Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi At least in my “unconstrained by reality” state, my thought is that the “sync” PPS signal is there all the time. You are as much doing a phase lock as a sync. The “PLL” only has a phase resolution of 100 ns so once it’s running, not much happens. Yes, this might get you into all sorts of

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

level. And it also takes into account any propagation delays on your board, connector and cables. /tvb - Original Message - From: "John Ackermann N8UR" <j...@febo.com> To: <time-nuts@febo.com> Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2016 4:18 PM Subject: Re: [time-nuts] New Timest

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi Bob -- It's certainly possible to synchronize the TICC timescale epoch to an external pulse at startup. The external sync pulse would have to simultaneously reset (a) the picDIV and (b) the coarse (100us) counter in the Arduino. The signals to do that are available, so it's a worthwhile

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi Ok, so the guess was fairly close :) How about a connector to allow an external PPS to reset the internal 10 MHz divider? That way all the data is “in sync” with the house standard. If I want to know that my GPSDO is +32.751 ns off from the house standard, I just look at the data on a

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Good guess. The 10 MHz reference drives all the logic on the board, and particularly the counter that maintains a local timescale in 100us increments; the TDC7200 interpolates between the 100us ticks to stamp incoming events on channel A and/or B with picosecond precision. The stamps on both

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi Luciano -- Glad to hear that! The capability you asked for already exists (great minds think alike...) In timestamp mode, the TICC will output the stamps for each channel independently, measured against the common 10 MHz reference. So if both channels are active, you'll see a bunch of

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi Without doing a bunch of actual *work* I’m not sure what is inside the guts of the board. Being lazy I’ll just guess …. There appears to be a 10 MHz time base input and a pair of measurement inputs. In a lot us will be comparing to a “house standard”. That standard has a pps output that

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi John, I have planned to buy two TICC. An interesting feature would be to be able to do two simultaneous acquisitions, and Timelab as real time display,using the two indipendent input channels and the 10Mhz clock as single reference. Luciano www.timeok.it From "time-nuts"

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

ot;John Ackermann N8UR"<j...@febo.com> Date: 2016/11/25 22:57:33 To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement"<time-nuts@febo.com>;"David"<mcqu...@sonic.net>; Subject: Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement"<time-nuts@febo.com>;"David"<mcqu...@sonic.net>; Subject: Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC Hi Dave -- I should clarify -- this UI is just a character-based menu

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi Dave -- I should clarify -- this UI is just a character-based menu system using a dumb terminal program. The code is implemented within the Arduino. It's written in the somewhat nonstandard C/C++ used by the Arduino IDE. This morning I'm going to add a "TODO-UI" file to the git

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

John, In what language is the GUI written? I might be able to help on that, or other parts of the software, if someone else hasn't yet volunteered. Dave, WA8YWQ On 2016-11-24 06:43, John Ackermann N8UR wrote: > Hi Anders -- > > Thanks, and thanks for the info on the 53230A. I have not

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

John Whilst its the highest resolution HP/Agilent/Keysight general purpose counter, one of the Acquiris timestamping instruments specifies 5ps noise.Whilst no detailed circuit schematics are publicly available, the datasheet says just enough to allow me to figure  out how they do it.Your

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Thanks, Bruce, I'll update the web page to reference the 53230A as the best resolution device currently available. On 11/24/2016 01:03 PM, Bruce Griffiths wrote: John There is an application note or similar on the 53230A that indicates that the single shot noise for time interval measurement

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

On 11/24/16 6:43 AM, John Ackermann N8UR wrote: Hi Anders -- Thanks, and thanks for the info on the 53230A. I have not used one of those myself but the data sheet lists 20ps single-shot. Also I should note that the TICC does not compete with counters like the 53230A for high speed

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

John There is an application note or similar on the 53230A that indicates that the single shot noise for time interval measurement is typically about 13ps or so. Bruce On Thursday, November 24, 2016 09:43:54 AM John Ackermann N8UR wrote: > Hi Anders -- > > Thanks, and thanks for the info on

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Thanks, Andrew. Yes, it is weird how the Arduino folks choose what capabilities to expose on the board. From some testing I did, it seems that the Arduino handles the 100 kHz interrupt rate without too much strain -- it became a bigger issue at 250 kHz or above -- but the timers would have

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi Anders -- Thanks, and thanks for the info on the 53230A. I have not used one of those myself but the data sheet lists 20ps single-shot. Also I should note that the TICC does not compete with counters like the 53230A for high speed measurement, or frequency counting. It does far fewer

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

1-2ps rms single shot noise timestamping is feasible with embedded (occurs as part of the interpolation process) interpolator calibration. Only calibration of the differential delay between channels is required, as is required by all such instruments. However the cost for such a timestamping

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Nice work! On the website in the introduction you mention 22ps single-shot time-stamping on the 5370A/B. I think it's well established that the 53230A does about 11-12 ps for time-intervals, which corresponds to about 9 ps single-channel. see for example:

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

On Wed, Nov 23, 2016 at 10:48 AM, John Ackermann N8UR wrote: > The TICC is implemented as a two-channel timestamping counter. That means > it can measure one or two low-frequency (e.g., pulse-per-second) inputs > against an external 10 MHz reference, or it can do a traditional

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Fantastic John - well done! Yes, I'll definitely put an order in as soon as possible. Regards, Peter (G8ZZR, London) ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

That TI TDC7200 really is a nice part. Neat project! Will buy . Two thumbs up. On Wed, Nov 23, 2016 at 7:48 AM, John Ackermann N8UR wrote: > Counters with resolution below 1 nanosecond are difficult. They require > either outrageous clock speeds, or interpolators that are

Re: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC

Hi Cool !!! Bob > On Nov 23, 2016, at 10:48 AM, John Ackermann N8UR wrote: > > Counters with resolution below 1 nanosecond are difficult. They require > either outrageous clock speeds, or interpolators that are typically a bunch > of analog components mixed with black magic