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HP 115 BR Clock 60 Hz output option: how HP did it...

JV
John Vendely
Fri, Mar 10, 2023 12:58 AM

Upon a closer look at its innards, I realized the method HP used for the
115BR Clock 60 Hz output option is simpler than I initially
thought--essentially an opto-mechanical frequency divider.   Here's a
brief description for those interested.

The standard 115BR uses three "aperture discs", an exciter lamp, and
photocell to generate an optically triggered 1 PPS output. The clock
motor shaft, running at 1000 RPM, drives a 300 RPM gear with 12
apertures which in turn drives a 60 RPM gear with 1 aperture.  The third
disc has three apertures and is driven directly by the motor shaft at
1000 RPM.  The apertures of all three discs are in alignment once per
second, transmitting a light pulse to the photocell, which gates through
1 pulse of the 1 kc regenerative divider output to produce an accurate,
stable 1PPS.

The 60 cps aux. output option simply uses a second photocell mounted on
the side of the 300 RPM gear opposite that of the first photocell.  The
second photocell is thus excited by optical pulses from the 300 RPM gear
and since this gear's angular frequency is 5 cycles per second, its 12
apertures directly produce 60 cps pulses at the second photocell
output.  Photocell output is applied to a transistor switch which drives
a lowpass filter and output transformer, providing a fairly sinusoidal
250 mV RMS 60 Hz output.  Since the 60 Hz output is motor-derived, its
phase angle is adjustable by the front-panel induction resolver setting.
Since it's mechanically generated, the output is slightly jittery, but
its frequency does average out to 60 Hz and is adequate for driving
synchronous motor clocks, which will themselves provide a mechanical
averaging effect.

The parts list implies the requisite aperture gears are standard; if so,
it wouldn't be too difficult to install a 60 Hz aux. output on a
standard 115BR by adding the second photocell, a comparator, active low
pass filter, and an output transformer, if desired. Alternatively, for a
60 Hz output independent of the resolver setting, or if lower jitter is
desired, output from the first tripler of the 1 kc regenerative divider
could be buffered, divided by 50, and shaped as desired.

p.s., the only thing wrong with mine was a bad coupling capacitor...

73,

John K9WT

Upon a closer look at its innards, I realized the method HP used for the 115BR Clock 60 Hz output option is simpler than I initially thought--essentially an opto-mechanical frequency divider.   Here's a brief description for those interested. The standard 115BR uses three "aperture discs", an exciter lamp, and photocell to generate an optically triggered 1 PPS output. The clock motor shaft, running at 1000 RPM, drives a 300 RPM gear with 12 apertures which in turn drives a 60 RPM gear with 1 aperture.  The third disc has three apertures and is driven directly by the motor shaft at 1000 RPM.  The apertures of all three discs are in alignment once per second, transmitting a light pulse to the photocell, which gates through 1 pulse of the 1 kc regenerative divider output to produce an accurate, stable 1PPS. The 60 cps aux. output option simply uses a second photocell mounted on the side of the 300 RPM gear opposite that of the first photocell.  The second photocell is thus excited by optical pulses from the 300 RPM gear and since this gear's angular frequency is 5 cycles per second, its 12 apertures directly produce 60 cps pulses at the second photocell output.  Photocell output is applied to a transistor switch which drives a lowpass filter and output transformer, providing a fairly sinusoidal 250 mV RMS 60 Hz output.  Since the 60 Hz output is motor-derived, its phase angle is adjustable by the front-panel induction resolver setting. Since it's mechanically generated, the output is slightly jittery, but its frequency does average out to 60 Hz and is adequate for driving synchronous motor clocks, which will themselves provide a mechanical averaging effect. The parts list implies the requisite aperture gears are standard; if so, it wouldn't be too difficult to install a 60 Hz aux. output on a standard 115BR by adding the second photocell, a comparator, active low pass filter, and an output transformer, if desired. Alternatively, for a 60 Hz output independent of the resolver setting, or if lower jitter is desired, output from the first tripler of the 1 kc regenerative divider could be buffered, divided by 50, and shaped as desired. p.s., the only thing wrong with mine was a bad coupling capacitor... 73, John K9WT