Dear All, More and more people are starting to play with the Thunderbolts. I already received mine :-) Now playing around with them. First I powered it up and connected it to the normal serial port of the PC. The Thunderbolt behaved fine, self survey took some time, because the antenna is inside a concrete building with very limited view to the sky. However, next I did a test with the same Thunderbolt but now it was connected to a USB to Serial converter (brand is Sweex). After switchinhg it off and on, I expected the same behaviour as when it was connected to the "real" serial port. But... it started to behave very strange... instead of starting a normal survey, it started disciplining after a couple of minutes (almanac was not even valid). The DAC-voltage clipped to the power rail, and the SV and AMU-fields remained "?". Resetting (hot, cold, factory default) didn't make any difference. When power cycling the unit and connecting it back to the normal serial port the normal behaviour returned. I assume it has something to do with the USB to serial converter. Is there anyone else with similar experience? Or who has used a USB to serial converter with succes? Thank you, best regards, Jeroen -- Ing. Jeroen Bastemeijer Delft University of Technology Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Instrumentation Laboratory Mekelweg 4, Room 13.090 2628 CD Delft The Netherlands Phone: +31.15.27.86542 Fax: +31.15.27.85755 E-mail: J.Bastemeijer@TUDelft.nl GPS: Lat N52.00002 Lon E4.37157 Alt 46.2m

I've been using it with Prolific PL2303 based converters with no problem at all (Aten brand, in my case). Regards, Javier Jeroen Bastemeijer escribió: > Dear All, > > More and more people are starting to play with the Thunderbolts. I > already received mine :-) Now playing around with them. > > First I powered it up and connected it to the normal serial port of the > PC. The Thunderbolt behaved fine, self survey took some time, because > the antenna is inside a concrete building with very limited view to the sky. > > However, next I did a test with the same Thunderbolt but now it was > connected to a USB to Serial converter (brand is Sweex). After > switchinhg it off and on, I expected the same behaviour as when it was > connected to the "real" serial port. But... it started to behave very > strange... instead of starting a normal survey, it started disciplining > after a couple of minutes (almanac was not even valid). The DAC-voltage > clipped to the power rail, and the SV and AMU-fields remained "?". > Resetting (hot, cold, factory default) didn't make any difference. > When power cycling the unit and connecting it back to the normal serial > port the normal behaviour returned. I assume it has something to do with > the USB to serial converter. Is there anyone else with similar > experience? Or who has used a USB to serial converter with succes? > > Thank you, best regards, > > Jeroen > -- {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang3082{\fonttbl{\f0\fmodern\fprq1\fcharset0 Courier New;}{\f1\fswiss\fcharset0 Arial;}} {\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1507;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------\par Javier Herrero EMAIL: jherrero@hvsistemas.com\par HV Sistemas S.L. PHONE: +34 949 336 806\par Los Charcones, 17A FAX: +34 949 336 792\par 19170 El Casar - Guadalajara - Spain WEB: http://www.hvsistemas.com\f1\par }

While I have no experience with Thunderbolt, I have tested a lot of USB-Serial converters and found ones with the FTDI chip to be the most reliable, hardware and software wise. http://www.saelig.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=U003 -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of Javier Herrero Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:13 AM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt and USB to RS232 converters I've been using it with Prolific PL2303 based converters with no problem at all (Aten brand, in my case). Regards, Javier Jeroen Bastemeijer escribió: > Dear All, > > More and more people are starting to play with the Thunderbolts. I > already received mine :-) Now playing around with them. > > First I powered it up and connected it to the normal serial port of the > PC. The Thunderbolt behaved fine, self survey took some time, because > the antenna is inside a concrete building with very limited view to the sky. > > However, next I did a test with the same Thunderbolt but now it was > connected to a USB to Serial converter (brand is Sweex). After > switchinhg it off and on, I expected the same behaviour as when it was > connected to the "real" serial port. But... it started to behave very > strange... instead of starting a normal survey, it started disciplining > after a couple of minutes (almanac was not even valid). The DAC-voltage > clipped to the power rail, and the SV and AMU-fields remained "?". > Resetting (hot, cold, factory default) didn't make any difference. > When power cycling the unit and connecting it back to the normal serial > port the normal behaviour returned. I assume it has something to do with > the USB to serial converter. Is there anyone else with similar > experience? Or who has used a USB to serial converter with succes? > > Thank you, best regards, > > Jeroen > -- {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang3082{\fonttbl{\f0\fmodern\fprq1\fcharse t0 Courier New;}{\f1\fswiss\fcharset0 Arial;}} {\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1507;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------\par Javier Herrero EMAIL: jherrero@hvsistemas.com\par HV Sistemas S.L. PHONE: +34 949 336 806\par Los Charcones, 17A FAX: +34 949 336 792\par 19170 El Casar - Guadalajara - Spain WEB: http://www.hvsistemas.com\f1\par } _______________________________________________ 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.