[time-nuts] Re: Drop-in replacement receiver boards for Z3801A

[Art Sepin]

Hi Larry - I apologize for the delay. Your original request to be added to our replacement board list was in one of several folders that got corrupted so many other names are missing also! Unfortunately, we're still backlogged on direct responses too. Anyone interested should send price and delivery requests to Gina who is copied on this e-mail and technical support questions to me. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

This is an active product, ADEV better than original receivers, and a datasheet is here:
https://synergy-gps.com/synergy-products/ssr-series-ut-vp-single-board-replacement/

Art


-----Original Message-----
From: Larry McDavid via time-nuts <time-nuts at lists.febo.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 4:30 PM
To: Gregory Beat via time-nuts <time-nuts at lists.febo.com>
Cc: Larry McDavid <lmcdavid at lmceng.com>
Subject: [time-nuts] Re: Drop-in replacement receiver boards for Z3801A

Greg, do you know if Synergy is actively selling this board and how?

I ask because I sent them an inquiry from their website message system and have no reply.

I have several HP Z-3801A units and have had one receiver fail. I would like to have a replacement, especially an upgraded one. Several here have reported good results with the Synergy board but all those were apparently ordered long ago and just recently delivered. I'm wondering if the board is an active product...

Best wishes,

Larry McDavid W6FUB
Anaheim, California (SE of Los Angeles, near Disneyland)

On 1/31/2024 7:51 AM, Gregory Beat via time-nuts wrote:
> The Synergy SSR-series UT+/VP Single Board Replcement
> https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsyne
> rgy-gps.com%2Fsynergy-products%2Fssr-series-ut-vp-single-board-replace
> ment%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cart%40synergy-gps.com%7Cbb7c360b4edb4cd6d2d808d
> c23718999%7Cc81f9fdec0e04d8c95779afaa0cad9ed%7C1%7C0%7C638424217768927
> 413%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTi
> I6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bU1%2Bx39rZtwuqOR%2BuIKGy7
> Uzn6UESoehVgF2pAnpVqY%3D&reserved=0
> does have a modern u-processor with ability to upgrade its firmware (future-proof).
> 
> The Synergy SSR board converts Ublox GPS receiver’s native protocol to that of the obsolete Motorola Oncore VP/UT+ receivers.  Since modern Ublox receivers detect and receiver more than 8 or 12 satellite, the u-processor (MCU) can select the “Best” 8 or 12 GPS satellites to send to GPSDO (in Oncore format). The form factor and 10-pin (2x5) header connection is identical to the late 1990s Motorola Oncore receivers.
> 
> WHY BUY or UPGRADE ?
> * Revive from junk pile (dumpster) that GPSDO with a Dead Oncore receiver.
> * Modern sensitive receiver (ublox), better ADEV observed and graphed
> * Faster GPS Lock, “Best of N” sats passed to GPSDO.
> * Fix the annoying Week Number Roll Over (WNRO) issue.
> * Future Proofing with ability to upgrade u-processor firmware.
> —
> Symmetricom 58503B
> In 2017, I acquired this late GPSDO model that was “thrown in a closet” from a former ‘Mom & Pop’ cellular company. It had less than 1,000 hours of operation and WNRO may have been mistaken for broken.  This 58503B used the Oncore M12+ GPS receiver with a Goshay Group (Norridge, CA) Adapter board (Form factor, command changes).
> —
> I started talking to Art Sepin at Synergy about this specific 58503B configuration in 2022.  As Art noted earlier, I sent my 58503B to his experienced software team for full testing.  This testing involved both the UT+/VP receiver replacement (solution I’m using) as well as M12+ receiver replacement with my Goshay adapter board.
> 
> Since this was one of the last production runs of the 58503B, a few additional commands (Bob’s fiddly problems) were detected between the Symmetricom’s firmware & the GPS receiver.  These were addressed in the latest firmware.
> 
> As Bob noted, this was not an easy task. However, after 2 years of work, I believe a good solution now exists for Oncore replacement.  I tested it with Lady Heather, SatStat, and SCPI commands.
> 
> greg, w9gb
> chicago
> ==
> Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2024 09:58:43 -0500
> From: Bob Camp <kb8tq at n1k.org>
> Subject: [time-nuts] Re: Drop-in replacement receiver boards for 
> Z3801A
> To: <time-nuts at lists.febo.com>
> 
> Hi
> 
> Just a random comment …..
> 
> The Ublox series parts speak a *very* different language than the old Motorola parts. Dropping a stock version of one chip in place of the other isn’t going to work. You either need a custom version of the base chip or some sort of MCU on the board to translate languages. Either way, there’s a whole lot of hard work (and testing) that needs to be done to make that work right. There are a number of fiddly problems you get into. Not at all an easy task.
> 
> Bob
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