[time-nuts] Re: 2nd Run of TimeHats

[Michael Gindonis]

I would be interested in at least one, perhaps even 2. and perhaps bare
boards.

Some things that if not already considered, could make it more interesting
than it already is:

- possibility to have a 26 pin connector instead of the 40 pin connector
would be nice for use on Pi 1B. ( or just an option for unsoldered
connector and one can solder it oneself.)
- bare board.... with breakout connections for RTC and GPS modules,  a
CR2032 holder... this could make the bare board handy as time-nut oriented
protoboard to use with other modules.
- extra pads opposite GPIO side of board to mount a couple extra SMA
connectors. ( using proto space one could add one a buffered PPS out or
other timepulse out )
- MAX-M8W with active antenna out.

I have been lurking on this list for a while. A minor upgrade to my low
budget ntp server is long overdue. Have used Aliexpress RTC modules with
the Pi ( with modifications to use a CR2032 safely).  I have also had a few
Pis running with nearly 20 year old surplus fastrax GPS modules which
include a patch antenna. Just a protoboard, jumpers, sometimes a backup
battery and some DIP switches for setting modes. I had started a GPS board
design in KiCAD a while ago but got bogged down when trying to layout the
traces for the antenna connector according to the module manufacturer's
recommendations.

At the moment I just one running GPS ntp server on an old Pi 1B. The module
I use works well most of the day. Having a patch and no external antenna
connector the whole module must be exposed to sunlight. The module doesn't
adjust it's TXCO offset if it doesn't have a GPS fix so it may drift a bit
on sunny days.

Name/IP Address            NP  NR  Span  Frequency  Freq Skew  Offset  Std
Dev
==============================================================================
NMEA                        8   7   224    -17.321      8.039    +55ms
238us
PPS                        61  36   240     -0.000      0.003     -0ns
414ns
ftp.mikes.fi               19  13  310m     -0.050      0.010  +1718us
 64us
ntp.netnod.se              15   9  241m     -0.046      0.044  +1596us
183us
time.cloudflare.com        49  26   13h     -0.099      0.013  +2935us
372us
ivanova.ganneff.de         14   9  224m     -0.045      0.025  +3083us
 79us

Best regards...

...Mike
---
Michael Gindonis



On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 7:58 PM John Miller via time-nuts <
time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> I’ve seen a number of messages lately that reference the TimeHat boards I
> put together a couple of months ago, with lots of positive feedback, which
> I really appreciate. The first run of boards I did sold fairly quickly, and
> based on a number of emails I have gotten lately there seems to be some
> renewed interest.
>
> As such, I’m going to order up another batch of PCBs and parts, but I’d
> like to get an idea of how many I need to order to satisfy current demand.
> The GPS modules come from China, so there is about a two or three week wait
> them, so I want to make sure I have enough.
>
> For those not familiar, you can learn more about the TimeHat here:
> https://millerjs.org/timehat
>
> Regards,
> John
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send
> an email to time-nuts-leave at lists.febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.