On 28/02/14 18:42, Tom Van Baak wrote:
I think one of the best chances would be to improve the phase
noise of the 200MHz signal.
But don't miss the fact that being able to make a LOT more measurements
in the same time also improves noise statistically.
I agree with this. And it makes me wonder if someone on the list is now eyeing the SR 620 as the next classic instrument in need of a time nuts upgrade?
It would be very cool if in the end both the hp5370 and the SR620 can be turned into true timestamping counters, a la the Pendulum CNT-9x and the Agilent 53230.
Indeed.
Just having ethernet and USB on them would help a lot.
The key point is that you need to hide the dead-time between the stop
trigger and the arm trigger. You also need continuous time to be
assuered, which typically means a runnning time counter. None of them is
made to be a zero dead-time counter, where as HP-5371/5372/5373 and
CNT-9x is. I think one has to think a little about how the counter HW is
being extended to achieve the true ZDT properties.
The typical way for getting these counters hide their dead-time have
been a higher rate trigger signal than arm signal (typcially x2). The
other way is to use a pair of counters and having them being armed on
every other measure.
Cheers,
Magnus
On 28/02/14 18:42, Tom Van Baak wrote:
>> I think one of the best chances would be to improve the phase
>> noise of the 200MHz signal.
>>
>> But don't miss the fact that being able to make a LOT more measurements
>> in the same time also improves noise statistically.
>
> I agree with this. And it makes me wonder if someone on the list is now eyeing the SR 620 as the next classic instrument in need of a time nuts upgrade?
>
> It would be very cool if in the end both the hp5370 and the SR620 can be turned into true timestamping counters, a la the Pendulum CNT-9x and the Agilent 53230.
Indeed.
Just having ethernet and USB on them would help a lot.
The key point is that you need to hide the dead-time between the stop
trigger and the arm trigger. You also need continuous time to be
assuered, which typically means a runnning time counter. None of them is
made to be a zero dead-time counter, where as HP-5371/5372/5373 and
CNT-9x is. I think one has to think a little about how the counter HW is
being extended to achieve the true ZDT properties.
The typical way for getting these counters hide their dead-time have
been a higher rate trigger signal than arm signal (typcially x2). The
other way is to use a pair of counters and having them being armed on
every other measure.
Cheers,
Magnus
