[time-nuts] LTC6957 Low Phase Noise Buffer/Driver

[Rick Karlquist]

EWKehren at aol.com wrote:
> In some of my projects I like to use the MC10EL16. Does any one have  an
> opinion on it?
> Bert Kehren

I have used the MC10X116 series of line receivers going back to the old
MC1000 family, which went out of production 35 years ago.  The MC10EL16
should have been called MC10EL116 IMHO for consistency to avoid confusion
with the MC10X016 series of 4 bit counters.  But I digress.

These line receivers are wonderful parts that are totally bulletproof and
work every time.  We used to use them in frequency counters.  At Zeta
labs, they were often used as sine wave to logic buffers.  There is just
one huge drawback:  the phase noise is only in the mid -140's.  Over the
years as faster versions of this part have come out in newer logic
families, the bandwidth has increased with the predictable effect of
increasing the phase noise.  I haven't specifically measured the MC10EL16,
but it is very likely it would continue the trend of bad (and getting
worse) phase noise.

Rick
N6RK