As a newbie to nuttery I would like to throw my brief experiences into the mix. When I started down this slippery slope I was using a HP5386A frequency counter because I had one. It was entertaining for a short period of time. I then acquired a HP5372A which for hooking up to Timelabs and running Adev plots did not yield the results I was hoping for as the resolution is rather coarse. I think it does some neat things standalone but not really the solution to run Timelabs and make Adev plots and have fun. So then I found a 5370B on fleabay. I managed to get one that seems to work well. It is measuring frequency differences of 30-40 ps as far as I can tell. So I am happy. Eventually I will figure all this stuff out. Good luck and have fun.
Dave On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 8:25 AM Magnus Danielson <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > Small correction, 5371A and 5370A are different beasts. The 5370A has 20 > ps resolution and the 5371A has 200 ps resolution. So, the 5371A is > about the same performance as the 53132A at 150 ps resolution. I work > with 5372A which is essentially a 5371A with hardware histogram and a > few other things. > > I have both 5370A and 5371A. > > The 5371A and 5372A actually can do linear regression processing for > frequency estimation, a historic note that predates this capability of > the Philips/Fluke/Pendulum counters to the best of my knowledge. > > PS. I also have a 5370C, which is a flat-bed scanner from HP. > > Cheers, > Magnus > > On 2020-10-22 15:33, Tom Van Baak wrote: > > Avoid the 53181A; too limited. Both the 53131A / 53132A are > > "universal" counters so they do frequency, period, time interval, and > > lots more. > > > > They are very useful counters. The rs232 talk-only mode makes it very > > easy to collect data on a PC. No programming required. The 53132A has > > a bit higher resolution than a 53131A so that's a plus. But if you > > plan to use the external reference the 53131A accepts 5/10 MHz while > > the 53132A, last I checked, will only accept 10 MHz. > > > > A lower cost alternative is the TAPR/TICC. If you already have a > > commercial counter I would recommend looking at the TICC as your next > > counter. As this is your first counter I would recommend a 53131/53132 > > over the TICC. The TICC is "headless" and has only hard-coded CMOS > > digital inputs. The hp units have all the physical front panel > > buttons, status LED's and live display. Plus the comprehensive input > > conditioning features. And useful frequency gate time or digits modes, > > etc. Lots of cool features. Built-in statistics too. > > > > The 5371A is a beast. But it you can get it working it has 10x better > > performance than a 53132A. > > > > /tvb > > > > > > On 10/22/2020 4:50 AM, Giorgio Barinetti wrote: > >> Hi, > >> > >> As a newbie in the field, I've collected, by chance, some frequency > >> standards. > >> > >> Now is the time to measure them, and see how they perform. > >> > >> I've inherited a 5371, but something tells me that is not the right > >> instrument - and maybe is even faulty. > >> > >> So, I'm in the need to buy a counter to use togheter with TimeLab. > >> > >> Choices are many, but I'll try to avoid the "older" machines lile > >> 5370 or 5335. The 531xx series seems nice ( money apart ) > >> But again : which one between the 3 ? 53131, 53132 or 53181 ? > >> > >> Can somebody shed some light, and maybe help even to found a baseline > >> for us beginners ? > >> > >> Regards, > >> IZ2JGB > >> Giorgio > >> > >> My NTP servers: (ntpd on FreeBSD - PPS in via Serial) > >> > >> HP/Symmetricom 55300A https://www.ntppool.org/scores/93.41.196.243 > >> > >> Efratom Rb/Xc GPSDO https://www.ntppool.org/scores/95.255.136.126 > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> 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. > -- 72 de Dave VE7HR _______________________________________________ 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.
