Hi Dave, On 12/15/2010 08:55 PM, Dave M wrote:
I'm a retired electronics tech and computer programmer. I have a pretty decently equipped shop for almost all of my projects and experiments. However, my time and frequency equipment is a bit long in the tooth. I have a couple old HP 5328A counters (commercial version; not the military version), one with a 10544, the other with a 10811 oscillator. I have an HP Z3801A that has been operating well for several years, and recently acquired a TBolt to keep the counters in tune. I also have a good distribution amp and couple of old Montronics (Fluke) frequency comparators. What I'm looking for now, is a recommendation for a good low-cost (<$400) counter that will get me on the way to performing some of the "down in the grass" noise, jitter and deviation tests that the more learned members of the group discuss. I know that new equipment is far out of my budget, but I'm also aware that some of the older, now obsolete (also cheaper) equipment is quite capable of doing what I want to do. I prefer HP equipment since manuals are much easier to find than most other brands. I'd also like recommendation for a good low-cost GPIB controller that allows me to write software to control some of my instruments. I have experience writing software in BASIC on a Fluke 1722A controller. I've seen these controllers on the Bay and other online vendors, but I've not located the BASIC discs for them. Any advice? I realize that a counter is not the only piece that I need, but it's first on my list. Other, more applicable equipment is on my want list, but will have to wait for a bit.
A HP5370A/B and a Prologix USB-GPIB interface seems like a popular solution, and it should fit inside your budget more or less. There is already software available (from John Miles for instance) that works with that solution, but it should also allow yourself some programming exercises.
This will certainly get you started. There are several decades to go down into the noise for the really good sources and reducing measurement noise. It will be a fairly good solution for many decent sources.
Grab a copy of the NIST SP 1065 and ponder over it. Cheers, Magnus _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
