Yo Bubba Dudes!,
First, does the internal OCXO run when the power is turned off?
Wrote:
We are presently experimenting using a ISC570B multiplier at 100 MHz and get 13 digits seeattached but the data out of the back is only 12 digits reliable.
Looking it up I found out that the ISC570B is a teeny - tiny IC which for me would pose a problem to implement.
So looking at alternatives that I already had I came up with two possible alternative multiplier ideas.
The first was to put the 10 MHz DUT into the external reference of my (boat anchor) HP signal generator set the output frequency to 200 MHz and put the output into the channel 1 input to get extra resolution digits.
Expanding upon that, I came with more complex but what may be a better error multiplier reading since I have both signal generators on hand.
First I feed the 10 MHz DUT signal into my Fluke 6080 setting the output to 1 GHz. I'd then feed the reference 10 MHz signal into the external reference of my HP 8656 and set the output to 990 MHz.
Next I'd feed both outputs into a
AD8342 LF to 3.8GHZ Active Mixer Down conversion Output withBalun Transformer
board from ebay ($23) and then feed the multiplied signal into channel 1. (I may need a simple low pass filter.)
This should give me a 100X error multiplication.
Am I on the right track or am I missing something?
Regards,
Perrier
The hp8656 spectral purity may be a problem. Residual FM for output frequencies above 494MHz is < 15 Hz rms ( 0.3 to 3 kHz BW ). (The B version is better by about a factor of 2)
Dave
Perry Sandeen via time-nuts time-nuts@lists.febo.com wrote:
Yo Bubba Dudes!,
First, does the internal OCXO run when the power is turned off?
Wrote:
We are presently experimenting using a ISC570B multiplier at 100 MHz
and get 13 digits seeattached but the data out of the back is only 12
digits reliable.
Looking it up I found out that the ISC570B is a teeny - tiny IC which
for me would pose a problem to implement.
So looking at alternatives that I already had I came up with two
possible alternative multiplier ideas.
The first was to put the 10 MHz DUT into the external reference of my
(boat anchor) HP signal generator set the output frequency to 200 MHz
and put the output into the channel 1 input to get extra resolution
digits.
Expanding upon that, I came with more complex but what may be a better
error multiplier reading since I have both signal generators on hand.
First I feed the 10 MHz DUT signal into my Fluke 6080 setting the
output to 1 GHz. I'd then feed the reference 10 MHz signal into the
external reference of my HP 8656 and set the output to 990 MHz.
Next I'd feed both outputs into a
AD8342 LF to 3.8GHZ Active Mixer Down conversion Output withBalun
Transformer
board from ebay ($23) and then feed the multiplied signal into channel
This should give me a 100X error multiplication.
Am I on the right track or am I missing something?
Regards,
Perrier
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Hal wrote:
"dickw1ksz at gmail.com
http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com said:
/provide frequencies at 72.5, 725 and 7,975 MHz that are /
What's interesting about 72.5, 725, or 7975 MHz?"
Nothing, unless you're using those frequencies. But, if you want to
multiply up to expand the resolution of a counter, anything you can use
that will work well enough at 10 MHz reference, in conjunction with a
little math, can help a lot.
Perry, I'd suggest that you can use a number of old PLO "brick" type
oscillators that are commonly available - if they can operate well (or
be easily modified) with 10 MHz reference. Most were intended for 100
MHz-ish inputs, but will also be just fine at lower frequencies - but
consider the extra phase noise. The actual output frequency can be
almost anything as long as it's big enough for sufficient
multiplication. Simple calculations to get the desired scaling and info.
I have a bunch of 5 GHz PLOs that work fine with 10 MHz in, planned for
a two-stage multiplier. I just happen to have been working on this
differential frequency counter project over the last few days, and have
the design worked out for the high frequency range stage 1000x (delta
+/- 2 kHz gives +/- 2 MHz). It takes in two 10 MHz signals, and provides
an output IF of 10 MHz plus 1000x the frequency difference between the
inputs. One input is taken as the reference, converted to 5040 MHz and
90 MHz LOs. The other input is converted to 5000 MHz (500x), and mixed
down to 40 MHz IF. This is then doubled to 80 MHz (2x), then mixed with
the 90 MHz down to 10 MHz, netting 1000x the difference. This can be
viewed on a suitable counter (1 Hz resolution at 1 second gate) at
modest frequency. The display is 10 MHz plus 1000x the difference, or
say 8-12 MHz range, representing 9,998-10.002 MHz. Essentially, it takes
the middle three zeros (or nines) out of the 10 MHz shown on the
counter, while expanding so the 1 Hz digit represents 1 mHz, and so on.
The other (similar but specially modified) 1000x multiplier will be
cascaded in front of or behind this one, depending on how things work
out. The first 1000x is easy, but the second is of course, a whole
'nother story - the two cascaded would be similar in noise to
multiplying up to 10 THz. The plan so far is for the +/-2 Hz range to
provide E6 multiplication, so 1 uHz resolution at 1 second gate - or
maybe 10 seconds, or more, depending on how things work out. My
experiments indicate that I can go pretty far with it, once things are
clean enough. Right now I'm fighting line noise mostly, which dwarfs the
random close-in phase noise. I can't even even get a second stage to
lock with my experimental setup, but expect much better results once I
build a very clean power supply for it, and fix the numerous ground loops.
So anyway, a good old-school PLO can help with pretty good
multiplication factors, so may be worth considering, especially for
one-time use, or to avoid having to commit a piece of regular test gear
to the application. Also note that nobody in their right mind would use
the approach I've outline above - except for me, since I have lots of
the right kinds of microwave pieces, and it's a lot of fun.
Good luck.
Ed
HP8656 and spectral purity should not be used in the same sentence. I had
one and the best band is VHF where it may be usable for SSB or NBFM if you
are not too picky. It gets worse from there going up. The worst is the
lower band (HF) because it is actually the high band mixed down.
http://www.ko4bb.com/getsimple/index.php?id=comparing-the-hp-8656a-hp-8657b-and-hp-3586a
Didier KO4BB
On Sat, Oct 12, 2019 at 10:07 PM David mcquate@sonic.net wrote:
The hp8656 spectral purity may be a problem. Residual FM for output
frequencies above 494MHz is < 15 Hz rms ( 0.3 to 3 kHz BW ). (The B
version is better by about a factor of 2)
Dave
Perry Sandeen via time-nuts time-nuts@lists.febo.com wrote:
Yo Bubba Dudes!,
First, does the internal OCXO run when the power is turned off?
Wrote:
We are presently experimenting using a ISC570B multiplier at 100 MHz
and get 13 digits seeattached but the data out of the back is only 12
digits reliable.
Looking it up I found out that the ISC570B is a teeny - tiny IC which
for me would pose a problem to implement.
So looking at alternatives that I already had I came up with two
possible alternative multiplier ideas.
The first was to put the 10 MHz DUT into the external reference of my
(boat anchor) HP signal generator set the output frequency to 200 MHz
and put the output into the channel 1 input to get extra resolution
digits.
Expanding upon that, I came with more complex but what may be a better
error multiplier reading since I have both signal generators on hand.
First I feed the 10 MHz DUT signal into my Fluke 6080 setting the
output to 1 GHz. I'd then feed the reference 10 MHz signal into the
external reference of my HP 8656 and set the output to 990 MHz.
Next I'd feed both outputs into a
AD8342 LF to 3.8GHZ Active Mixer Down conversion Output withBalun
Transformer
board from ebay ($23) and then feed the multiplied signal into channel
This should give me a 100X error multiplication.
Am I on the right track or am I missing something?
Regards,
Perrier
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I agree completely. A friend and I each had one of these and thought
there was something wrong with each of them. The dither at 10 MHZ
compared to a gpsdo is approximately 10 Hz. We spent many hours with the
manual trying to find the cause of the fm to no avail. It's just a bad
design. Unsuitable for any time-nuts use. Maybe OK for fixing pre-sdr
ham radios. The attenuator section is pretty good. Otherwise in today's
world a boat anchor.
Don
On 2019-10-14 16:57, Didier Juges wrote:
HP8656 and spectral purity should not be used in the same sentence. I
had
one and the best band is VHF where it may be usable for SSB or NBFM if
you
are not too picky. It gets worse from there going up. The worst is the
lower band (HF) because it is actually the high band mixed down.
http://www.ko4bb.com/getsimple/index.php?id=comparing-the-hp-8656a-hp-8657b-and-hp-3586a
Didier KO4BB
On Sat, Oct 12, 2019 at 10:07 PM David mcquate@sonic.net wrote:
The hp8656 spectral purity may be a problem. Residual FM for output
frequencies above 494MHz is < 15 Hz rms ( 0.3 to 3 kHz BW ). (The B
version is better by about a factor of 2)
Dave
Perry Sandeen via time-nuts time-nuts@lists.febo.com wrote:
Yo Bubba Dudes!,
First, does the internal OCXO run when the power is turned off?
Wrote:
We are presently experimenting using a ISC570B multiplier at 100 MHz
and get 13 digits seeattached but the data out of the back is only 12
digits reliable.
Looking it up I found out that the ISC570B is a teeny - tiny IC which
for me would pose a problem to implement.
So looking at alternatives that I already had I came up with two
possible alternative multiplier ideas.
The first was to put the 10 MHz DUT into the external reference of my
(boat anchor) HP signal generator set the output frequency to 200 MHz
and put the output into the channel 1 input to get extra resolution
digits.
Expanding upon that, I came with more complex but what may be a better
error multiplier reading since I have both signal generators on hand.
First I feed the 10 MHz DUT signal into my Fluke 6080 setting the
output to 1 GHz. I'd then feed the reference 10 MHz signal into the
external reference of my HP 8656 and set the output to 990 MHz.
Next I'd feed both outputs into a
AD8342 LF to 3.8GHZ Active Mixer Down conversion Output withBalun
Transformer
board from ebay ($23) and then feed the multiplied signal into channel
This should give me a 100X error multiplication.
Am I on the right track or am I missing something?
Regards,
Perrier
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com
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http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
and follow the instructions there.
Sent with mySecureMail.
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--
Dr. Don Latham AJ7LL
PO Box 404, Frenchtown, MT, 59834
VOX: 406-626-4304
Hi
Taking the “questions” topic in a bit different direction …..
If the FA-2 is like the other projects from the same people, there is active work being done
on the project. That is likely to create updated code for the device as issues are spotted. Is
anybody on the list linked into that side of things?
Given the number of people who seem to have them, it probably would be a good idea to
come up with a way to monitor what’s going on with the original project. As time goes by,
it might not hurt to watch for firmware / rev number changes on newer purchases.
So another question: what firmware / rev’s do people have now?
Bob
On Oct 12, 2019, at 7:45 PM, Perry Sandeen via time-nuts time-nuts@lists.febo.com wrote:
Yo Bubba Dudes!,
First, does the internal OCXO run when the power is turned off?
Wrote:
We are presently experimenting using a ISC570B multiplier at 100 MHz and get 13 digits seeattached but the data out of the back is only 12 digits reliable.
Looking it up I found out that the ISC570B is a teeny - tiny IC which for me would pose a problem to implement.
So looking at alternatives that I already had I came up with two possible alternative multiplier ideas.
The first was to put the 10 MHz DUT into the external reference of my (boat anchor) HP signal generator set the output frequency to 200 MHz and put the output into the channel 1 input to get extra resolution digits.
Expanding upon that, I came with more complex but what may be a better error multiplier reading since I have both signal generators on hand.
First I feed the 10 MHz DUT signal into my Fluke 6080 setting the output to 1 GHz. I'd then feed the reference 10 MHz signal into the external reference of my HP 8656 and set the output to 990 MHz.
Next I'd feed both outputs into a
AD8342 LF to 3.8GHZ Active Mixer Down conversion Output withBalun Transformer
board from ebay ($23) and then feed the multiplied signal into channel 1. (I may need a simple low pass filter.)
This should give me a 100X error multiplication.
Am I on the right track or am I missing something?
Regards,
Perrier
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com
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and follow the instructions there.
I'm not sure of a way other than turning it on and quickly reading the screen to
see the firmware rev. Mine is V20190827.
Wes N7WS
On 10/26/2019 3:12 PM, Bob kb8tq wrote:
So another question: what firmware / rev’s do people have now?
Bob
Mine showed up today. Firmware rev is V20190922.
BNC connectors were a bit loose and rattling but that was an easy fix.
Otherwise it looks good.
-Bob N3XKB
On Sat, Oct 26, 2019 at 5:14 PM Bob kb8tq kb8tq@n1k.org wrote:
Bob
Hi
So that would suggest there are at least two versions “in the wild”.
Sounds like figuring out how to update the firmware might be worth doing …..
Bob
On Oct 31, 2019, at 12:32 PM, Bob Darlington rdarlington@gmail.com wrote:
Mine showed up today. Firmware rev is V20190922.
BNC connectors were a bit loose and rattling but that was an easy fix.
Otherwise it looks good.
-Bob N3XKB
On Sat, Oct 26, 2019 at 5:14 PM Bob kb8tq kb8tq@n1k.org wrote:
Bob
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