[time-nuts] WWVB PM Time Questions

[paul swed]

Looked at the KD2BD schematic and it is a 10 MHz VCTCXO. That seems
reasonable perhaps to find.
Regards
Paul

On Wed, Jul 22, 2020 at 6:44 PM paul swed <paulswedb at gmail.com> wrote:

> I was actually thinking about this quite a bit and perhaps I went the
> wrong way.
> That is a cheap vcxo class device. His unit was not an oven as I recall.
> Just maybe a bit too good was actually bad.
> Hard to say and no time to play right now.
> Regards
> Paul
> WB8TSL
>
> On Wed, Jul 22, 2020 at 6:06 PM Bob kb8tq <kb8tq at n1k.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Jul 22, 2020, at 3:51 PM, paul swed <paulswedb at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Ray watch out for my comment on the KD2BD solution. That oscillator
>> isn't
>> > available and I have not been able to map something else into it. Tried
>> > several good grade Oven oscillators. Just be aware of that issue.
>> > Would need to do more tinkering and simply don't have that time right
>> now.
>> > Also it would be great if the oscillator was something that could be
>> > obtained at a reasonable cost. I do not believe at all it has to be a
>> > OCXO as the older true time and spectracoms were not and they locked
>> solid.
>> > So its a case of getting the control voltages right.
>>
>> You can buy a surprisingly good little OCXO (for the price) on eBay these
>> days in the  $3 to $6 range. Find one at 12.6 MHz and it will divide
>> nicely to
>> 60 KHz. 19.2 MHz looks like a better candidate … Either way I have not
>> (yet)
>> seen a 60 KHz multiple show up in the cheap category.
>>
>> Bob
>>
>>
>> > Regards
>> > Paul.
>> >
>> > On Wed, Jul 22, 2020 at 3:29 PM <rcbuck at atcelectronics.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Thanks to all for the suggestions. I dug a ferrite rod AM radio antenna
>> >> out of the box this morning. I have a box of 10 left over from the late
>> >> 80s. It measures 0.950 mH so I will add some turns to get it to 1.5 mH
>> >> which will be easier to resonate at 60 kHz. Then I need to build up the
>> >> RF amp and run the output through a 60 kHz crystal filter. I have to
>> >> order the crystals since I don't have any on hand. It will take a
>> couple
>> >> of weeks to get the front end working.
>> >>
>> >> I am in Phoenix so the WWVB signal is of decent quality here even
>> during
>> >> the daytime. My 25 year old cheap Casio watch will sync up within 2-3
>> >> minutes any time of day or night. It normally syncs at 2 am but I have
>> >> done tests to confirm daytime sync works reliably.
>> >>
>> >> Mark, I know virtually nothing about SDR other than it works. I bought
>> a
>> >> RTL-SDR.Com module a couple of years ago and played with it a little
>> >> bit. But it quit working and I haven't thought about SDR since then. My
>> >> Icom 7300 is a SDR and it works very well. I think to attempt to design
>> >> a SDR would be well over my head. I anticipate this project taking 2-3
>> >> months. If I get it working I will be glad to share everything with the
>> >> group.
>> >>
>> >> Lester and Paul, I will test with the Costas loop as it may be the
>> >> easiest way to go. To test the Costas loop I am basically going to
>> >> duplicate the KD2BD design. I was reluctant about it in the beginning
>> >> but more reading seems to indicate it will be fine. My AWG allows me to
>> >> set the phase from 0 to 360 degrees independently on each channel so I
>> >> can use that for initial testing. That testing can be done prior to
>> >> getting the front end working.
>> >>
>> >> Richard, is your software posted somewhere? I assume it allows you to
>> >> specify the time and date you want it to send. That would come in handy
>> >> for writing the code to extract the timer/date data. I have seen
>> >> examples of the Arduino transmitting the old AM signal but don't recall
>> >> seeing one that sends the BPSK stream.
>> >>
>> >> I have a GPS time receiver with a 1.2 inch LED display that I built a
>> >> couple of years ago. I have it setup so the UART outputs the gprmc NEMA
>> >> string in case I want to look at it. I have a couple of spare GPS
>> >> modules lying around and several Arduino Uno modules. I have no problem
>> >> picking up the GPS satellites using only the patch antenna that is
>> built
>> >> into the modules.
>> >>
>> >> Ray,
>> >> AB7HE
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at lists.febo.com
>> >> To unsubscribe, go to
>> >> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
>> >> and follow the instructions there.
>> >>
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at lists.febo.com
>> > To unsubscribe, go to
>> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
>> > and follow the instructions there.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at lists.febo.com
>> To unsubscribe, go to
>> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
>> and follow the instructions there.
>>
>