receivers  in aircraft if this deal goes through.
Considering it easily cost 12k plus for a low end combo gps, nav com unit. 
Just having a shop put it on the bench can cost 250 buck much less what it 
cost to repair or upgrade.
If  the small planes I flew are any example it wasn't unusual to fly behind a 
panel that was 10 to 20 years old.

Nuff said

Ewing (Rix) Seacord K2AVP


I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand


On 10/6/2011 12:12 PM, Peter Gottlieb wrote:

Fine.  Court cases take many, many years.  If they go that route we
won't have to worry about this for a while, and it increases the
probability we would have already upgraded due to wanting/needing newer
features and even just random failures.


On 10/06/11, Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R  wrote:
[1]http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_2055
11-1.html
--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R [2]c...@omen.com [3]www.omen.com
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
Omen Technology Inc "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231 503-614-0430
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References

1. 
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_205511-1.html

2. mailto:c...@omen.com
3. http://www.omen.com/
4. mailto:time-nuts@febo.com
5. https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
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-
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1410 / Virus Database: 1520/3940 - Release Date: 10/05/11




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Re: [time-nuts] multi input counter

[Hal Murray]

jim...@earthlink.net said:
> Something with, say, 32 inputs/pins brought out to a header on the eval
> board would be nice.  maybe the Spartan 3A or 3E for $200?  (I'll have  to
> look at the data sheets) 

Digilent has a good collection of low cost FPGA boards:
  http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?Cat=10&FPGA

The Spartan 3 board (down at the bottom) has 3 40-pin connectors plus RS-232 
for $139.  Beware, the big connectors don't have many grounds.  (I'd probably 
turn the board over and turn half the pins into grounds.)

Their Add-on-Boards might have something helpful if you the board you pick has 
the Hirose FX2 connector rather than something simple and low tech.


-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.




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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Mark Spencer]

I was recently able to pick up a nice HP5335 with a 10811 oscilator and 
enhanced GPIB board for <$100.00 from the usual auction site.  




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Re: [time-nuts] Should be an interesting Discovery if LightSquared sue..

[Rix Seacord]

I wonder if the government will allow a tax deduction for the 
modification of the gps receivers  in aircraft if this deal goes through.
Considering it easily cost 12k plus for a low end combo gps, nav com 
unit. Just having a shop put it on the bench can cost 250 buck much less 
what it cost to repair or upgrade.
If  the small planes I flew are any example it wasn't unusual to fly 
behind a panel that was 10 to 20 years old.

Nuff said

Ewing (Rix) Seacord K2AVP


I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand


On 10/6/2011 12:12 PM, Peter Gottlieb wrote:

Fine.  Court cases take many, many years.  If they go that route we
won't have to worry about this for a while, and it increases the
probability we would have already upgraded due to wanting/needing newer
features and even just random failures.


On 10/06/11, Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R  wrote:
[1]http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_2055
11-1.html
--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R [2]c...@omen.com [3]www.omen.com
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
Omen Technology Inc "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231 503-614-0430
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References

1. 
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_205511-1.html
2. mailto:c...@omen.com
3. http://www.omen.com/
4. mailto:time-nuts@febo.com
5. https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
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Re: [time-nuts] multi input counter

[Magnus Danielson]

Hi Jim,

On 07/10/11 01:02, Jim Lux wrote:

since I rudely tagged onto someone else's search for a suitable counter,
I'll restate my need here..
I want to set up an experiment to characterize a bunch (several dozen?)
of cheap XOs (e.g. SiTime parts) over temperature and time and power
cycles. I'm not looking for 1e-15 adev at 100 seconds kind
of performance: maybe more like 1E-6 or 1E-7 ADEV at 100-1000 seconds
(i.e. does the frequency of a 10MHz oscillator vary more than 1 Hz over
20 minutes?)


That is what you are going to measure :)


Something like a programmable MUX into one counter would work, but if
you have 20 odd oscillators, making ADEV measurements for tau of 1-10
seconds on all of them would be tough.


Tricky.


If I were doing it in an FPGA, I'd just setup a bunch of counters and
latch them once a second, then shoot the counts out a serial port in
some fashion (might still wind up doing that). Or, one could latch a
single common counter with each of the unknowns divided down by, say,
10million. I think the two measurements are basically equivalent (one is
measuring period, the other frequency, essentially).

Or, any of a variety of microcontrollers can do it.

Or, a combination of microcontroller + FPGA.

I think what I was hoping is that there's some already existing box that
someone sells (or sold in the past) that does this. If not, I'll just
build something. Probably the FPGA approach.. it seems simplest.. any
suggestions from the assembled multitude for a inexpensive eval board
that has an FPGA with suitable input pins for the output from those
SiTime oscillators (and any other grungy oscillators I scrounge up)?

Something with, say, 32 inputs/pins brought out to a header on the eval
board would be nice. maybe the Spartan 3A or 3E for $200? (I'll have to
look at the data sheets)


or, given that I'm not looking for ultimate performance, are there any
particular FPGAs to stay away from that are notoriously bad in this kind
of timing application.


You would be able to use the standard 3E development-board for sure.

If you run your 10 MHz into the clock input, you could run a 
time-stamper clock with it and then use a suitable divide down counters 
for each time-stamped clock.


Consider that you have 7 digits of time-stamp value and 8 digits of hex 
code for time-stamped inputs and a carrige return, you need to output 16 
bytes. Considering that it takes 32 read-outs a second in peak. This 
means 512 bytes a second or a rate of 5120 baud needed, so 9600 baud 
output will do just fine. The time-stamper clock can count in BCD to 
make conversion cheap (and easy to code, just slab 0010 on top of 
digits). A 64 bit wide FIFO is needed to store time-stamps, as they can 
come at high burst rate but low average flow.


It's doable and not too much work to cook up. I did something similar 
before, but I just can't find the code lying around. Sad, since it had 
the serial transmitt code and FIFO stuff more or less what we need.


Oh... look! No CPU!

Cheers,
Magnus

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[time-nuts] multi input counter

[Jim Lux]

since I rudely tagged onto someone else's search for a suitable counter, 
I'll restate my need here..
I want to set up an experiment  to characterize a bunch (several dozen?) 
of cheap XOs (e.g. SiTime parts) over temperature  and time and power 
cycles. I'm not looking for 1e-15 adev at 100 seconds  kind
of performance: maybe more like 1E-6 or 1E-7 ADEV at 100-1000 seconds 
(i.e. does the frequency of a 10MHz oscillator vary more than 1 Hz over 
20 minutes?)


Something like a programmable MUX into one counter would work, but if 
you have 20 odd oscillators, making ADEV measurements for tau of 1-10 
seconds on all of them would be tough.


If I were doing it in an FPGA, I'd just setup a bunch of counters and 
latch them once a second, then shoot the counts out a serial port in 
some fashion (might still wind up doing that).  Or, one could latch a 
single common counter with each of the unknowns divided down by, say, 
10million. I think the two measurements are basically equivalent (one is 
measuring period, the other frequency, essentially).


Or, any of a variety of microcontrollers can do it.

Or, a combination of microcontroller + FPGA.

I think what I was hoping is that there's some already existing box that 
someone sells (or sold in the past) that does this. If not, I'll just 
build something. Probably the FPGA approach.. it seems simplest.. any 
suggestions from the assembled multitude for a inexpensive eval board 
that has an FPGA with suitable input pins for the output from those 
SiTime oscillators (and any other grungy oscillators I scrounge up)?


Something with, say, 32 inputs/pins brought out to a header on the eval 
board would be nice.  maybe the Spartan 3A or 3E for $200?  (I'll have 
to look at the data sheets)



or, given that I'm not looking for ultimate performance, are there any 
particular FPGAs to stay away from that are notoriously bad in this kind 
of timing application.



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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[J. L. Trantham]

What resolution do you want?

The HP 5315A/B or 5316A/B offer 100 MHz, various time base options, the
possibility of battery operation (5315A), HPIB, external time base input
(5315B and 5316A/B) and 8 digit resolution.  They also offer an Option C, to
1 GHz.  Directly, they frequently go to 150 MHz if the drive level is high
enough.

I prefer the 5334B.  It is 9 digit resolution, 100 MHz, offers the option of
a 10811 time base as well as HPIB and external time base input/output and
also will go to around 150 MHz if the drive level is high enough.  Also,
there is an option C that will go to 1.3 GHz (I think).  While not often
seen for under $100, they can be.

Good luck.

Joe

-Original Message-
From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com]On
Behalf Of Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 10:47 AM
To: time-nuts
Subject: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

I would like to get a counter that
 a) has 10 MHz clock input
 b) counts directly to 30 MHz (50 or 145 preferred)

I would like it to be maintainable and well under $100
including shipping.

I have seen Fluke 1953a counters advertised on Ebay.
Is this a good choice or would something else be better?

--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R c...@omen.com   www.omen.com
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
   Omen Technology Inc  "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231   503-614-0430


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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[David VanHorn]

My first thought was to use a bunch of tvb's picPETs backwards.  :)  Feed
them all the same PPS and clock each one with one of the clocks you want to
test.  But that requires a serial port per XO.  Maybe you have an old
many-input serial box in the junk bin, but I'm always short of them.



I use Edgeport USB serial boxes, I've been able to pick up 8 port boxes on Ebay 
for about $50.
They are very reliable.
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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Hal Murray]

> I'm actually looking a similar problem.. I want to set up an experiment  to
> characterize a bunch (several dozen?) of cheap XOs over temperature  and
> time and power cycles. I'm not looking for 1e-15 adev at 100 seconds  kind
> of performance: maybe more like 1E-6 or 1E-7 ADEV.

I'd like something like that.  I suspect other nuts would too.  Please let us 
know if you find anything interesting.

My first thought was to use a bunch of tvb's picPETs backwards.  :)  Feed 
them all the same PPS and clock each one with one of the clocks you want to 
test.  But that requires a serial port per XO.  Maybe you have an old 
many-input serial box in the junk bin, but I'm always short of them.

How about a PIC/AVR listening on a serial port and driving a big mux?  You 
could probably power it and a HC151 from a modem control pin.  A PCB would be 
mostly connectors.  If you are going to make a PCB, you might as well wire up 
any unused PIC pins to various connectors.

Or use USB...  A USB to parallel port chip avoids the PIC.


-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.




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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Robert LaJeunesse]

If you can find an HP 5316B at the right price it would meet your basic needs. 
Takes 1, 5, or 10 MHz for external reference (has 10MHz out). The A and B 
channels are 100MHz rated, optional C channel is 1GHz. The optional TCXO (or 
OCXO) is likely not needed in your case. GPIB might prove handy. I picked up 
mine at Dayton for well under $100, although it did seem to be the "steal of a 
deal" that year.




From: Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R c...@omen.com

I would like to get a counter that
    a) has 10 MHz clock input
    b) counts directly to 30 MHz (50 or 145 preferred)

I would like it to be maintainable and well under $100
including shipping.

I have seen Fluke 1953a counters advertised on Ebay.
Is this a good choice or would something else be better?
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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Bob Camp]

Hi

Maintainable is a tough call on a lot of stuff. You might do better to shop
for a counter in the $30 to 50 range and plan on buying 2 or 3. There are a
lot of people selling printed manuals for the price of a counter ...

Quick check of $30 to $50 shows:

HP5314
HP5315
HP5316
HP5326
HP5383

Fluke 1952
Fluke 1953

above the $50 limit but below $100

HP5345
HP5328
HP5335

Others that *should* be below $50

HP5381
HP5382

All have their quirks and issues. I'd simply troll the auctions and plan on
placing a number of low bids. In a month or two you should be able to get
what you need cheap. I would shop price rather than a specific model, since
there are a lot of boxes that will do what you need to do. 

Bob



-Original Message-
From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On
Behalf Of Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 11:47 AM
To: time-nuts
Subject: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

I would like to get a counter that
 a) has 10 MHz clock input
 b) counts directly to 30 MHz (50 or 145 preferred)

I would like it to be maintainable and well under $100
including shipping.

I have seen Fluke 1953a counters advertised on Ebay.
Is this a good choice or would something else be better?

-- 
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R c...@omen.com   www.omen.com
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
   Omen Technology Inc  "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231   503-614-0430


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Re: [time-nuts] Should be an interesting Discovery if LightSquared sue..

[J. Forster]

The current administration WANTS LightSquared.

If the government doesn't defend the case, the project will go forward
quickly. And, AFAIK, there is no legal requirement that the FCC defend the
case.

-John




>Fine.  Court cases take many, many years.  If they go that route we
>won't have to worry about this for a while, and it increases the
>probability we would have already upgraded due to wanting/needing newer
>features and even just random failures.
>
>
>On 10/06/11, Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R wrote:
>[1]http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_2055
>11-1.html
>--
>Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R [2]c...@omen.com [3]www.omen.com
>Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
>Omen Technology Inc "The High Reliability Software"
>10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231 503-614-0430
>___
>time-nuts mailing list -- [4]time-nuts@febo.com
>To unsubscribe, go to
>[5]https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>and follow the instructions there.
>
> References
>
>1.
> http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_205511-1.html
>2. mailto:c...@omen.com
>3. http://www.omen.com/
>4. mailto:time-nuts@febo.com
>5. https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> ___
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to
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>
>



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Re: [time-nuts] Should be an interesting Discovery if LightSquared sue..

[Peter Gottlieb]

   Fine.  Court cases take many, many years.  If they go that route we
   won't have to worry about this for a while, and it increases the
   probability we would have already upgraded due to wanting/needing newer
   features and even just random failures.


   On 10/06/11, Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R wrote:
   [1]http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_2055
   11-1.html
   --
   Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R [2]c...@omen.com [3]www.omen.com
   Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
   Omen Technology Inc "The High Reliability Software"
   10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231 503-614-0430
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References

   1. 
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_205511-1.html
   2. mailto:c...@omen.com
   3. http://www.omen.com/
   4. mailto:time-nuts@febo.com
   5. https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Dan Rae]

On 10/6/2011 8:46 AM, Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R wrote:

I would like to get a counter that
a) has 10 MHz clock input
b) counts directly to 30 MHz (50 or 145 preferred)

I would like it to be maintainable and well under $100
including shipping.

I have seen Fluke 1953a counters advertised on Ebay.
Is this a good choice or would something else be better?

Chuck, you are going to get a lot of opinions on this one.  I have and 
would recommend the Racal-Dana 1992, a lot of which were surplussed from 
the military around ten years ago, so are quite common.  I have bought 
them for less than $100 but the $100 to $200 range is more likely.


Two 160 MHz inputs (A and B) at high or low Z and direct phase 
comparisons of these are possible.  C input at 50 Ohms goes to 1.3 GHz.


 Most have a nut grade 10 MHz OCXO internal standard fitted and GPIB 
interface.


Cons: make sure the push buttons are good, that is the major common 
known fault.  Most everything else is easy to fix with not too many 
exotic parts.


I have -hp- counters including a 5370B that mostly live in the garage.  
The 1992 stays on the bench here...


Dan

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Re: [time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Jim Lux]

On 10/6/11 8:46 AM, Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R wrote:

I would like to get a counter that
a) has 10 MHz clock input
b) counts directly to 30 MHz (50 or 145 preferred)

I would like it to be maintainable and well under $100
including shipping.

I have seen Fluke 1953a counters advertised on Ebay.
Is this a good choice or would something else be better?



What sort of performance are you looking for? Not that I would suggest 
it, but as an example, a cheap FPGA eval board or even a Arduino with 
the right programming might do this, but might not be suitable for, say, 
comparing your 3 hydrogen masers against your Cs source and your 
experimental Hg ion fountain.


I'm actually looking a similar problem.. I want to set up an experiment 
to characterize a bunch (several dozen?) of cheap XOs over temperature 
and time and power cycles. I'm not looking for 1e-15 adev at 100 seconds 
kind of performance: maybe more like 1E-6 or 1E-7 ADEV.


Some sort of off the shelf box would be preferable to getting an eval 
board, putting it in a box with a power supply and connectors, etc. 
That kind of thing can be a remarkable time suck at work (as opposed to 
at home, where I'd just lash it down with double stick foam tape and not 
worry about no stinkin connectors)


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[time-nuts] Looking for a Counter

[Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R]

I would like to get a counter that
a) has 10 MHz clock input
b) counts directly to 30 MHz (50 or 145 preferred)

I would like it to be maintainable and well under $100
including shipping.

I have seen Fluke 1953a counters advertised on Ebay.
Is this a good choice or would something else be better?

--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R c...@omen.com   www.omen.com
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
  Omen Technology Inc  "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231   503-614-0430


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Re: [time-nuts] Should be an interesting Discovery if LightSquared sue..

[paul swed]

My this is getting nasty.
Especially since it appears various folks may have had there hands in
various cookie jars. Per a TV technology article this week.

On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R
wrote:

> http://www.avweb.com/**avwebflash/news/LightSquared_**
> GPS_Issue_FCC_205511-1.html
>
> --
> Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R c...@omen.com   www.omen.com
> Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
>  Omen Technology Inc  "The High Reliability Software"
> 10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231   503-614-0430
>
>
> __**_
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/**
> mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.
>
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[time-nuts] Should be an interesting Discovery if LightSquared sue..

[Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R]

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/LightSquared_GPS_Issue_FCC_205511-1.html

--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R c...@omen.com   www.omen.com
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
  Omen Technology Inc  "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231   503-614-0430


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Re: [time-nuts] OT: UK - NOTIFICATION OF GPS JAMMING EXERCISES

[Marco IK1ODO -2]

At 16:25 06-10-11, you wrote:


So they are deploying LightSquared?   :)


Possibly testing for impact of ... ?
"Mala tempora currunt" !

73 - Marco IK1ODO


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Re: [time-nuts] OT: UK - NOTIFICATION OF GPS JAMMING EXERCISES

[David VanHorn]

So they are deploying LightSquared?   :)


From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of 
David J Taylor [david-tay...@blueyonder.co.uk]
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 3:25 AM
To: Time-nuts mailing list
Subject: [time-nuts] OT: UK - NOTIFICATION OF GPS JAMMING EXERCISES

Folks,

I have received the following notice:


NOTIFICATION OF GPS JAMMING EXERCISES
RAF SPADEADAM, CUMBRIA, NOVEMBER 2011
Dates: Between 28 November and 9 December 2011 inclusive (Week days only).
Times:  between 0900 and 1600 GMT.
Location of MULTIPLE jammers: Land based within 5km of N55° 03.1266' W002°
33.339'.
Frequency: A 24 MHz band centred around 1575.42MHz (GPS L1).
Total Power: Up to 10 Watts EIRP.

It is stressed that, as in previous exercises, Safety of Life operations
will at all times take precedence over exercise activities.



I hope this is helpful.

Cheers,
David
--
SatSignal software - quality software written to your requirements
Web:  http://www.satsignal.eu
Email:  david-tay...@blueyonder.co.uk


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Re: [time-nuts] [Solved] Looking for multiple PPS timestamp loggi ng

[David J Taylor]

Looks like a nice device. I do like continuous monitoring!

From the datasheet:
 "The interval between measurements can be configured by
  link selection to be in the range 80ms to 5 minutes."

Kevin


Oh, how incompetent of me to have missed that!  I was looking for the spec 
on the Web page.  A pity, as I was hoping for something which worked at 
least into the audio range.


Thanks, Kevin.

Cheers,
David
--
SatSignal software - quality software written to your requirements
Web:  http://www.satsignal.eu
Email:  david-tay...@blueyonder.co.uk 



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Re: [time-nuts] [Solved] Looking for multiple PPS timestamp loggi ng

[Kevin Rosenberg]

On Oct 6, 2011, at 3:21 AM, David J Taylor wrote:
>> http://www.g4jnt.com/SerialLogger_ShortForm.pdf
> 
> I couldn't find what sampling rates the device supported, but otherwise I'm 
> keen to acquire one!

Looks like a nice device. I do like continuous monitoring!

>From the datasheet:
  "The interval between measurements can be configured by
   link selection to be in the range 80ms to 5 minutes."

Kevin


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[time-nuts] OT: UK - NOTIFICATION OF GPS JAMMING EXERCISES

[David J Taylor]

Folks,

I have received the following notice:


NOTIFICATION OF GPS JAMMING EXERCISES
RAF SPADEADAM, CUMBRIA, NOVEMBER 2011
Dates: Between 28 November and 9 December 2011 inclusive (Week days only).
Times:  between 0900 and 1600 GMT.
Location of MULTIPLE jammers: Land based within 5km of N55° 03.1266' W002° 
33.339'.

Frequency: A 24 MHz band centred around 1575.42MHz (GPS L1).
Total Power: Up to 10 Watts EIRP.

It is stressed that, as in previous exercises, Safety of Life operations 
will at all times take precedence over exercise activities.




I hope this is helpful.

Cheers,
David
--
SatSignal software - quality software written to your requirements
Web:  http://www.satsignal.eu
Email:  david-tay...@blueyonder.co.uk 



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Re: [time-nuts] [Solved] Looking for multiple PPS timestamp loggi ng

[David J Taylor]

And there is this kit from Andy, G4JNT, which might do

www.g4jnt.com/HF-10.htm
http://www.g4jnt.com/SerialLogger_ShortForm.pdf

Paul  G8GJA


I couldn't find what sampling rates the device supported, but otherwise 
I'm keen to acquire one!


73,
David GM8ARV
--
SatSignal software - quality software written to your requirements
Web:  http://www.satsignal.eu
Email:  david-tay...@blueyonder.co.uk 



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Re: [time-nuts] [Solved] Looking for multiple PPS timestamp loggi ng

[Reeves Paul]

And there is this kit from Andy, G4JNT, which might do
 
www.g4jnt.com/HF-10.htm   
http://www.g4jnt.com/SerialLogger_ShortForm.pdf


Paul  G8GJA


-Original Message-
From: shali...@gmail.com [mailto:shali...@gmail.com] 
Sent: 05 October 2011 21:00
To: Time-Nuts
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] [Solved] Looking for multiple PPS timestamp logging

Jim,

This is an interesting product, thank for the link!

Didier KO4BB

Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless thingy while I do other things...

-Original Message-
From: Jim Lux 
Sender: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:40:55
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Reply-To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement

Subject: Re: [time-nuts] [Solved] Looking for multiple PPS timestamp logging

On 10/4/11 8:03 AM, Kevin Rosenberg wrote:

> So, if you know of any simple ADC to UART firmwares available, that'd 
> be great so he can just reference someone else's code. The picPET is a 
> perfect device at the perfect time. But, we can't rely on tvb to come 
> up with a 'picADC' at a similarly serendipitous time.
>

DATAQ

http://www.dataq.com/products/startkit/di145.html

$29, 4 channel 10 bit ADC with USB  interface

You'll need to cobble up a sensor, of course, and I don't know if the
resolution of the di145 is good enough (20mV/LSB as I recall) for a
LM335 (10mV/Kelvin?).  One thing you get with cheap is a +/- 10V full scale
range.

A thermistor and resistor into the DATAQ might work better.

Maxim/Dallas One-Wire devices are another possibility  There's tons of PIC
code out there to interface to them.  The sensors are cheap (few bucks,
depending on whether you buy raw device, or you get one potted with a cable)
Sparkfun.com has them, among other places.


There's also a whole raft of USB temperature loggers out there from Onset
(HOBO) or DataQ or a variety of other companies.  They tend to run in the
$80 range  (if someone knows about a battery powered temperature logger in
the under $25 range, I'd love to hear about it)

And, of course, a DMM with a RS-232 interface is another possibility


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