Re: [time-nuts] Wall Clock that takes 1PPS input
I don't know of one available commercially, but it would not be hard to modify a standard quartz clock to do this. The standard quartz mechanism uses a motor that advances the seconds hand one second each time a pulse is applied to it. The catch is that every other pulse has to be the opposite polarity. A simple circuit consisting of a single D flip-flop could be constructed to provide this alternating phase functionality. Matthew Sent from Matthew D'Asaro's iPhone > On Jan 2, 2020, at 10:21 AM, Jerry Hancock wrote: > > Hello, > > I looked around but can’t find a wall clock that would take a 1PPS input > signal to drive the minutes and seconds. I’ve made digital modules using a > lot of different displays but would love to have a large, 14” or so with a > second hand, wall clock that I can drive with 1PPS. The old IBM clocks, etc > I found take a pulse on the minute. I have an old pendulum clock I can drive > with a solenoid but thought I would ask here before going that route. > > Signal levels aren’t important. > > Thanks > > Jerry > > > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com > and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Antique pendulum clocks
You are not the first to try this. The usual method for timing mechanical clocks is either acoustic (a microphone picks up the sound of the escapement) or optical (a sensor is blocked from light by the pendulum). The optical method is more accurate but more cumbersome to setup. Matthew Sent from Matthew D'Asaro's iPhone > On Nov 20, 2019, at 6:18 PM, Adrian Godwin wrote: > >> On Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 2:01 AM Bill Beam wrote: >> >> Most people interested in this problem have been dead for about 200 years. >> >> I knew there was a reason why I didn't feel so well lately .. > > > I have an electric pendulum clock by Bulle. A coil swings in a short arc, > following a curved magnetic polepiece. At some point, contacts close and > provide a timed sustaining impulse to the coil. > > Out of sheer pigheadedness, I am attempting to monitor the movement with > antique (perhaps not quite so antique) timing equipment. I have an HP456A > current probe to capture the impulse instance, an HP 5275A counter to > measure the period and an HP101A oscillator to provide a reference. ADEV > calculations might be done by an HP9815 calculator or perhaps an HP41 if I > can't find the 9815's parallel interface. Non-HP equipment is permitted but > nothing suitable has come up so far. > > A difficulty at the moment is that the contacts bounce somewhat, making > the impulse timing poorly defined. I haven't yet got as far as seeing any > mechanically caused pattern to the errors. > > Thanks to Tom for giving me more distractions to read :) > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com > and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] FTS 1050A Service Manual
I doubt that cloning has much to do with it. Any cloner worth their salt wouldn't have any problems reverse engineering a PCB. The real problem is that it is expensive to produce and maintain service documentation and there doesn't seem to be market demand in this throw away culture. Matthew Sent from Matthew D'Asaro's iPhone > On May 5, 2019, at 8:17 AM, Bob kb8tq wrote: > > Hi > > Well, it this day and age of “clone anything” manufacturers, I doubt you ever > will see > schematics again. Most outfits stopped sending them out decades ago. > > Bob > >> On May 4, 2019, at 10:26 PM, Tom Knox wrote: >> >> I agree Bob, I have seen many different versions, I have even seen one with >> option BVA (In a 1000B form-factor) and versions with 10MHz external ref >> input. But any schematic or service manual would be a great staring point >> even if a different version. >> >> >> Tom Knox >> >> "Peace is not the absence of violence, but the presence of Justice" Both MLK >> and Albert Einstein >> >> >> From: time-nuts on behalf of Bob kb8tq >> >> Sent: Saturday, May 4, 2019 5:00 PM >> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement >> Cc: Jeff Kruth >> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] FTS 1050A Service Manual >> >> HI >> >> I suspect that as long as the 1050 has been around …. there are mulitple >> versions of the schematics. >> I doubt there ever *was* a service manual. It likely was a “factory repair >> only” sort of device. >> >> Bob >> >>> On May 4, 2019, at 5:53 PM, Jeff Kruth via time-nuts >>> wrote: >>> >>> Hello! >>> Does anyone know where I might find the service manual (schematics >>> particularly) for the FTS 1050A Quartz Oscillator? PDF, printed, scratched >>> on papyrus, etc.? >>> N8UR sent me the operating manual, but I need a little more >>> detail.MicroSemi owns the stuff now and I have not contacted them, you know >>> how it goes with acquisitions.Thanks! Jeff Kruth >>> ___ >>> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com >>> To unsubscribe, go to >>> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com >>> and follow the instructions there. >> >> >> ___ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to >> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com >> and follow the instructions there. >> ___ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to >> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com >> and follow the instructions there. > > > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com > and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] 4.19 MHz xtal
Easy. 2^22 is 4194304. This means that a crystal of that frequency connected to a chain of 22 flip-flops will produce one pulse per second. More modern Quartz clocks are based on 32768Hz crystals which is 2^15Hz. The reason for the change is that such low frequency crystals require a tuning-fork type construction that until recently was not as easy to produce accurately as an AT cut crystal, but AT cut crystals only work down to about 1MHz. Matthew Sent from Matthew D'Asaro's iPhone > On Mar 31, 2019, at 2:29 PM, Neville Michie wrote: > > Hi, > I have a Philips quartz clock that runs on 4.19 MHz. > In spite of the high frequency it still runs for years > on a C cell. > Can any of the quartz crystal gurus explain why this > frequency was chosen? I believe that this clock was > supposed to have better than usual accuracy. > Philips always had a high level of engineering excellence. > > cheers, > Neville Michie > > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com > and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] multimeter
I have long felt that the 289 is a classic example of design by committee. It has every possible feature that no one wants or needs and a price that represents that, but not the features people actually care about in a meter (fast turn on, rugged, light weight, reliable, long battery life.) Matthew Sent from Matthew D'Asaro's iPhone > On Mar 25, 2019, at 1:31 PM, William H. Fite wrote: > > You're so right about the 289. It costs too much, sucks the life out of > batteries and is way too big. > > I have about a dozen handheld MMs, from a piece of Harbor Freight trash to > a Gossen Metrahit M248A (believe it or not, a gift from a widow, off her > late husband's bench. NIB). My 87 is the one I use the most. You know what > I use my 289 for? Tracking internal temp on the Christmas turkey and the > occasional hunk of roast beef. > > It may not be the most desirable multimeter but it's one hell of a meat > thermometer! > > > >> On Monday, March 25, 2019, Dan Kemppainen wrote: >> >> The 87 is a good general purpose meter. My preference has been the now >> obsolete Fluke 189. It was replaced with the 289, which is just horrible. >> It eats batteries, is huge, takes forever to 'boot'. No one in the ship >> grabs that one unless it's the last one on the shelf. >> >> We've gone to orange meters now that we can't get more 189's. The Keysignt >> U1272A has been a good replacement in our shop for the 189. >> >> I also have a U1241B, and am quite happy with it. I find myself reaching >> for the U1241B more often than the Fluke 189 as of late. It's smaller... >> >> All that said, I'm certain you'll be happy 87 for what you plan on doing >> with it. >> >> Dan >> >> >> >> >>> On 3/24/2019 12:00 PM, time-nuts-requ...@lists.febo.com wrote: >>> >>> Message: 8 >>> Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2019 18:00:12 +1100 >>> From: Jim Palfreyman >>> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement >>> >>> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] multimeter >>> Message-ID: >>>>> gmail.com> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" >>> >>> Hi All, >>> >>> Thanks so much everyone for your comments. I especially liked "get the >>> orange one". Because that's what I did get (I think it's orange - could be >>> yellow). >>> >>> I was deliberately vague (apologies) but I just wanted a broad response. >>> Which I got. >>> >>> I've settled on the Fluke 87V. It's on it's way. >>> >>> Jim >> >> ___ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/ >> listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com >> and follow the instructions there. > > > -- > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com > and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] multimeter
My opinion: Handheld: Fluke 87V - unbeatable reliability and features. Bench: HP 34401A. An industry standard for 20 years. I have both and use them every day Matthew Sent from Matthew D'Asaro's iPhone > On Mar 23, 2019, at 11:09 AM, Wes wrote: > > I have a Fluke 87V that I bought from a fellow on one of these reflectors for > about a third the price of new. It does more than I need. > > A lesser model would be fine for general purpose use. As we used to say in > the lab at work, "If it works, it's a Fluke." > > Wes N7WS > >> On 3/23/2019 5:05 AM, Jim Palfreyman wrote: >> Hi all, >> >> I think I'm in the market for a new digital multimeter. >> >> Could I have some recommendations? >> >> Jim > > > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com > and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Need recommendation for GPS antenna for Oncore GPS module
For what it is worth, I got a used HP/Symmetricom 58532a antenna off of eBay for about $50. It needed a minor repair (broken internal coax) but once that was done it has worked great for me. The other one I considered was the 58504a but they were more expensive on the used market and didn't seem as weather proof (a special weather proof cap was offered as an add-on but most don't have it) so I went with the newer 58532a. -Matthew D'Asaro > On Nov 4, 2018, at 8:43 AM, Toby Riddell wrote: > > Thanks Scott - I will look into getting one of those. And noted re. the > roofline! > >> On Sun, 4 Nov 2018 at 07:26, Scott McGrath wrote: >> >> For timing use ideally it should be above the roofline by at least several >> feet otherwise satellites close to the horizon will be not be visible. >> >> The generally preferred antenna is the Agilent/Keysight/Symmetricom. >> 58504A antenna also any outdoor antenna made by Trimble or TrueTime as long >> as antenna does not use a downconverter. >> >> >> >> On Nov 3, 2018, at 5:26 PM, Toby Riddell wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> >> I want to fit a GPS antenna on our house (the attic is being renovated and >> it just occurred to me that if I move fast I can get it done before the >> walls are closed up again!) >> >> I was planning on having it mounted on a south-facing wall but below the >> roofline - does this sound okay for picking up satellites? It can poke >> above the roofline if needed as long as the mounts are on the wall (not the >> top of the roof). >> >> Is there a recommended antenna? I am planning on feeding it into an Oncore >> GPS module which will then interface to a Soekris net4501 running nanoBSD >> and ntpns. >> >> Thanks! >> >> Toby >> ___ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to >> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com >> and follow the instructions there. >> >> ___ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to >> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com >> and follow the instructions there. >> > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com > and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] hp 10544A and 10811A ovenized oscillators
Hi. I don't have a good answer to why both of your oscillators would have drifted at once after the power cutout. However, I would be very interested in taking a look at the bad 10811A. I have always been fascinated by these and have wanted to take one apart (and try and understand/fix it) for several years but I have never been (un?)lucky enough to get my hands on a broken one. I am happy to pay for shipping if you are interested. Matthew > On Nov 2, 2018, at 11:51 AM, Walter Shawlee 2 wrote: > > anybody want the bad 10811A? ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Troubleshooting an HP 58503A
Fellow time nuts, Thanks to a very helpful (and generous) member of this list I now have a Motorola VP Oncore for my 58503A. Unfortunatly, there appears to be another problem somewhere with my 58503A. With the receiver installed it now appears to pass its self test, at least it behaves as the manual says it should with the power indicator illuminating immediately, followed a few seconds later by the other lights each flashing in turn, and then the power light alone remaining lit. At this point it should (again according to the manual) present an 'scpi>' prompt on the serial port, but it does not. I am sure I have the correct wiring between my computer and the unit because I can measure the RS-232 TX line voltage coming from the 58503A on my PC's RX line. I have tried the default serial port settings (9600 8N1) as well as other baud rates with no success. Figuring that, if it will lock, I really don't care if it talks to my PC I have left it outside connected to an antenna for the last five hours or so, but I still haven't gotten it to lock. Questions: 1) Has anyone else experienced problems with these HP units failing to communicate with the PC? Any solutions? 2) Is there a service manual available anywhere? 3) Does anyone know what the internal LEDs on the back of the board mean? After powering it up and letting it sit for a few minutes the two red ones on the far left (with the front of the receiver facing me) are on along with the green one on the far right. The three red ones in the middle all flash on momentarily every 15 seconds or so, then they go off again. 4)Do you have any other hints? -Matthew ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
