[time-nuts] Re: Piezo Systems OCXO Data?

[Keelan Lightfoot]

Bob,

Thanks for the history, it’s always interesting looking back at the growth
of a corporate organism.

This is the oscillator in a Trimble 4000X GPS from 1987. It was producing
no output, but it didn’t have a chance to dig into it too deeply the night
before last, but I figured I’d get the ball rolling in finding a
replacement. The problem is that I don’t know what the output
characteristics or control voltage characteristics are to source a
replacement.

I had a chance to dig deeper last night, and in one of the RF modules
inside the receiver, I found two scorched inductors, and a very crispy and
guily looking tantalum capacitor. The capacitor shorted the output of the
LM317 that provides the +12V supply to the OCXO, which caused the two
inductors supplying the +14V input to the regulator to also combust,
eventually burning out the +14V fuse in the power supply.

The RF cans must be well sealed, because I didn't smell anything...
Thinking about it now, it may have happened years ago and failed open, but
me jostling it around on my bench may have closed a previously opened short.

And now I have a pile of tantalums on their way to re-cap the entire
receiver.

- Keelan

On Jun 13, 2023, at 6:43 PM, Bob Camp via time-nuts <
time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:

Hi

The ex-Piezo plant is now an exhibit hall that hosts things like the
reptile club show and various auto
auctions. Piezo folded into McCoy back in the 1990’s. McCoy was part of
Corning for a while. Then moved
to the Vectron / Dover empire. That spun off when Knowles and Dover split.
It then went to Microsemi.
Microsemi was bought by Microchip. The name on the sign in front of the
plant still was Microchip last
time I looked.

The only point in that is, it’s been a *long* time since that part was
made. I very much doubt anybody
currently with the (far removed) current company will know anything about
it.

Even back in the day, these parts did not get documented with customer
repairs as a goal. If you wanted
it fixed, you got a repair quote from the plant. The repair cost may or may
not have made sense to you. If
it did, you sent it back to the plant and they did what they could for the
quoted price.

Bob

On Jun 13, 2023, at 10:44 AM, Keelan Lightfoot via time-nuts <
time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:


I'm trying to track down a datasheet for a Piezo Systems OCXO, 10.000MHz,

P/N 281007-23. Address on the can is P.O. Box 619, Carlisle, PA, 1987 date

stamp. Mine appears to have died.


- Keelan

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