Hi Scott --
The TICC is a fully-assembled "shield" that mounts on an Arduino Mega
2560 controller. What you get from TAPR is the shield and Arduino with
firmware loaded. The TICC talks to a host computer using ASCII on USB.
John Miles' TimeLab software can read data directly from it, or you can
just save the data as a text file with a terminal program.
The firmware is open source and the latest version is on Github
(https://github.com/TAPR/TICC). The code has been updated from the
version shipped, and you can load new firmware a couple of ways -- there
are instructions at the repository.
And just a note to those interested -- I'm targeting a modest update to
the firmware in the next month or so. There are a couple of bug fixes,
and one new feature contributed by a 3rd party to improve functioning
with TimeLab.
73,
John
----
On 1/8/19 10:31 AM, W7SLS wrote:
"Kits: TICC Timestamping/Time Interval Counter”
https://www.tapr.org/kits_ticc.html <https://www.tapr.org/kits_ticc.html>
Is the TICC a kit in the sense that SMD and/or through-hole component soldering
required?
Or perhaps kit = no case, see your favorite 3D printer?
Or?
Thanks,
Scott
W7SLS
On Jan 8, 2019, at 7:23 AM, Tom Van Baak <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi All sorry for a new be question but
what is a TICC
regards Paul B UK
Hi Paul,
That is an acronym we often use here on time-nuts; one that a simple google
search doesn't answer.
Ok, there's "TIC" and there's "TICC".
1)
A TIC (Time Interval Counter) is a common 2-input electronic bench instrument that precisely
measures time interval; in other words, the elapsed time between a pulse on input A
("start") to a pulse on input B ("stop"). It's like a stopwatch.
This is very useful for making comparisons between two oscillators or clocks. Often a
frequency counter is combined with a period counter + time interval counter + other
features and the whole package is called a "universal counter".
There are dozens of amateur and commercial TIC products. The key feature is
often the resolution; that is, how fine a difference between A and B can be
measured. For $1 you can time to 1 us or 100 ns. For $10 you can measure down
to 10 ns or even 1 ns. Note that complexity and price goes up significantly as
the resolution improves to 100 ps or 10 ps or even 1 ps levels.
A classic example of a TIC is the hp 53131A/53132A universal counter.
2)
The TICC is the cute name for a DIY project by fellow time-nut John Ackerman,
N8UR. It cleverly combines a pair of special-purpose TI chips to do
sub-nanosecond timing along with an Arduino. The result is an open source time
interval counter with specs better than HP's 53132A at a fraction of the cost.
In addition, the TICC is more than just a plain start/stop TIC; it is actually
an independent dual-channel TSC (time stamping counter). This design permits a
wider variety of functions than a traditional TIC. The resolution of the TICC
is under 100 ps.
3)
Some useful TICC links:
"Kits: TICC Timestamping/Time Interval Counter"
https://www.tapr.org/kits_ticc.html
"TAPR TICC User Manual"
https://github.com/TAPR/TICC/raw/master/docs/TAPR%20TICC%20User%20Manual.pdf
"The TICC Timestamping/Time Interval Counter"
https://www.febo.com/pages/TICC/
"A High-Resolution Time Interval Counter Using the TAPR TADD-2 and TICC Modules"
http://www.stable32.com/A%20High-Resolution%20Time%20Interval%20Counter%20Using%20the%20TAPR%20TADD-2%20and%20TICC%20Modules.pdf
"tutorials and publications, frequency stability measurements"
http://www.wriley.com/Freq%20Stab%20Meas%20Links.htm
"Exploring TICC resolution"
http://leapsecond.com/pages/ticc/
4)
Because the name "TICC" is rather ambiguous I and others prefer to type
"TAPR/TICC" instead. Not only does this give TAPR some visibility, but it also makes
google searches far better. If you ask google, what is TICC, you don't get a good answer at all.
But if you ask google, what is TAPR/TICC, it brings you directly to the description/order page.
/tvb
_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe, go to
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe, go to
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe, go to
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
