Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-24 Thread J. Forster
MW or LW IR cameras are not exactly home shop stuff Peter. -John == I had a HP 3326 which had a power supply in foldback. All the modules are inaccessible unless you have a rather rare set of extenders anyway. The voltmeter method quickly led me to the board and a bench supply

Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-24 Thread J. Forster
Nope. The cap was cool because the thing was shorted and had no voltage across it. Power is V * I. As I said before, either an open or a short circuited component dissipates no power. The defective component is NOT always the hot one. A hot component is only a pointer to the fault, not

Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-23 Thread J. Forster
Not w/ that instrument, but try the following. I assume you have the book w/ schematics. Power the unit and with a DMM or VOM check the PS rails to see which is sick. From the book, locate all bypass caps on that rail. Put your DMM across each in turn. The one with the lowest drop is likely the

Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-23 Thread J. Forster
I should have added that you can get a pretty good idea of whick branch on a PCB is drawing current by probing along the trace. This is especially useful if the rail has a bunch of branch distribution lines. Also, if the three-terminal regulator is overheating, disconnect it and power just that

Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-23 Thread J. Forster
Hi Magnus, I very much doubt you could get anything useful out of a TDR. There is no reason I can think of that a power rail should look anything like a transmission line and the rail should be an AC short every inch or so. FWIW, -John On 03/23/2012 09:30 PM, J. Forster wrote

Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-23 Thread J. Forster
To: time-nuts@febo.com Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair? On 03/23/2012 09:30 PM, J. Forster wrote: I should have added that you can get a pretty good idea of whick branch on a PCB is drawing current by probing along the trace. This is especially useful if the rail has

Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-23 Thread J. Forster
Here is a trick or two that may work: feed a very small AC voltage with say 1KHz and 10mV into the bad power rail. It won't hurt anything. Then use an old cassette players' magnetic pickup and amplifier to follow the signal to the short. No need for expensive hall effect meters. Good

Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-23 Thread J. Forster
The HP 547A Current Tracer is an AC only instrument, as I thought. It uses a coil as a pickup, not a Hall device. See: http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/00547-90006.pdf Page 11 Too bad. :(( -John == In a message dated 3/23/2012 14:13:57 Pacific Daylight Time,

Re: [time-nuts] Anyone familiar with SR-620 repair?

2012-03-23 Thread J. Forster
Most instrument PCBs have scores of bypass caps... all in parallel. -John = Shouldn't be too bad, a 10uF cap would have 15 Ohms impedance at 1KHz, 150 Ohms at 100Hz, and one could inject at different places on the trace... away from the big bypass caps. Doing the same with DC

Re: [time-nuts] HP117A manual

2012-03-23 Thread J. Forster
It's on the Agilent site. Not a great copy, but readable. www.agilent.com -John === Just located an antique HP117A in the basement. Can someone direct me to a free source for the manual? I collect boatanchors and this is sort of one. 73 Bill wa4lav

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN C 89700 dropped carriers at 1615 EST after a solid 3 days

2012-03-22 Thread J. Forster
On the 2100Fs it reacquires and locks, if the power has not been interrupted, but you have to manually set thye Mode to compute the frequency error. Otherwise, it just indicated microseconds. A power failure and you have to reenter tye GRI. -John == My experience is you always

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN C 89700 dropped carriers at 1615 EST after a solid 3 days

2012-03-22 Thread J. Forster
On the 2100Fs it reacquires and locks, if the power has not been interrupted, but you have to manually set thye Mode to compute the frequency error. Otherwise, it just indicated microseconds. A power failure and you have to reenter tye GRI. -John == My experience is you always

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN-C Reception on Cape Cod

2012-03-20 Thread J. Forster
Sometimes, it pays to just sit on your butt. I never took my Austron loop down or the 2100F out of the rack. :))) -John == Hail to the US institutions which first stopped LORAN action long enough so that pricy but apparently useless equipment could enter the shacks of European

[time-nuts] LORAN-C Schedule

2012-03-20 Thread J. Forster
Hi, Is anybody keeping track of when each station is being seen? Some form of schedule w/ time and GRIs would be a real help. Thanks, -John ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN-C Schedule... more

2012-03-20 Thread J. Forster
Perhaps a way to do this is by an attached Excel spreadsheet that can be passed around and augmented as it goes. FWIW, -John Hi, Is anybody keeping track of when each station is being seen? Some form of schedule w/ time and GRIs would be a real help. Thanks, -John

Re: [time-nuts] Chinese credit card fraud

2012-03-17 Thread J. Forster
Some years ago, I bought some original IBM memory for a Thinkpad laptop. The stuff physically fit, but shorted out when installed, because the package profile was different. I complained to eBay and spent a bunch of money on Express Mail, etc. I got NOTHING. Conclusion: eBay protections are

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-15 Thread J. Forster
Suppose the modulation is not present. The output of the phase detector that steers the local standard ot indicator works correctly. Now reverse the 60 kHz carrier. The phase detector works exactly thye opposite way... wrong. Now alternate between 0 and 190 degrees. The loop alternate works

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-15 Thread J. Forster
Jim wrote: a square wave, multiplied by itself, has the same output as input. Oh... I was assuming you had the two quadrature square waves (which are just like the saturated LO for the mixer in RF land) You don't have two square waves in quadrature. You have the (amplified) signal from the

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-15 Thread J. Forster
Why make it simple when complicated also works? -John On 3/15/12 7:49 AM, J. Forster wrote: Suppose the modulation is not present. The output of the phase detector that steers the local standard ot indicator works correctly. Now reverse the 60 kHz carrier. The phase detector

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-15 Thread J. Forster
Frankly, my dear, I'd rather be a generalist. -John On 3/15/12 8:10 AM, J. Forster wrote: Why make it simple when complicated also works? -John Can't get your doctorate doing something someone else has already done...grin Enormous literature out there on this, and it's

Re: [time-nuts] NIST's WWVB phase modulation format paper from PTTI 2011

2012-03-14 Thread J. Forster
Has anybody looked at the impact of the periodic phase reversals of BPSK on the loop of phase-tracking receivers, like the Fluke or the HP 117A? NIST does claim backward compatability for time. But what about time interval? I know you can extract the carries from BPSK with a Costas Loop (which

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-14 Thread J. Forster
All very nice, but if this change renders all existing receivers useless. How does that improve things? All it does is wipe out all the existing phase tracking infrastructure. The only benefit is to the government who can reuse the WWVB transmitter and frequency allocation. Everybody else will

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-14 Thread J. Forster
Fun, Brooke Clarke http://www.PRC68.com http://www.end2partygovernment.com/Brooke4Congress.html J. Forster wrote: All very nice, but if this change renders all existing receivers useless. How does that improve things? All it does is wipe out all the existing phase tracking infrastructure

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-14 Thread J. Forster
http://www.PRC68.com http://www.end2partygovernment.com/Brooke4Congress.html J. Forster wrote: All very nice, but if this change renders all existing receivers useless. How does that improve things? All it does is wipe out all the existing phase tracking infrastructure

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-14 Thread J. Forster
what ever the delay at 60KC thats a long delay. ;-) The delay (phase shift) is not needed. Best, -John = Regards Paul On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 10:12 PM, David I. Emery d...@dieconsulting.comwrote: On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 05:13:47PM -0700, J. Forster wrote: Now it looks like

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB BPSK Receiver Project?

2012-03-14 Thread J. Forster
On 3/14/12 8:07 PM, J. Forster wrote: John Like your thought. I seem to remember costas loops work like that to recover the carrier. Paul, It recovers a bipolar signal to steer the local VCO as well as the data.. It also needs a quadratue hybrid at the VCO frequency (although it might

[time-nuts] Solar Storm Effects?

2012-03-08 Thread J. Forster
The media is reporting a large solar storm and saying it will upset GPS among other things. Has anybody see any effects? -John === ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to

Re: [time-nuts] WWVB and solar flare

2012-03-08 Thread J. Forster
In Boston, WWVB is often very noisy. When I compared the received signal to a local standard, some days it'd be rock solid. Other days it's a dog's breakfast. In fact, it would change dramatically around a weather front passage too. I'd think so. -John = My Spectracom 8170

Re: [time-nuts] Austron 2100 Manual Available

2012-03-07 Thread J. Forster
Which manual? 2100F? -John Following recent discussions on the partial resurgence, for now anyway, of Loran-C in the US I have uploaded the Austron 2100 Loran-C Timing receiver manual to Rapidshare, with many thanks to Dan Rae who provided the printed original. As with my

Re: [time-nuts] MicroLogic ML200 Loran-C

2012-03-07 Thread J. Forster
Last seen, the 4004 chips were much in demand (perhaps by gamers) -John In message cal8xpmoo_arncqvmt65xko5ai7xz2xd1bdxfxm1dnzuruqr...@mail.gmail.com , Azelio Boriani writes: Found very little googling for this ML200, found only a line in the 1977 Radionavigation Journal...

Re: [time-nuts] Loran in the US

2012-03-05 Thread J. Forster
A light footprint LORAN is what I've been suggesting for several days. As to putting it into private hands, there is a potential for massive finmancial fraud in market arbitrage. It was only a couple of weeks ago that this made headlines with GPS timing. -John = In message

Re: [time-nuts] Loran in the US

2012-03-05 Thread J. Forster
footprint system, why fire up the old heavy footprint gear at all? Bob -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of J. Forster Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 10:40 AM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement

Re: [time-nuts] Loran in the US

2012-03-05 Thread J. Forster
Already been done, and patented, without adding pulses to existing AM stations. -John == The best and by far lowest cost solution is to pay TV stations and maybe AM broadcast stations to add a timing pulse a few times per second. No transmitters to build. The receivers would

Re: [time-nuts] Loran in the US

2012-03-05 Thread J. Forster
5. Counselman Charles C III, Hall Timothy D: Instantaneous radiopositioning using signals of opportunity. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jul, 25 2002: WO 2002/057806 -John == On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 10:09 AM, J. Forster j...@quikus.com wrote: Already been done

Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver

2012-03-04 Thread J. Forster
Just driving the displar is probably very easy. Given the era, it probably takes no more than a parallel output port and a strobe to latch the data. The nixies may have BCD decoders, but that's about it. The 'scope may be analog from the receiver or have a couple of parallel D/A's and a latch and

Re: [time-nuts] Austron 2000C Loran C Receiver

2012-03-04 Thread J. Forster
Are they useless because of the 4 digit GRIs? If so, how about introducing a synthesizer into the 10 MHz ref input to jigger the 10.000 MHz to something close such that the receiver will think that 96,460 is actually 96,400 or 96,500. The master oscillator driving the synth will still be

Re: [time-nuts] Austron 2000C Loran C Receiver

2012-03-04 Thread J. Forster
-03-04 18:43, J. Forster escreveu: Are they useless because of the 4 digit GRIs? If so, how about introducing a synthesizer into the 10 MHz ref input to jigger the 10.000 MHz to something close such that the receiver will think that 96,460 is actually 96,400 or 96,500. The master oscillator

Re: [time-nuts] Loran in the US

2012-03-04 Thread J. Forster
With today's electronics and 'puters, a new system could be designed to operate essentially without local staffing, IMO. The biggest problem would be getting antennas with reasonable radiation efficiency at 100 kHz, without using 1000' plus towers. One option might be more, smaller, cheaper

Re: [time-nuts] Austron 2000C Loran C Receiver

2012-03-04 Thread J. Forster
Neither does the 2100F, although it does put out an RS-232 message 1/second as I remember. -John = Sorry: the 2000C doesn't directly displays TOD. What I wish I had was an UTC seconds tick for epoch time determination. Kind regards, Antonio CT1TE Em 2012-03-04 21:08, J

Re: [time-nuts] Loran in the US

2012-03-04 Thread J. Forster
Look at it from a politician's point of view: Would you really want to admit that your government screwed up and destroyed a working, but old, system, and now you find you need it as a backup to GPS? Or, would you rather build a shiney, new, state of the art system, which just happend to be

Re: [time-nuts] Questions about Austron 5000 Loran C receiver

2012-03-03 Thread J. Forster
Does anybody have any info on the 2100C receiver. I have one that somebody gave away, mistaking the listing for a 2100F. Thanks, -John = Hi Page 18 here : http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA337399 Gives a pretty good idea of what a 5000 is. Simple answer- it's a

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN C GRIs heard and not. Other info

2012-03-02 Thread J. Forster
I wonder if what they are testing now uses smaller antennas and/or lower power? I could easily see that being viable in light of progress in receiver technology. -John === Well at 1500 the 89700 went back off the air. So I have to suggest keeping your Tbolts and HP 3801s. ;-)

Re: [time-nuts] LORAN C GRIs heard and not. Other info

2012-03-02 Thread J. Forster
Paul. On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 3:28 PM, J. Forster j...@quikus.com wrote: I wonder if what they are testing now uses smaller antennas and/or lower power? I could easily see that being viable in light of progress in receiver technology. -John === Well at 1500 the 89700

Re: [time-nuts] Loran transmitters back on the air.

2012-03-01 Thread J. Forster
Terrific news! -John Well darn Though I can hear them on the longwire with a hp3586. It appears the loran c preamp may have bit the dust. I checked the austrons with the simulator and they are doing fine. Will have to look at the preamp this weekend. Easily fixable generally

Re: [time-nuts] Loran transmitters back on the air.

2012-03-01 Thread J. Forster
I about agree. It consistently nailed my position w/in about 100 feet on a LORAN Chart using an early uP (8085) based receiver (Appelco). The antenna was a Radio Shack whip with a preamp at its base. With an Austron 2100F against a Rb and Oscilloquartz or HP 117A things were reliably in few in

Re: [time-nuts] ebay warning

2012-02-26 Thread J. Forster
Put the URL into Google Translate. -John == I suspect a lot of the ebay sellers are buying stuff from Taobao and just reselling it. For example, this appears to be the original source of the FE-5680As which were supplied with the OCXO and socket (although he seems to have run

[time-nuts] FS: NI PCMCIA-GPIB Cable

2012-02-24 Thread J. Forster
Hi All, I have one cable for sale. It's the cable for the newer PCMCIA GPIB Card, Part Number: 186736C-01 The actual cable is: 2 Meter Cable, Part Number: 186557A-02 . It has the usual male/female connector on one end, and the funky NI connector on the other. I bought this NOS, but never used

[time-nuts] FS: NI PCMCIA-GPIB Cable... SOLD

2012-02-24 Thread J. Forster
Thanks everybody. The cable is spoken for. Best, -John = Hi All, I have one cable for sale. It's the cable for the newer PCMCIA GPIB Card, Part Number: 186736C-01 The actual cable is: 2 Meter Cable, Part Number: 186557A-02 . It has the usual male/female connector on one end,

Re: [time-nuts] ebay warning

2012-02-21 Thread J. Forster
Progressive government has distorted equal opportunity to mean equal outcome. This is the creed of the 99ers and a recipie for societal suicide. The correlary is: From each, according to his ability, To each, according to his need. -Karl Marx YMMV, -John === ...while the gifted

Re: [time-nuts] Tek to HP conversion... Was: Re: Fwd: FE-5680A Contact FEI

2012-02-17 Thread J. Forster
Tek went into the toilet when Danaher bought them out. I bought a TDS1002 and could not even get the PC software to download screen images, even after registering. However, registration sure did get me onto their spam list. It took at least a hald-dozed tries to get their spam to stop. I have

Re: [time-nuts] Tek to HP conversion... Was: Re: Fwd: FE-5680A Contact FEI

2012-02-17 Thread J. Forster
Perhaps LeCroy has changed it's spots from the NIM and CAMAC days, but any documentation, like service manuals, was completely unavailable. I tried several times. I am not about to buy anything where at least a schematic is not available. I have never sent an instrument in for factory service,

Re: [time-nuts] nanoseconds in the news

2012-02-16 Thread J. Forster
Frankly, I think the rapidity of the financial system is not a good thing. It encourages the kind of speculation on Wall Street that more properly belongs in Las Vegas. It has bred the demands for ever increasing quarter-over-quarter results that result in cooking of the books and so on that

Re: [time-nuts] Removing thermal tape residue?

2012-02-11 Thread J. Forster
And how do you remove the silicone oil? Ever heard the one about the hotel guest who complains about the mouse in his room? -John === On 02/11/12 04:52 PM, John Ackermann N8UR wrote: Is there a recommended way to remove the residue of what I presume was thermal tape on the

Re: [time-nuts] Norman Ramsey

2012-02-08 Thread J. Forster
Three of the GREAT MEN of atomic physics have died pretty recently, R.V. Pound, Ed Purcell, and Norman Ramsey. They were call at Harvard. -John = Just a month ago I found out that Norman Ramsey had died. I met and talked with him about 20 some odd years ago before he recieved

Re: [time-nuts] (OT) linkedin spam

2012-02-03 Thread J. Forster
In theory only. I have been on both FaceBook and LinkedIn Do Not Contact lists, and I got another spam within the last two days. -John == Just a FYI, you can request Linkedin to get on a do not contact list. This way every time someone gets their address book harvested, you

Re: [time-nuts] telling time without a clock

2012-01-26 Thread J. Forster
It's old, but how about the SAO Atlas catalog. It goes to something like 7th Mag, so there are lots to pick from. -John == On 1/26/12 2:55 PM, Jim Palfreyman wrote: As a reasonably experienced occultation observer (and the very reason I got into being a time-nut - so I could time

Re: [time-nuts] establishing your position w/o gps

2012-01-25 Thread J. Forster
be useless on a ship. cheers, Neville Michie On 25/01/2012, at 12:52 PM, Jim Lux wrote: On 1/24/12 3:19 PM, J. Forster wrote: Is the USNO almana/ephemeris still published in hard copy every year? That had moon timing, etc. You can download pieces from the Astronomical Applications

Re: [time-nuts] Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

2012-01-25 Thread J. Forster
This is intolerable data mining by LinkedIn. FaceBook does the same thing. It is spread either by malware or purposeful deception by those companies. -John === LinkedIn I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. - Scott Scott Dennis Owner

Re: [time-nuts] Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

2012-01-25 Thread J. Forster
. apparently it's really easy to do stuff like this on social networking sites. I avoid all of them like the plague so this hasn't happened to me yet. -Eric On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 2:02 PM, J. Forster j...@quikus.com wrote: This is intolerable data mining by LinkedIn. FaceBook does the same

Re: [time-nuts] establishing your position w/o gps

2012-01-25 Thread J. Forster
Ordinary? You mean something like a Wild T-2 or Kern DKM-2. Even then getting close to 1 arc-second requires a lot of care. A wild T1 reads directly to 6 seconds, but with repetition will get 1 second. Unlike digital instruments you need a little bit of skill and persistence to get the best

Re: [time-nuts] Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

2012-01-25 Thread J. Forster
If enough spam complaints are sent to SpamCop, they might get put on the spam blacklist and their emails will get trapped in the spam filters. You can be sure that this spam will be repeated about every two weeks. -John = It seems you can only block individual requests. Thus each

[time-nuts] Shipping Cost Correction for Spectrometers

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
Hi, I heard from Roland that the specs are costing more to ship than expected. He has had to raise his price a bit to: 1 Spec $115 2 Specs $220 Again, please contact Roland off-list at: roland.guil...@yahoo.com -John === ___

[time-nuts] [Fwd: RE: [Microscope] Re: HR2000 Retuning]

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
...@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of J. Forster Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 5:34 PM To: n...@verizon.net; Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Cc: microsc...@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Microscope] Re: [time-nuts] HR2000 Retuning That about covers it. One note, this preoceedure will move

Re: [time-nuts] Looking for Harris/Qbit amplifers

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
If you are looking for RF hardware, you might join the TestEquipTrader Yahoo Group and post your request there. -John = Several years ago eBay offered some nice amplifier blocks that went up to 500 MHz with about 10dB gain and 25dBm maximum output. The part number on the

Re: [time-nuts] establishing your position w/o gps

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
[snip] Then you measure distance by tossing a big chunk of lumber overboard with a measured rope tied to it. The captains hated doing math by hand so they calibrated the rope by tieing knots at intervals so the natural unit was one arc minute at the equator and called it a knot. Nope. A

Re: [time-nuts] establishing your position w/o gps

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
Then, as now, a knot is a unit of speed, not distance! If you counted 7 knots in a standard song, it was still speed. -John == On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 10:31 AM, J. Forster j...@quikus.com wrote: Nope. A knot is a unit of velocity, not didtance.  A knot is 1 nautical mile per

Re: [time-nuts] US Army Frequency Standard

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
Google: FMQ-1 Test Set The -24P Parts Manual w/ exploded parts ID is in many places and has a drawing of the front panel. It has no schematics. The full manual will be -15 to -45 Depot Maintenance Manual, per standard Army nomenclature. The last digit will be 5, without a following P. -John

Re: [time-nuts] US Army Frequency Standard

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
they should do it correctly, or not at all. YMMV, -John = On 01/24/2012 11:59 PM, J. Forster wrote: Google: FMQ-1 Test Set The -24P Parts Manual w/ exploded parts ID is in many places and has a drawing of the front panel. It has no schematics. The full manual will be -15

Re: [time-nuts] US Army Frequency Standard

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
American Time Products still exists: http://www.powercontroldevices.com/about-us/ ATP has also been closely connected to Buliva, makers of the Accutron. -John Amazing, the things that can be picked out of the noise. I have one of these frequency standards, but it

Re: [time-nuts] US Army Frequency Standard

2012-01-24 Thread J. Forster
Self generating, therefore selenium (or possibly silicon). There is no bias so it's not a photoconductor. I'm sure it's called out in the -24P manual. -John === Thank you everyone for your comments, and if I've got it right Brooke, if you paste this into your browser:

[time-nuts] HR2000 Retuning

2012-01-23 Thread J. Forster
I've been bombarded with emails about retuning the spectrometers. I'll get the info and repost it in the near future, unless Peter would prefer to put it up himself. Best, -John == ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To

Re: [time-nuts] Determination of the placement of the first pps

2012-01-23 Thread J. Forster
The fundamental problem is our system of units is not defined rationally. What is universal about a meter or a second or a kilogram? Nothing! If you were suddenly transported elsewhere in the universe bareassed, could you replicate the standards we use? If you lived on another planet, perhaps

Re: [time-nuts] Determination of the placement of the first pps

2012-01-23 Thread J. Forster
Yes. The 1421 MHz is about the closest, practical, universal standard available to us at the moment. But is not absolute. What if you were in a different gravitational field? (The Pound gravitational red-shift experiment) -John = On 1/23/12 9:45 AM, J. Forster wrote

Re: [time-nuts] finding time astronomically.

2012-01-23 Thread J. Forster
The atmospheric issue is more differential refraction, than refraction per say. A zenith pointing camera is likely the best choice. The zenith is the direction of the least atmospheric depth also. -John === I can think of two general scenarios here. If you planet has air you will

Re: [time-nuts] HR2000 Retuning

2012-01-23 Thread J. Forster
have just one, and it's crappy but works, and I'll just stop right there while I can still afford rent. On 1/23/2012 10:32 AM, J. Forster wrote: I've been bombarded with emails about retuning the spectrometers. I'll get the info and repost it in the near future, unless Peter would prefer

Re: [time-nuts] finding time astronomically , Part 2

2012-01-23 Thread J. Forster
You might be able to track the reddish stars both night and day. If you put a dark red filter in front of the sensor, it will get rid of much of the sky. The sky and stars are very different optically, the former is an area source the latter a point source. The energy from the sky varies directly

Re: [time-nuts] finding time astronomically.

2012-01-23 Thread J. Forster
I think you'd want a slit, not a pin hole. The pin hole would be better but it would only work one day a year. Actually two days per year, unless it was adjusted for the summer or winter solstice, then it'd be one. -John === ___

Re: [time-nuts] finding time astronomically.

2012-01-23 Thread J. Forster
that want to be buried in a passage grave? Bill Hawkins -Original Message- From: Chris Albertson Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 8:40 PM On Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 6:07 PM, J. Forster j...@quikus.com wrote: I think you'd want a slit, not a pin hole.  The pin hole would be better

[time-nuts] Ocean Optics HR2000 USB Spectrometers

2012-01-22 Thread J. Forster
Hi, In response to several off-list queries, I contacted Roland Guilmet to see if he still had any available. In another development, a Group member has been able to change the wavelength limits of the scan, without opening the unit, so two can be paralleled to cover the visible spectrum.

[time-nuts] Ocean Optics HR2000 USB Spectrometers... Correction

2012-01-22 Thread J. Forster
I made a typo. the correct email for Roland is: roland.guil...@yahoo.com Hi, In response to several off-list queries, I contacted Roland Guilmet to see if he still had any available. In another development, a Group member has been able to change the wavelength limits of the scan, without

Re: [time-nuts] Labeling project boxes/panels

2012-01-21 Thread J. Forster
There are a couple of products you should look at: 3M made something called ScotchCal. I think the line has been sold, but is still available. Also, the MetalPhoto process can be done in a home lab. I also think Staples can do it fairly cheaply from your 'puter files. -John ===

Re: [time-nuts] T'bolt antenna lead-in running near HF RF transmitting coax

2012-01-20 Thread J. Forster
Jim, A few of the correct ferrite Common Mode Chokes on the lines would not hurt. Also, use good quality coax, preferably with both a copper braid and conductive foil to get near 100% shielding efficiency. Hardline is probably better. I'll ask about the best Common Mode Choke location. My hunch

Re: [time-nuts] T'bolt antenna lead-in running near HF RF transmitting coax

2012-01-20 Thread J. Forster
I thought of that, but I know where Jim lives and copper pipes stiking through a wall would gather condensation and ice on the inside because it'd conduct the sub-freezing temps inside and maske a real mess. The situation would be reversed in summer. He could use PVC pipe wrapped with a layer of

Re: [time-nuts] Toys for time-nuts in old-folks home

2012-01-20 Thread J. Forster
Having faced that problem due to a medical screwup, I've since acquired a number of Tektronix TM500 mainframes and modules. While it is not the very latest stuff, it is very compact, capable, repairable, and mostly inexpensive. -John == There are many ham radio clubs in the

Re: [time-nuts] FE5680a arrived in boston $38 shipping included

2012-01-13 Thread J. Forster
Can you post or send me a pic of the Teddy Bear? -John == Well mine arrived Monday so about 3 weeks. Its the one without the useless to me oscillator. But I found it quite funny. It came bubble wrapped, cheap shipper mail as expected and commented in the list. But I have

Re: [time-nuts] OT: Need datasheets on photomultiplier tubes

2012-01-12 Thread J. Forster
Sounds like they are set up for pulse counting, witrh the last few dynodes bypasses by caps. -John == Thanks for all the help guys. I have enough info now to utilize any of these PMTs. The /SQ and /SN1 suffixes apparently are custom connection versions of the basic parts.

Re: [time-nuts] GPS interference and history...

2012-01-12 Thread J. Forster
Was this message relayed through a probe out about 3 light-months? -John On 6/9/11 1:06 PM, J. Forster wrote: Ha! Nuclear power in space is poltically utterly impossible in the US. There is huge opposition to RTGs, never mind even the thought of reactors. Hmm.. when I

Re: [time-nuts] OT: Need datasheets on photomultiplier tubes

2012-01-10 Thread J. Forster
First off, try contacting the company. They are certainly still in the PMT business. Try www.photonis.com or Google: photonis -ebay It might be a selected version of a standard PMT. Their product line looks kinda like Burle, BTW. Definitely not Hammamatsu. -John I just

Re: [time-nuts] Parking Time - was US New Year countdown - accurate?

2012-01-02 Thread J. Forster
It's a sneaky way of raising taxes without seeming to raise taxes. How much money is similarily wasted on prepaid credit or gift cards? You either buy something more expensive and use the card for only part of the bill, or just throw away the remaining money. Either way, it's a scam. -John

Re: [time-nuts] Parking Time - was US New Year countdown - accurate?

2012-01-02 Thread J. Forster
How do you propose to prove that in a court of law? Seize the cop's watch as evidence? Somehow I don't think that's very likely. You might be able to prove a parking meter is running fast (giving 50 minutes for an hour's pay) but a time of day? Unlikely, IMO. -John === Le 02/01/2012

Re: [time-nuts] US New Year countdown - accurate?

2012-01-01 Thread J. Forster
To me the ball drop/fireworks was different from the on-screen time on FOX by a few secnds. -John =h Hi folks, Ignoring the travesty of a lyric change on John Lennon's classic song, did anyone check to see if the clock countdown in Times Square was actually accurate? In times

Re: [time-nuts] US New Year countdown - accurate?

2012-01-01 Thread J. Forster
I go the other way. Except for eBay, knowing the time w/in 15 minutes or so suits me just fine. I neither wear a watch, nor carry a cell phone any more. -John You expect *anything* to be accurate on Fox? :-D I recently read an article about how the new thing is to have ever

Re: [time-nuts] US New Year countdown - accurate?

2012-01-01 Thread J. Forster
On Sun, Jan 01, 2012 at 05:54:46PM -0800, J. Forster wrote: To me the ball drop/fireworks was different from the on-screen time on FOX by a few secnds. I was watching the media pool HD satellite feed on AMC-1 and through a broadcast grade IRD (ex PBS Bitlink ) it appeared to be about 2

Re: [time-nuts] US New Year countdown - accurate?

2012-01-01 Thread J. Forster
Could well be. The ball-drop guys could have been off too. I've no idea who or why any were off. And it really doesn't matter much. In all probability, nobody other than a real time nut cares anyway. -John On Sun, Jan 01, 2012 at 09:14:03PM -0800, J. Forster wrote: I

Re: [time-nuts] Speaking of shipments from China

2011-12-31 Thread J. Forster
But Chinese postmen (postwomen) get paid a lot less than USPS employees. -John But if you send something to China, who do you think pays for the delivery there? - Original Message - From: Richard W. Solomon w1...@earthlink.net To: Discussion of precise time and

Re: [time-nuts] Speaking of shipments from China

2011-12-30 Thread J. Forster
I hope Customs is more worried about containers full of counterfeit and pirated stuff, than a single electronc toy. -John = Was it really a gift ?? The U. S. Customs folks take a dim view on folks lying on a Customs Declaration. But, being realistic, it's so rampant that only

Re: [time-nuts] EMCO or KDI brand MLP-102 mixer data needed

2011-12-27 Thread J. Forster
This might be useful: http://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedia/wherenow.cfm Try calling the current owner of Engelman Microwave. -John === I have a number of RF mixer modules mounted in junk microwave IF converter blocks. They are labeled MLP-102 in either KDI or EMCO brands,

Re: [time-nuts] metric / English

2011-12-17 Thread J. Forster
I suspect turret lathes are still used for shortish runs of some of the simpler parts, like bushings and similar parts. Not every shop looks like a NASA facility. -John == On Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 4:48 AM, Chuck Harris cfhar...@erols.com wrote: Which works very well, but unlike

[time-nuts] Javad Ashaee

2011-12-16 Thread J. Forster
See attached .pdf on Iranian engineers. -John Javad Ashjaee.pdf Description: Adobe PDF document ___ 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

Re: [time-nuts] metric / English

2011-12-16 Thread J. Forster
You use the change gears in a ratio of 127:50 (254:100) -John == Hi Don: Sure converting lengths is easy and I have metric, English and weird taps and dies, but how do you turn metric threads? Have Fun, Brooke Clarke http://www.PRC68.com

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