Hi Bob, 

I jumped into pForth:
p4th D > pr_adc_avg
12A: 11.86
5V: 4.99
12C: 12.14
-12A: -11.28
-12C: -11.31
-12E: -11.17
Oscillator current: 118.91
Antenna current: 17.04

So Power looks pretty average (yay!)

But whats up with current drift = 0.0e+00 / day below?
p4th D > pll_rep
start ptr = 0    stop_ptr = 27
max loop time = 1000
ffom = 0
tfom = 1.0e-06 secs
last efc average = 0.0
current drift = 0.0e+00 / day

I wonder if that is why I have no Pred Unc?


-marki



-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf 
Of Bob Camp
Sent: Wednesday, 29 May 2013 9:03 PM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Z3815A

Hi

Well, probably as good as the manual ... we have the guy who designed it (Rick 
Karlquist) lurking around here somewhere. I don't think I've ever seen a manual.

How long have you had the 3815? If not so long, I'd contact the seller. You 
have indeed convinced me to quickly fire up the next one I have coming in.

Bob


On May 29, 2013, at 2:14 AM, Mark C. Stephens <[email protected]> wrote:

> Wow the 2 black heatsinks on the puck are really hot - too hot to touch.
> I don't think that would be normal deign.
> They are probably the excessive current sink culprits.
> Anyone got a manual for the e1398a OCXO?
> 
> 
> -marki
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] 
> On Behalf Of Mark C. Stephens
> Sent: Wednesday, 29 May 2013 12:36 PM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Z3815A
> 
> I believe these were all rescued from the Tip (Dump, Trash) judging by the 
> water damage and bent cases.
> 
> Mine had been tested in Japan and had approximate co-ordinates in it: 
> https://www.google.com/search?q=34+44'+N+135+21'+E&oq=34+44'+N+135+21'
> +E
> 
> Initially I had a OCXO communication error which I fixed by a 
> :syst:pres (shrug, I thought it was pretty major at the time, I can 
> tell you!)
> 
> At the moment it's in an air scrubbed and temperature controlled room, naked, 
> without its case. 
> Both heatsinks are just slightly warm to the touch.
> However the Puck is fairly warm..
> 
> I still have "Holdover Uncertainty Predict: --" which is a bit of a worry.
> 
> Also the 1PPS TI is always about -100ns relative to GPS, which is way out 
> there..
> 
> 
> -marki
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] 
> On Behalf Of Stewart Cobb
> Sent: Wednesday, 29 May 2013 8:13 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Z3815A
> 
> Your Z3815A may need more cooling than it's getting, especially if you 
> have it resting "horizontally" as it looks like it should.  I bought 
> one of those "kits from China" about a year and a half ago.  Powered 
> it up, waited for it to lock ... and it was dead within a week, with 
> the unmistakable smell of overheated electronics.  One of the Vicor 
> power bricks inside
> (probably) overheated and shorted out.  Here's what I learned:
> 
> The Z3815A board was designed to go into a VXI-like mainframe, with a 
> carefully specified amount of cooling airflow.  I think that particular board 
> was designed to require that airflow, and overheats without it.
> There's a group in Australia which has experience with these boxes, and I got 
> the impression from my contacts with them that they see the Vicor bricks fail 
> pretty regularly.  That would imply that they're not getting the cooling they 
> need, because Vicor bricks in other applications are pretty reliable in my 
> experience.
> 
> You can see a photo of the original Z3815A on TVB's website here:
> 
> <http://www.leapsecond.com/museum/z3815a/>
> 
> The Z3815A I got from China was in a different case, just two bent pieces of 
> sheet aluminum.  The case _looks_ official, with the right label on the front 
> and silkscreen on the back.  But the board inside had a lot more crud and 
> corrosion than the nice clean case did, and parts of the plastic edge 
> connector on the back of the board were broken.  Worst of all, the coaxial 
> cable from the antenna connector ended in a one-inch flying lead soldered to 
> the board.  The "shield" of the coax cable ended in another flying lead, 
> soldered to ground somewhere else.  (Any RF engineers reading this are 
> probably cringing now.)  I'm pretty sure that no one at HP designed or 
> approved that connection.  Once I saw it, I understood why the GPS receiver 
> appeared to be "deaf."  Even connected to a very good antenna, it never saw 
> more than 4 satellites, and even those had weak signals.
> 
> Did someone in China find a cache of bare Z3815 boards in a scrapyard 
> somewhere, and fab an official-looking case to match?  I don't know, but it 
> might be the way to bet.  Meanwhile, take the lid off your Z3815A and feel 
> the heatsinks on the power bricks.  If they're too hot to touch, they're too 
> hot; give them some air.
> 
> Cheers!
> --Stu
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