[time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

[Giorgio Barinetti]

Hi Bob,



Nice explanation. I'll see what I can do to find a 53132.



Maybe, in the meantime, if I'll be lucky to find a 5370, I'll play on it.



Regarding the mixer based setup, I'm already in progress for setting up a suitable test jig.

Please point to some information, if you have it handy.



Regards,

Giorgio.





Hi



> On Oct 22, 2020, at 7:50 AM, Giorgio Barinetti <giorgio at barinetti.it<http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com>> wrote:

>

> Hi,

>

> As a newbie in the field, I've collected, by chance, some frequency standards.

>

> Now is the time to measure them, and see how they perform.

>

> I've inherited a 5371, but something tells me that is not the right instrument - and maybe is even faulty.

>

> So, I'm in the need to buy a counter to use togheter with TimeLab.

>

> Choices are many, but I'll try to avoid the "older" machines lile 5370 or 5335. The 531xx series seems nice ( money apart )

> But again : which one between the 3 ? 53131, 53132 or 53181 ?



53181 = single channel 400 ps counter

53131 = dual channel 400 ps counter

53132 = dual channel 100 ps counter



5370 (when working) = dual channel 20 ps counter



The gotcha is that none of them are good enough to properly measure 1

second ADEV on a good ( but still could be cheap ) OCXO. A mixer based

setup is a cheap way to get things done, even with a 5335.



The 531xx counters all share a couple of issues:



1) The power supply was made by who knows who and their quality is not

the best. Good news is that the power supply out of a (cheap) 53181 will

swap over to revive an expensive 53132.



2) They have a fan, it plugs with dust. When that happens it gets hot inside

the cabinet. Things (like the power supply) die as a result.



3) They have a VFD display. It's a nice one, but they do wear out. Replacing

them is problematic.



4) They have a fancy setup to add digits to a frequency measurement. It

can lead you astray. It also tends to go deaf right at 10 MHz. There are app

notes out there that explain the details.



5) With *any* counter, a good external reference is the way to go for "Time Nut"

grade measurements.



None of that is to say they are a bad counter, far from it. I have a number

of them and have been using them here and at work for decades. The 532xx

counters are the latest and greatest. They are on eBay, but not cheap.



Bob







>

> Can somebody shed some light, and maybe help even to found a baseline for us beginners ?

>

> Regards,

> IZ2JGB

> Giorgio

>

> My NTP servers: (ntpd on FreeBSD - PPS in via Serial)

>

> HP/Symmetricom 55300A  https://www.ntppool.org/scores/93.41.196.243

>

> Efratom Rb/Xc GPSDO https://www.ntppool.org/scores/95.255.136.126

>

>

>

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