Thanks John. I just placed an order. All the best Mark S VE7AFZ
Sent from my iPhone > On Dec 7, 2016, at 11:45 AM, John Ackermann N8UR <j...@febo.com> wrote: > > I'm happy to report that TAPR is now accepting orders for the TICC > timestamping / time interval counter. We've placed an order with the > contract manufacturer and expect to have finished product ready to ship > sometime in February. The TICC system will include the TICC shield mounted > on an Arduino Mega 2560 compatible processor, with TICC software loaded. > Each system will be tested for function before shipping. > > As I mentioned in my original email, TAPR is going a bit out on a limb to > produce the TICC, and we have to make a significant up-front payment to our > contract manufacturer. So, early orders are very much appreciated to help > recover our cash flow. > > The regular price will be $190 each for the TICC shield with Arduino > compatible processor,* but to encourage early orders, we're offering a $10 > discount for orders placed on or before December 21 -- that makes the price > $180 plus shipping. > > You can order from: http://tapr.org/kits_ticc.html > > Thanks! > John > > * We will provide a Sainsmart version of the Arduino Mega 2560 R3. They seem > to be a reliable supplier and we used these boards for TICC development. > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > Subject: [time-nuts] New Timestamping / Time Interval Counter: the TICC > Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 10:48:57 -0500 > From: John Ackermann N8UR <j...@febo.com> > > 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 and stirred by frequent calibration. The very best single-shot > resolution that's been commercially available is 20 picoseconds in > the Keysight 53230A and HP 5370A/B. My 5370B has an one-second > noise ADEV of about 4x10e-11. > > With the help of some very talented friends, I've been working on a new > counter called the "TICC" with <60ps resolution and similar jitter, > based on the Texas Instruments TDC7200 time-to-data-converter chip. The > one-second noise ADEV is about 7x10e-11, not much worse than the 5370, > but here's the trick: the TICC is an Arduino shield (mounting on a > Mega 2560 controller) that weighs only a couple of ounces, requires > *no* calibration, and is powered from a USB cable! > > 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 > time interval measurement of one input against the other. It can also > measure period, ratio, or any other function of two-channel timestamp > data. (And by the way -- multiple TICCs can be connected to yield 4, > 6, 8, or more synchronized channels, though we haven't tested this > capability yet.) > > I've attached a picture of the TICC prototype as well as an ADEV plot > of a 17+ day run of multiple measurements taken by two TICCs, and also > showing the TICC noise floor. The good news behind that plot is that > there are more than 6 million data points behind these results, and > there was not a single glitch or significant outlier among them. > > There's more information available at http://febo.com/pages/TICC > > The software is open source (BSD license) and is available at > https://github.com/TAPR/TICC -- the current version seems be reliable > but there are still features to add and a *lot* of cleanup to do; it's > currently ugly and very much a work in process. > > As always, I'll be making the TICC available through TAPR. We're still > finalizing details, but we expect the price to be less than $200 for a > turn-key system: TICC mounted on an Arduino with software loaded and > tested for basic functionality. We hope to ship the TICC by February. > > I'll post a note in a week or two with final price and ordering > information. As a heads up, we will probably offer a small discoun > for pre-orders. TAPR is a shoestring non-profit group and the up-front > cost to manufacture this unit will frankly be a challenge for us. > Getting pre-orders will help our cash flow significantly, so we ask you > to keep that in mind. > > John > > > > > <TICC_rev_c_photo_small.jpg> > <ticc_rev_c-perf_test_adev.png> > <Attached Message Part> > _______________________________________________ > 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 instructions there. _______________________________________________ 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 instructions there.
