[time-nuts] Airraft Ping Timing

2014-03-24 Thread Peter Gottlieb
This is how ELT locating satellites work (when not relaying the newer GPS data bursts). Several on another list I watch suggested this pretty early on and I guess INMARSAT got the message. I'd be curious to know if AFRCC pointed INMARSAT in that direction. Really shows the value of precise

Re: [time-nuts] Man killed in quartz crystal accident

2013-11-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
So far as I know the government doesn't insure them. Three Mile Island was a huge financial loss for the company that owned it, not just the billion dollars for the plant but the loss of revenue and the cleanup. So there is a tremendous financial incentive to not have a large failure. That

Re: [time-nuts] Man killed in quartz crystal accident

2013-11-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
It was as if a seed crystal was placed in an environment conducive to that crystal growing. In this case there has been a good deal of contamination particles embedded in the growth. On 11/26/2013 9:47 AM, Brian Lloyd wrote: On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 8:42 AM, Bob Stewart b...@evoria.net

Re: [time-nuts] Man killed in quartz crystal accident

2013-11-25 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I oncecancelled my purchase of a home when I found a sign nearby indicating an underground high pressure gas transmission line. These days they're probably removing the signs. Let's hope the government doesn't decide that precise timekeeping is of strategic value and not permitted amongst

Re: [time-nuts] Man killed in quartz crystal accident

2013-11-24 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Maybe the penalty for not following engineering guidelines resulting in injury or death is to require the offending company to relocate their plants to more remote locations. On 11/24/2013 8:40 PM, Sanjeev Gupta wrote: On Mon, Nov 25, 2013 at 9:10 AM, Bill Dailey docdai...@gmail.com wrote:

Re: [time-nuts] Man killed in quartz crystal accident

2013-11-24 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Nevertheless, 29,000 PSI at 700 F is pretty serious so at the very least they should have exercised due diligence and paid attention to the recommendations of the subject matter experts. They didn't and it bit them pretty seriously. On 11/24/2013 10:45 PM, Bob Camp wrote: Hi They’ve been

Re: [time-nuts] national nc2001 atomic clock on eBay

2013-11-18 Thread Peter Gottlieb
The description made it sound much worse than it was though. I've seen brassboards of ultimately highly successful products which were far worse than that. On 11/18/2013 4:39 AM, Dr. David Kirkby wrote: On 18 November 2013 02:41, Bob Camp li...@rtty.us wrote: I have paid a lot of money over

Re: [time-nuts] Mains frequency

2013-11-18 Thread Peter Gottlieb
The power supply contribution is interesting. This might have been a useful tool when a year ago I was playing with some very large inverters on a microgrid. I had one inverter as master (in UF mode) and two others as grid-connected slaves in PQ mode. The first slave would come online just

Re: [time-nuts] 3GHZ Extender for HP 53131A and 53132A

2013-11-09 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Rick, Can you point us to a method and schematic of a better way to make such a front end for a counter? Peter On 11/9/2013 6:26 AM, gandal...@aol.com wrote: Hi Rick Thanks for the clarification. I'd thought at first you were suggesting these replacements were somehow at fault in

Re: [time-nuts] 3GHZ Extender for HP 53131A and 53132A

2013-11-08 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Wouldn't an attenuator solve that? On 11/8/2013 7:03 PM, Richard Karlquist wrote: On 2013-11-08 15:49, gandal...@aol.com wrote: At 1000 MHz, the highest frequency I can generate right now, I've measured the channel 3 input sensitivity as -50dBm with a sinusoidal signal. Regards Nigel

Re: [time-nuts] 3GHZ Extender for HP 53131A and 53132A

2013-11-08 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Maybe he means fixed vs. automatic gain (or threshold)? Perhaps a worry about picking up higher frequency noise on a lower frequency but larger signal you are looking to measure? Peter On 11/8/2013 8:38 PM, gandal...@aol.com wrote: In a message dated 09/11/2013 01:30:14 GMT Standard Time,

[time-nuts] 3-D GPS antenna?

2013-10-09 Thread Peter Gottlieb
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/519811/a-cure-for-urban-gps-a-3-d-antenna/ ___ 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.

Re: [time-nuts] HP5061B Beam Tubes

2013-09-23 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Link works for me but you must copy the ENTIRE link for it to work. On 9/23/2013 7:32 AM, Bob Camp wrote: http://www.symmetricom.com/media/files/downloads/product-datasheets/shipp ing_instructions.pdf ___ time-nuts mailing list --

Re: [time-nuts] Spectrum Analyzer Suggestions

2013-07-13 Thread Peter Gottlieb
It may be heavy but is a VERY nice analyzer. I have a Tek 495P which is also a very nice analyzer, goes to 1.8 GHz, is smaller and somewhat lighter (portable), and should be findable in nice condition for under $1k. On 7/13/2013 11:09 PM, Perry Sandeen wrote: List, I just purchased a

Re: [time-nuts] How dangerous if Rb lamp broken?

2013-07-09 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Yes but we like coal because if we ignore the dangers and pollution it's co cheeap! I used to play with the old CRT color TVs and would boost the HV up enough to be able to fog film with the X-rays (not well enough to make images though). I do agree with what you say though. On

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN

2013-07-04 Thread Peter Gottlieb
A few weeks ago I listened and there was something VERY weak (under 1 uV) from a 150 foot long wire. I've picked up 10+ mV a couple of months ago. Seems like they're still doing testing. On 7/4/2013 9:08 AM, J. Forster wrote: Has anybody listened for LORAN in the US lately? -John

Re: [time-nuts] GPS antenna splitter

2013-06-29 Thread Peter Gottlieb
They pop up on ebay sometimes. On 6/29/2013 2:35 PM, Graham wrote: I find my self in need of either splitting a current GPS antenna feed or putting up yet another antenna, I would prefer splitting the current feed. There are a few options one of which is a Mini Circuits ZAPD-2DC+

Re: [time-nuts] [OT} audiophile outlets.....

2013-06-18 Thread Peter Gottlieb
but not even. At least, nobody is forcing anybody to buy them... Didier Peter Gottlieb n...@verizon.net wrote: The current distortion from simple transformer-rectifier-capacitor power supplies contains a lot of third harmonic content. In a 3 phase system (as are all distribution systems

Re: [time-nuts] HP and other equipment failure

2013-06-17 Thread Peter Gottlieb
The current distortion from simple transformer-rectifier-capacitor power supplies contains a lot of third harmonic content. In a 3 phase system (as are all distribution systems for commercial and industrial) the third harmonic ADDS in the neutral, or creates circulating currents in a delta

Re: [time-nuts] OT - but of interest?

2013-04-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
An iPhone as a weapon of mass (times velocity squared) destruction. On 4/27/2013 7:03 PM, J. Forster wrote: Putting 100,000 items in space is a non-starter. The existing space trash is already a big concern, and there have been seriuous proposals for missions to clean it up. An iPhone,

Re: [time-nuts] S743 Marketplace Fariness Act... and freq standard box

2013-04-24 Thread Peter Gottlieb
What I read is that it is for merchants who exceed a million dollars a year. So, if it is determined it is each seller that is responsible, it would only apply to those doing greater than a million in sales (not many). If however it is determined that it is ebay who is the merchant, then they

Re: [time-nuts] S743 Marketplace Fariness Act

2013-04-23 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I was involved in a business which was expecting that kind of thing. There are several third party firms already out there standing at the ready with such tax tables by address. It won't be a big deal to implement, should it come to that. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the tax, just

Re: [time-nuts] OT: eBay Contact Congress

2013-04-22 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I'm guessing it's real: http://www.ebaymainstreet.com/news Of course, as always, don't go clicking on random links... On 4/22/2013 12:14 PM, J. Forster wrote: I did trace the headers back via SpamCop before posting. The originating ISP looked sort of eBayish, sort of not eBayish...

Re: [time-nuts] Connectors

2013-04-13 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Think of heat shrink with a layer of hot melt glue on the inside. Such stuff is used in most outdoor and especially underground utility wiring. Shrink the tubing and it melts the glue and the contracting tubing forces the glue into every crevice making a great waterproof splice. On

Re: [time-nuts] OT - DC-10 gyros

2013-03-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Yeah I'd join a gyro-nuts group. I have a shelf full of weird gyros, a stable platform, other gyro stuff. I made a little power supply to make 28 volts 3 phase 400 Hz, found it in an app note, for running a set of three tiny rate gyros I picked up. I'll go dig it out and let you know.

Re: [time-nuts] OT - DC-10 gyros

2013-03-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
The circuit I built used a ULN3751Z (TO-220) amplifier chip and some capacitors to create the phase shifts for making 3 phase. Very simple oscillator circuit. Haven't found the docs yet but found the unit itself. On 3/27/2013 6:59 PM, Bill Ezell wrote: I neglected to mention that. The DC

Re: [time-nuts] OT - DC-10 gyros

2013-03-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I have a little dynamotor somewhere which makes 3 phase 400 Hz. Tiny little thing! Only puts out like 15 VA, and not very noisy either. IIRC is was called an Instrument inverter On 3/27/2013 9:55 PM, Bob Camp wrote: Hi If three phase is actually needed, I'd suggest something like a cheap

Re: [time-nuts] OT - DC-10 gyros

2013-03-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
If you need good 3 phase 400 Hz you can get a VFD which goes up that high and program it to just sit there making 400 Hz. On 3/27/2013 11:16 PM, bownes wrote: On Mar 27, 2013, at 22:54, Jim Lux jim...@earthlink.net wrote: On 3/27/13 3:20 PM, Bob Camp wrote: Of course, for the more

Re: [time-nuts] Linked-in Emails

2013-03-21 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Yes, you have to be very careful, they give you a screen which looks like an email login and you might be tempted to just type your password. On 3/21/2013 4:55 PM, J. Forster wrote: Unless you are very careful, LinkedIn harvests your address book and spams everybody in it to join. IMO, it's

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN C still on the air 24 hours SRS 700 looking good

2013-03-19 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I don't have a Loran receiver but last night in the Boston area I definitely was able to pick up a strong Loran signal. Peter On 3/19/2013 11:33 AM, paul swed wrote: ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN C still on the air 24 hours SRS 700 looking good

2013-03-19 Thread Peter Gottlieb
We should get together, especially since I was laid off a couple of weeks ago (after the place I worked went Ch 11 and was bought by the Chinese) and have some free time. Peter On 3/19/2013 2:03 PM, David I. Emery wrote: On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 01:29:44PM -0400, paul swed wrote: Peter you

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN C still on the air 24 hours SRS 700 looking good

2013-03-19 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Well if it ever stops snowing I plan on hitting the MIT fleas (and NEARfest) again this year! Peter On 3/19/2013 2:45 PM, paul swed wrote: So Boston reclaims the technology capital of the world with all of the time-nuttery folks around here. And to think people believe its silicon valley. I

Re: [time-nuts] GPS Antenna Install

2013-03-16 Thread Peter Gottlieb
With lightning it is the very high current and the fast rise time that gets you. So yes, a tenth of an ohm can develop 1 kV across it with a big direct hit. Having the best surge strip made won't help you if its cord and the output cords are all in a single heap together as they will nicely

Re: [time-nuts] GPS Antenna Install

2013-03-16 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I know more about substation grounding, where exothermic welding is frequently used, although there are some approved mechanical clamps. On 3/16/2013 2:11 PM, Bob Camp wrote: Hi Better check the electrical code in your area. They likely are quite specific about what you can and can't do

Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt antenna

2013-03-10 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Bullet surely will be a better choice... There are lots of GPS antennas on ebay for even less than 30 Dollars. I run four different antennas, which I purchased from ebay and none of them has failed so far. Volker Am 10.03.2013 06:07, schrieb Peter Gottlieb: I'd like to get a better

Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt antenna

2013-03-10 Thread Peter Gottlieb
or 75 ohms - no big deal. Bob On Mar 10, 2013, at 12:04 PM, Peter Gottlieb n...@verizon.net wrote: The seller had a make offer so I tried $20 and it was set to auto accept. I figure for $25 (with shipping) it's worth a shot for a new unit. The Trimble data sheet says it is good for up to 75

Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt antenna

2013-03-10 Thread Peter Gottlieb
... There are lots of GPS antennas on ebay for even less than 30 Dollars. I run four different antennas, which I purchased from ebay and none of them has failed so far. Volker Am 10.03.2013 06:07, schrieb Peter Gottlieb: I'd like to get

[time-nuts] Thunderbolt antenna

2013-03-09 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I'd like to get a better antenna for my Thunderbolt. I see Trimble bullet antennas type 57860-00 on ebay for $30 or so, specs look to be 5 volt 35 dB gain. Would something like this be a good choice? Peter ___ time-nuts mailing list --

Re: [time-nuts] Lady Heather numbers

2013-03-08 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I am not convinced the temperature control in mine is functional. For example, the temperature target seems to not do anything at all. With the box insulated the internal temperature is around 46 C and nothing changes if I set that number to 40 or 50 C, it is still around that 46 plus or minus

Re: [time-nuts] Lady Heather numbers

2013-03-08 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Yeah, that sort of hit me after reading through the code. I enabled the control lines in my serial to IP adapter and will hook up a fan in the box setup and see if I can things to be more stable. On 3/8/2013 6:11 PM, Charles P. Steinmetz wrote: Peter wrote: I am not convinced the

Re: [time-nuts] Lady Heather numbers

2013-03-07 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Achim, Did you change any temperature controller settings from default values? I am seeing about a 10:1 correspondence between ambient changes and internal reported temperature movement. Peter On 3/7/2013 12:32 PM, Achim Vollhardt wrote: Hi Garren, just as an example, what can be done

Re: [time-nuts] webcam app to watch for and time stamp changes

2013-03-03 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Don't get hung up on the display EMI (for it is indeed very very tiny), look for any steady emission. Yes, the amount is small, yes it can be shielded a bit, but yes it is certainly possible to pick up. As I mentioned in my original post, you may very well need to shield out external noise to

Re: [time-nuts] webcam app to watch for and time stamp changes

2013-03-02 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I had one for work a while back and asked the IT security guys about it and was told that the change was on a fixed schedule but of course each fob was a little different due to temperature, over time, etc and that the system automatically learned the fobs and opened or tightened its tolerance

Re: [time-nuts] webcam app to watch for and time stamp changes

2013-03-02 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Perhaps you can detect EMI from the device especially if you put it it a shielded metal box with pickup antenna. You might be able to get the clock right from that. On 3/2/2013 6:50 PM, Jim Lux wrote: On 3/2/13 2:52 PM, Tom Van Baak wrote: Hi Jim, I had a similar challenge a while ago. I

Re: [time-nuts] Lady Heather numbers

2013-03-02 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I finally got the antenna outside, but just onto a deck railing and not yet up high on the roof. Before I do that, does it look like I'm getting decent performance from it? Here is the LH display: Once up on the roof the Westerly exposure will be improved, but North East and South are

Re: [time-nuts] Lady Heather numbers

2013-03-02 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Typical, the image didn't go through. Here is a link to it: http://petergottlieb.com/images/tbolt.gif On 3/2/2013 9:45 PM, Peter Gottlieb wrote: I finally got the antenna outside, but just onto a deck railing and not yet up high on the roof. Before I do that, does it look like I'm getting

Re: [time-nuts] Lady Heather numbers

2013-03-02 Thread Peter Gottlieb
of the crummy sat c/n numbers. What kind of feed line / antenna are you using? Cable TV RG-6 quad shield from your local big box store is a real good choice for the coax. RG-58/59 are not as good at this frequency. Bob On Mar 2, 2013, at 9:52 PM, Peter Gottlieb n...@verizon.net wrote: Typical

Re: [time-nuts] Lady Heather numbers

2013-02-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
How does one set the AMU value with LH? On 2/26/2013 12:05 AM, Chuck Harris wrote: To quote WarrenS: To allow the Tbolt to work with weak signals from any antenna that I've tried, even when indoors, I start by setting the TBolt's AMU level from the default of 4 down to 0. This can be done

Re: [time-nuts] Logging the grid frequency....

2013-02-24 Thread Peter Gottlieb
By their nature, these distributed generation devices operate in current injection mode. That is, they are synchronized to the line and inject enough current at whatever voltage the line is at (subject to IEEE 1547 provisions, e.g., -12% to +10% of nominal) to transfer the power they need to.

Re: [time-nuts] Logging the grid frequency....

2013-02-23 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Some grid connected inverters have a LOT of noise around the zero crossings, so much so that certain digital power meters won't function as they can't get frequency lock. I've seen this on the large Parker units as well as the low bid units out of China. So if you have solar or wind farm

Re: [time-nuts] Logging the grid frequency....

2013-02-22 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I think you have to ask what is the use that is going to be made of that number. Do you want to know how well an old synchronous clock will keep time or do you want to know when there's been an (inductive) phase shift that signifies the loss of a transmission line? Are you interested in how

Re: [time-nuts] Needed: The Real Serial USB Fix

2013-01-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
At work we simply use multi port serial cards (*no* USB intermediary) or Ethernet to serial adapters. Any use of USB for critical test equipment was pretty much banned here years ago. On 1/27/2013 8:47 AM, Stan, W1LE wrote: Hello The Net: Yes, I have had the mouse problem, but the more

Re: [time-nuts] Needed: The Real Serial USB Fix

2013-01-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
as the devices wouldn't show up in Device Manager. Peter On 1/27/2013 1:48 PM, Jim Lux wrote: On 1/27/13 9:30 AM, Peter Gottlieb wrote: At work we simply use multi port serial cards (*no* USB intermediary) or Ethernet to serial adapters. Any use of USB for critical test equipment was pretty much

Re: [time-nuts] Needed: The Real Serial USB Fix

2013-01-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
curve. Peter On 1/27/2013 4:26 PM, Jim Lux wrote: On 1/27/13 11:28 AM, Peter Gottlieb wrote: It came down to startup issues. If every fifth time the system was turned on it wouldn't initialize properly and not see an airflow or whatever sensor, it required the calling of a tech from the test

Re: [time-nuts] MesoAmerican calendars, Solstice, etc.

2012-12-17 Thread Peter Gottlieb
You're missing something important! Due to possible errors in their long term calculations we may have actually missed the end! Passed right by with nobody noticing... Peter On 12/17/2012 2:31 PM, Jim Lux wrote: You knew it would be coming.. A discussion over lunch brought up the

Re: [time-nuts] GPS antenna in attic?

2012-11-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
The antenna I got fron Nichegeek on ebay uses British Pipe Threads! Just can't get anything here that matches it. Perhaps I should just get a unit with regular NPT size threads? Can anyone recommend a specific model which works well with the Thunderbolt and has such a threaded bottom? Peter

Re: [time-nuts] GPS antenna in attic?

2012-11-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
like a winner, thanks! Peter On 11/26/2012 9:19 PM, Mike S wrote: On 11/26/2012 8:51 PM, Peter Gottlieb wrote: The antenna I got fron Nichegeek on ebay uses British Pipe Threads! Just can't get anything here that matches it. Perhaps I should just get a unit with regular NPT size threads? Why

Re: [time-nuts] GPS antenna in attic?

2012-11-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Unfortunately not, it's part of the molded bottom piece of the antenna casing. On 11/26/2012 9:24 PM, Chris Albertson wrote: On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:51 PM, Peter Gottlieb n...@verizon.net mailto:n...@verizon.net wrote: The antenna I got fron Nichegeek on ebay uses British Pipe

Re: [time-nuts] GPS antenna in attic?

2012-11-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
of the antenna casing. On 11/26/2012 9:24 PM, Chris Albertson wrote: On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:51 PM, Peter Gottlieb n...@verizon.net mailto:n...@verizon.net wrote: The antenna I got fron Nichegeek on ebay uses British Pipe Threads! Just can't get anything here that matches it. Perhaps I

[time-nuts] GPS antenna in attic?

2012-11-25 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I'm beginning to set up in my new house and planning where all my various antennas are going to go. Being a wood frame building, I was wondering if it was sufficient to simply mount my Thunderbolt GPS antenna high in the attic. It would be convenient as there is already a high quality CATV

Re: [time-nuts] Warning if buying from directly from Agilent via eBay with Paypal.

2012-11-17 Thread Peter Gottlieb
That works just fine. I have two Paypal accounts, one tied to my regular bank account which I use for purchases, and another tied to a small account at a local bank (where I keep almost nothing) which I use for selling. As soon as money goes into that account I use an ATM to withdraw cash,

Re: [time-nuts] FE-5680A firmware dump

2012-11-08 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I've done lots of disassembly and strongly prefer an interactive disassembler. The reason is that code frequently combines tables and instructions and if you just try to straight disassemble you will get large sections of nonsense which even extend beyond the data due to multiple byte

Re: [time-nuts] Rubidium as radio reference

2012-11-04 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Several of the large carriers have had all manner of issues due to the storm; not only network issues but mail servers as well. Peter On 11/4/2012 11:02 AM, Bill Hawkins wrote: Can anyone explain the five day delay in Mr. Gray's mail? -Original Message- From: John Ackermann N8UR

Re: [time-nuts] Distribution amps and slew rate

2012-11-03 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Of course you can't have a perfect square wave! That would imply zero transition time and since frequency is inverse to time that implies infinitely high frequency bandwidth is required to achieve that perfect square wave. Getting a square wave with a fast enough slew rate between high and

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB New Modulation scheme...

2012-10-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
It would attract a lot of attention from people not finding it at the right place on the dial. On 10/26/2012 10:09 PM, Max Robinson wrote: The frequency of 1190 indicates an AM station. I assume you mean 30 Hz. An error of 30 KHz would attract a lot of attention from Charley. Regards.

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB New Modulation scheme...

2012-10-26 Thread Peter Gottlieb
and it was less than 10Hz out). Orin, KJ7HQ. On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 7:41 PM, Bob Camp li...@rtty.us wrote: Hi Not to mention attention from the guy who *should* be 3 channels over … Bob On Oct 26, 2012, at 10:31 PM, Peter Gottlieb n...@verizon.net wrote: It would attract a lot of attention

Re: [time-nuts] GPS splitter measurements

2012-10-11 Thread Peter Gottlieb
A stupid question, but why would you bother testing an antenna? I would think with antennas so cheap and labor expensive it would be far more efficient to make a single site visit and simply replace the suspect antennas with new ones. Peter On 10/11/2012 7:15 PM, Azelio Boriani wrote: To

Re: [time-nuts] OT question about liquid cooling

2012-10-03 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Perhaps, but unless you plan on just draining the water, you need a liquid to air heat exchanger (LAHE) to cool the water in your loop. Perhaps for a lab it's no big deal, but if you intend to operate where it can get cold (needing glycol) or where there is very limited water supply (remote

Re: [time-nuts] Why the fuss?

2012-09-28 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Unfortunately it's not that easy. Where I lived for a long time I kept trying to nail down various candidates on their positions on such things like ham radio antennas and it was maddeningly frustrating. I was actually asked to run for office at one point, maybe I should of. If nothing else the

Re: [time-nuts] Lady Heather on a Laptop

2012-09-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Most recent bill in MA: Supply is 6.72 cents/kWh and delivery is 6.60 cents/kWn for a total of 13.32 cents/kWh. This is much less than I was paying in NY where it was hovering around 30 cents/kWh (I remember 32 one summer month). Peter On 9/27/2012 6:10 PM, Charles P. Steinmetz wrote:

Re: [time-nuts] BPSK Receiver GPS Antenna siting

2012-09-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Until I move into the house I'm getting I'm in a rental condo where absolutely no antennas are permitted. It's a building and I'm on the 4th floor so have done things like ran a very thin wire out one window to a far one, a wire with a weight nearly to the ground, a rather long wire (#26

Re: [time-nuts] Why the fuss?

2012-09-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Title restrictions, once put into place, can be extremely tricky to remove. On 9/27/2012 7:36 PM, Bob Camp wrote: Hi The gotcha isn't the neighbors (who you can negotiate with) it's what ever entity enforces the title restrictions. With the recent dip in sales, that may be the original

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB Format Ownership

2012-09-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Not quite sure about the analog to health care, but certainly a transmission being public domain doesn't mean much if the only possible way to use it is proprietary. Sounds like something Microsoft would strive for. On 9/27/2012 9:57 PM, WB6BNQ wrote: The transmitted format on WWVB (and

Re: [time-nuts] BPSK Receiver GPS Antenna siting

2012-09-27 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Flagpoles need caps, right? A GPS antenna would be just perfect. And a fiberglass flagpole could hide a significant HF vertical! On 9/27/2012 10:24 PM, Randy D. Hunt wrote: Put up a flagpole. Randy, KI6WAS ___

Re: [time-nuts] Reducing lab noise with LED lighting.

2012-09-16 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I've seen lots of halogen power supplies which use cheap switchers too! On 9/16/2012 8:55 PM, Bob Camp wrote: Hi The thing that makes the CFL's nasty for lab use are the cheap little switchers built into them. Conventional LED lights also have cheap little switchers in them. Doing them with

Re: [time-nuts] Reducing lab noise with LED lighting.

2012-09-16 Thread Peter Gottlieb
12 volt Halogen from a big transformer run from a Variac if you want dimming. As long as the Variac brushes aren't arcing that setup will create zero noise. On 9/16/2012 9:55 PM, Mike S wrote: On 9/16/2012 8:09 PM, Tom Knox wrote: In this green era here in the USA there is a big push

Re: [time-nuts] Fedex Was Be aware of test equipment seller

2012-09-12 Thread Peter Gottlieb
That is such a large barrier to entry for someone like me that I would never be able to move to the UK! Sep 12, 2012 09:20:16 AM, time-nuts@febo.com wrote: On 12 September 2012 03:03, Mark Spencer wrote: Nope.. In my experience importing typical time nuts items into

Re: [time-nuts] Be aware of test equipment seller orzel-enterprises oneBay

2012-09-11 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I've had FedEx destroy packages. One was so bad the driver told me he didn't even want to accept it at loading but thought I should see it before sending it back. The seller told me they gave him a really hard time and wanted to deny any responsibility as he had packaged using a

Re: [time-nuts] Be aware of test equipment seller orzel-enterprises oneBay

2012-09-11 Thread Peter Gottlieb
It all works in UPS's favor. Larger, more robust packaging adds to weight and dimensional charges. The incentives are all there for them to be as rough as they can get away with. Why take extra care and go slower when you just blame the customer, and win by getting more money in

Re: [time-nuts] Fedex Was Be aware of test equipment seller

2012-09-11 Thread Peter Gottlieb
It's so silly. Yesterday I was flying a small plane near the Canadian border and even from a couple thousand feet there is no change visible in the surface of the Earth from one side to another. It is such an artificial distinction, and all of a sudden these people who are

Re: [time-nuts] Be aware of test equipment seller

2012-09-11 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Our experience is that lately their service is turning to crap astonishingly fast. Examples: * An envelope of papers sent morning delivery not showing up. Calling, they say accidentally it was put in for afternoon delivery. But, nobody there in the afternoon and even though the

Re: [time-nuts] Be aware of test equipment seller orzel-enterprises on eBay

2012-09-10 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Don't screw around with the seller. It is his responsibility to get you what was described and in the condition shown. Clearly he failed at this. It is agonizing and annoying to jump through the ebay and paypal hoops but with photos and the copies of emails you have an excellent

Re: [time-nuts] 60 Hz line quirks, anybody recognize this stuff?

2012-09-01 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I concur with John, the grid doesn't do that. To me it looks like line noise and/or a software issue is causing your setup to give false results.I have seen a lot of instrumentation get fooled by line noise, especially around zero crossings. Measuring the power line accurately in the

Re: [time-nuts] HP 3586B Selective Level Meter

2012-07-28 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Fair Radio is perfectly happy to have something sit there for decades figuring they'll get their price eventually. In this case they want $750 for them: https://www.fairradio.com/catalog.php?mode=viewitemitem=2746 I've been there a few times with a wad of cash and couldn't get them to move

Re: [time-nuts] HP 3586 Questions

2012-07-24 Thread Peter Gottlieb
It was reasonably easy to get to the input connector to replace it. I haven't seen the firmware source code but would be interested if it became available to play with. Some HP instruments used proprietary CPUs (or nanoprocessors) which might be tricky to play with due to their instruction set

Re: [time-nuts] HP 3586B Selective Level Meter

2012-07-20 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Hmmm! Subpart H--Rules Applicable to All Broadcast StationsSec. 73.1545 Carrier frequ ency departure tolerances.(a) AM stations. The departure of the carrier frequenc y formonophonic transmissions or center frequency for stereophonictransmissions may not exceed plus-minus 20 Hz from the

Re: [time-nuts] HP 3586B Selective Level Meter

2012-07-19 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I have one of these as well, interesting instrument. I used it with an adapter for a while then one day got tired of that and found a nice BNC from my bin which fit beautifully and got rid of the weird connector. It's much nicer this way. At these frequencies the connector type is based on

Re: [time-nuts] HP 3586B Selective Level Meter

2012-07-19 Thread Peter Gottlieb
If their AGC was better they would also make reasonable high sensitivity receivers. You are right; it is amazing to see how far off some broadcast carriers really are. Peter On 07/19/12, Lester Veenstrales...@veenstras.com wrote: Hi Chuck I have number of these Make

Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt mounting

2012-07-13 Thread Peter Gottlieb
What caused me to pose the original question which started this thread was that I noticed that the correction required very strongly tracked the operation of my HVAC system operation. Since the Thunderbolt is so sensitive to ambient temperature and air movement, I thought that

Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt mounting

2012-07-13 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Oh, I have no vibrations from lorries, I'm all the way across the ocean. ;) My thought was to mount it in a constant temperature enclosure via thermal insulating standoffs. The enclosure could be a PID controlled Peltier CPU cooler run box, something COTS pretty much. Peter On Jul 13, 2012,

Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt mounting

2012-07-13 Thread Peter Gottlieb
temperature. A constant temperature in the 40 to 50C range works just fine. There's nothing inside that's going to take a major reliability hit from that sort of temperature. Bob On Jul 13, 2012, at 10:17 AM, Peter Gottlieb wrote: Oh, I have no vibrations from lorries, I'm all

[time-nuts] Thunderbolt mounting

2012-07-11 Thread Peter Gottlieb
I would like to put my Thunderbolt into a chassis with power supply and would like to have the most favorable thermal environment since the unit is somewhat temperature dependent. I was thinking of mounting the unit in insulating material, but am worried it will get too hot to the point the

Re: [time-nuts] Phase modulation detection/NIST plan

2012-07-08 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Any possibility of using the decoded signal to un-do the modulation and feed the reconstituted signal to the older receiver? On 7/8/2012 12:56 PM, paul wrote: Ei Sorry if I have your name reversed. By taking this approach it eliminates the ability to use wwvb as a frequency reference

Re: [time-nuts] [OT] Paywall Rant (was Re: Spoofing GPS)

2012-06-28 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Very true, and in some cases (Texas case) a judge ruled that an employee that left a firm can never work in that same field again for the rest of their life due to both positive and negative knowledge. On 06/28/12, J. Forsterj...@quikus.com wrote: Essentially today, if you work for

Re: [time-nuts] [OT] Paywall Rant (was Re: Spoofing GPS)

2012-06-28 Thread Peter Gottlieb
are unpredictable, so you might even lose and be destroyed financially. Thus, specific laws codifying such employee's rights are great. Perhaps such anti business laws played a part in the high-tech buildup in CA. Peter On 06/28/12, Jim Luxjim...@earthlink.net wrote: On 6/28/12 6:38 AM, Peter

Re: [time-nuts] !0 MHz standard frequency intruder

2012-06-28 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Just make up a loop and use a compass to get a bearing from a few places. That should place it close enough a local member could do the same by driving around and nail it. I did that to find a CODAR transmitter. On 6/28/2012 9:48 PM, David McGaw wrote: You know, if one could get accurate

Re: [time-nuts] Spoofing GPS

2012-06-25 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Too little, too late. Iran proved they could get through their supposedly encrypted system (yeah, right, encrypted). Civil air patrol uses volunteers to fly border missions for under $100 an hour, which is far cheaper than those drones. But it doesn't make the drone manufacturers any money.

Re: [time-nuts] Humor break

2012-06-11 Thread Peter Gottlieb
Do we have to worry about this in our Rb standards? How could we compensate for the effects? On 06/11/12, Bill Hawkinsb...@iaxs.net wrote: Celia Rivenbark of Wilmington, NC, wrote a piece about an accident on a Florida highway, headline Driving and shaving just don't mix. In

Re: [time-nuts] Humor break

2012-06-11 Thread Peter Gottlieb
As opposed to COS? I think you're going off on a TAN. On 6/11/2012 7:54 PM, d.sei...@comcast.net wrote: Obviously, it's not a REACH to say that SIN was probably involved here... :-) Ok, I'll go away now... -Dave - Original Message - From: Jean-Louis

Re: [time-nuts] GPS and Rubidium frequency standards and noise question (newbie).

2012-06-06 Thread Peter Gottlieb
As for the spectrum analyzer, shipping is the killer. I picked up a nice condition HP 8566B for around $USD 900 but it would blow through your budget real quick to ship there. Keep an eye out on eBay for units listed to end on an odd hour and set snipes. Peter On Jun 6, 2012, at 6:53 PM,

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