Hi

Well here's a few examples:

HP10811 is a single oven. It's spec'd at 4 ppb over -55 to +71C. It's certainly 
a common eBay item. It's also what's in a 3805A. 
http://www.hparchive.com/Manuals/HP-10811AB-Manual.pdf on page 3

The Morion DOCXO's on eBay are available  at 0.2 ppb p-p -20 to +70C. (not 
quite -30 but close) 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Morion-Double-oven-ultra-precision-OCXO-MV89A-/180791401266?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1801db32
   

http://morion.com.ru/catalog_pdf/MV89-OCXO.pdf

there are other examples. 

Bob


On Dec 16, 2012, at 7:37 PM, Said Jackson <[email protected]> wrote:

> Bob,
> 
> We agree that Ocxos get real bad real fast if overheated. Not a problem in 
> the Z3805A box when run on a desk without clogging the vent holes, which is 
> how this thread started (do I need a fan for my Z3805A...)
> 
> Your stability numbers are very optimistic. There are very few single oven 
> Ocxos with 10ppb peak over 100C. Typical numbers are +/-2.5E-08 -see for 
> example the MTI 230 series, or +/-5E-08 for the Morion MV103 series. Is it 
> possible? Yes. Our Mini-JLT single oven has +/-5E-09 from -40C to +85C 
> stability. But that uses an exceptional and quite expensive single oven Ocxo 
> with SC cut crystal.
> 
> How about 0.3ppb over -30C to +70C? That's not standard by any means, very 
> few vendors can do that. Heck even the CSAC doesn't even get close to that 
> (its rated at +/-1ppb over that temp range). The best eurocan Docxo we offer 
> has +/-0.2ppb over that range for a total of 0.4ppb. and it costs a huge 
> amount of $$$. So which parts are you referring to here?
> 
> We have done extensive tests here on exactly this issue: how do real life 
> Ocxos react to varying airflow. Any airflow causes turbulence, so even 
> constant airflow varies in this sense. All I can say is "not well at all". 
> Tom Van Back has done some testing on our FireFly-1A GPSDO some years ago 
> including tests with a fan, he may be willing to share the results of that 
> test. The FF-1A has a spec of +/-25ppb over temp, so it's a "typical" SOCXO 
> in our opinion.
> 
> Lastly, don't forget that it's not just the ocxo that's airflow sensitive, 
> the DAC, filters, amp, and DAC reference all are thermally sensitive and will 
> be affected by airflow as well.
> 
> The answer to this discussion would be easy to get: put a fan inside the 
> Z3805A and check its adev with and without the fan. I am willing to bet a 
> GPSTCXO eval kit that all else being the same the fan version will have 
> higher noise (ADEV an PN). If the 58503A or Z3815A desktop versions needed a 
> fan, I am sure HP would have designed one into it..
> 
> Bye,
> Said
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> On Dec 16, 2012, at 3:38 PM, Bob Camp <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> Hi
>> 
>> Ok where to start.
>> 
>> Some typical numbers:
>> 
>> A DOCXO likely will be specified at around 0.3 ppb peak to peak over -30 to 
>> +70C. That comes out to 0.003 ppb per degree. A single OCOX likely will be 
>> specified at around 10 ppb peak to peak over -30 to +70C. That's 0.1 ppb per 
>> degree. Yes, there are a number of variations, but those numbers are not at 
>> all crazy. eBay will happy cough up a lot of parts with those sort of 
>> numbers on them. 
>> 
>> ---------------------------
>> 
>> Both devices will heat the crystal to a constant temperature when the 
>> ambient (however it's measured) is in the range of -30 to +70C. If it's 
>> below -30, there may not be enough oven power to heat the crystal. More 
>> likely there's not enough power to warm it up in the specified warmup time. 
>> If the ambient is above +70, even by a few degrees, the crystal can 
>> overheat. Exactly what temperature it starts to overheat is a function of 
>> several things, mainly the tolerances on cutting process of the crystal. 
>> When it does overheat, it's likely to move 10 to 20 ppb per degree for that 
>> first degree. That's *way* more than you would ever want to see.
>> 
>> It would be nice if control loops had no noise, and if the crystal heated 
>> and cooled at the same rate. In fact, you have enough heater power to run 
>> things up at a very high rate (you want to warm the thing up very quickly). 
>> The cooling rate at the hot end is "not so fast" (small delta T = low heat 
>> flow) .  A noise spike that gets the crystal too hot, will hang around for a 
>> while. You can have short term stability trouble before the oven is fully 
>> shut off.
>> 
>> Simply put - OCXO's don't play nice beyond their upper ambient spec. 
>> 
>> -------------------------
>> 
>> In most gear, there's a fan, and it runs all the time. It may speed up a bit 
>> when things get real hot, but that's about it. With a fan like that, when 
>> the ambient moves a degree or two, the inside of the box moves a degree or 
>> two. There is no catastrophe when the fan suddenly comes on. If anything 
>> most variable speed fan setups result in the innards of the box seeing less 
>> temperature change rather than more. Thermally, fans are a good idea. 
>> 
>> ------------------------
>> 
>> Now, taking those numbers (and a few assumptions, and the numbers from the 
>> previous post):
>> 
>> Let's say your gizmo does have a case that's 22C above ambient. Let's also 
>> say there is no fan. Let's also assume that there's something else in the 
>> box. It's pretty common for the "stuff" in a box to heat it up by 20C or 
>> more with no fan (The "ambient" inside the box is 20C above the outside 
>> air). If the gizmo is in the box, it's case is now 44C above the outside 
>> air. 
>> 
>> deep breath….
>> 
>> If the outside air is at 30C, your gizmo is at 74C. If it's an OCXO with a 
>> 70C upper end rating, it could be in trouble. The rest of the box is 
>> perfectly happy. It's designed with 70C rated parts and the spec on the box 
>> is 50C max.  
>> 
>> Yes, that's a lot of this and that. Yes there are some assumptions sprinkled 
>> here and there. Without assuming a few things there's not much way to get to 
>> a rational conclusion. Are OCXO's a bit strange thermally - yes of course 
>> they are. An eBay surplus rubidium is even stranger. Power transistors have 
>> issues as well. Stuff that has power associated with it needs some attention 
>> as part of the thermal design….
>> 
>> ---------------------------
>> 
>> Are big / noisy / shaky / power hungry fans a good thing - of course not. 
>> They are simply the most common way to solve thermal problems in equipment. 
>> These days you can get fans that are less big/noisy/shaky than they once 
>> were. It's still better to not use them *if* you have all your thermal ducks 
>> in a row. That means you have the full specification on the OCXO (and likely 
>> a few other things). 
>> 
>> If we're talking about surplus gear or parts - you are not going to have a 
>> lot of information. The only reasonable assumption you can make is that the 
>> eBay OCXO is rated for moving air. Assuming you know the upper ambient of 
>> the OCXO, check it's actual case temperature. Keep it below the specified 
>> max ambient. Ideally, keep it 10 C or more below the rated upper ambient. 
>> The short term stability likely will be better ….
>> 
>> Bob 
>> 
>> 
>> On Dec 16, 2012, at 2:22 PM, Said Jackson <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi Volker,
>>> 
>>> You are correct on that.
>>> 
>>> Bob is right in that thermal sensitivity is measured in a thermal chamber 
>>> with constant airflow at a very constant rate and temperature. While this 
>>> works, it is also somewhat unrealistic because who is going to set up a 
>>> thermal chamber for their ocxo in the field?
>>> 
>>> Because of that many companies put airflow shields on top of the ocxo in 
>>> the test chamber to simulate more real life conditions where massive 
>>> airflow is not happening, and self heating needs to be taken into 
>>> consideration.
>>> 
>>> Moving-air skews the operating power of the ocxo as it removes heat from 
>>> the ocxo. Thus a manufacturer could claim +75C max operating temp inside a 
>>> test chamber, but if you try to operate in still air at 75C in a small 
>>> enclosure your ocxo would overheat quickly due to the internal power 
>>> consumption adding to the ambient temperature. Thus the test chamber 
>>> actually works to "cool" the ocxo by removing excess heat and keeping its 
>>> case at 75C no matter how much power is consumed inside the ocxo.
>>> 
>>> As an example of this consider that a typical DOCXO runs at 55C case temp 
>>> in still air with 22C ambient. Now say that Docxo has 1E-010 per degree C 
>>> thermal sensitivity (not a great docxo.. But thats actually better than the 
>>> spec of the ocxo used on the Mini-T: that one is 10ppb from 0C to 60 C as 
>>> far as I know)
>>> 
>>> What happens when I turn on a strong fan right next to the Docxo? The fan 
>>> will throw ambient air at the same 22C temperature at the unit, and 
>>> immediately start cooling off the 55C case of the ocxo due to the temp 
>>> difference between the ocxo case and ambient air.
>>> 
>>> The result? If the fan can cool off the Docxo to say 30C, we have had a 
>>> massive 25C temperature change shock on the docxo without a single C temp 
>>> change in ambient air!
>>> 
>>> Now 25C * 1E-010/C = 2.5E-09 change in frequency which gives a 2.5ns/s 
>>> drift rate just because the fan switched on!
>>> 
>>> Typical single oven ocxos will have about 1ppb per C sensitivity, so the 
>>> above example would result in 25ns/s drift just because the fan came on. 
>>> Thats really bad for Gpsdo type performance expectations, and will 
>>> certainly ruin your ADEV performance which us time-nuts expect to be around 
>>> 1E-012 not 2E-08 for a good gpsdo :)
>>> 
>>> Hope this shows why a fan on an ocxo is not a good idea.
>>> 
>>> Bye,
>>> Said
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Dec 16, 2012, at 9:47, Volker Esper <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Indeed? I didn't expect that. There are people who say, that the control 
>>>> loop of OCXOs is optimized for still air and no additional cooling at all.
>>>> 
>>>> Said told us, that...
>>>> 
>>>>> ...a fan is about the worst thing you can do for your Z3805 it will
>>>> significantly worsen the stability of the output frequency...
>>>> 
>>>> Since the main task of the OCXO-oven is to stabilize the internal 
>>>> temperature, I can't imagine, that it get's into trouble when not 
>>>> externally cooled!?
>>>> 
>>>> If I'd ventilate the air around the OCXO case the heater had to work more 
>>>> and the power dissipation would be greater.
>>>> 
>>>> Am I wrong with taht?
>>>> 
>>>> Volker
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Am 16.12.2012 15:35, schrieb Bob Camp:
>>>>> Hi
>>>>> 
>>>>> By far the most common way to test and certify OCXO's is in moving air. 
>>>>> It's rare to see one get in trouble from to much ventilation. The more 
>>>>> common problem is thermal runaway due to inadequate ventilation.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Bob
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Dec 16, 2012, at 7:57 AM, Volker Esper<[email protected]>  wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Steward,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> What is the intended and what is the actual supply voltage? Which 
>>>>>> current is the unit consuming?
>>>>>> When we know that, we can compare the power consumption with our units. 
>>>>>> If it is in the same range, it should - with a little luck - be working 
>>>>>> properly.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> My two units are intended to be supplied by 19.5 to 30 V. I use 24 V and 
>>>>>> the Z3805s draw 0.9 A each. If I increase voltage the current decreases 
>>>>>> (typical for the switching supplies inside the Z3805).
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I don't cool the units, they just lie on an old electronics magazine 
>>>>>> (for not to scratch the case of my signal generator, lying below the 
>>>>>> magazine), so they can freely convect their heat.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Volker
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Am 12.12.2012 01:21, schrieb Stewart Cobb:
>>>>>>> This may be a newbie question, but I'm a newbie, so:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Do the HP telecom GPSDOs (Z38xx) require external airflow for cooling?
>>>>>>> They don't have built-in fans, but they sorta look like they depend on a
>>>>>>> rack-level cooling fan, which a telecom rack would almost certainly 
>>>>>>> have.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I ask because I bought a Z3816 awhile back which worked for about a week
>>>>>>> and then failed. I traced the failure to an internal power supply brick,
>>>>>>> which had a big finned heat-sink attached but nevertheless smelled
>>>>>>> overheated and was shorted internally.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I never found a replacement power brick, and I don't have time to mess 
>>>>>>> with
>>>>>>> it right now, so I recently bought a Z3805A. It, too, looks like it's
>>>>>>> working, but it started to feel awfully warm after a few hours, so I
>>>>>>> unplugged it for now.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> It probably wouldn't take much of a fan to bring the internal 
>>>>>>> temperature
>>>>>>> down close to ambient, and the fan could be powered easily enough from 
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> supply rails. But that might create a temperature gradient where the
>>>>>>> designers didn't intend one. Or it might cause problems I don't even 
>>>>>>> know
>>>>>>> about yet.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> At the moment, the Z3805A is in a fan-less 19-inch rack with a bunch of
>>>>>>> other equipment, in a lab environment. Should it have its own fan?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Cheers!
>>>>>>> --Stu
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
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>>>>> 
>>>>> 
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