[time-nuts] Re: Austron Oscillator Products

[Bob Camp]

Hi

Austron from that era could be an OCXO, it could easily be something else. 

It likely was made custom for an OEM and their specific application. Like everybody else in the business, those custom specs did not get published “to the world”. The OEM didn’t want folks reverse engineering their gear. The oscillator manufacturer didn’t want to make it easy for a competitor to supply the part. 

Best guess is that the main part number is something like 1170-0103A. That would be Austron’s internal number. The key is that “0103A” part. Each of those dashes would be a very different design. As I recall 1170 was a package size in their approach to numbering things. I could easily be wrong about that.

If it has another part number on the label like 302559-55, it’s a good bet that is the OEM’s part number.  Sometimes you can work out who the OEM was from the way they do their own part numbers. 

154 ma at 28V ( = 4.4W) is bit low for an oven of that era at start up. It’s not crazy low, but something >= 2X that would be more common. Terminated output levels up in the > 13 dbm range (on two independent outputs) likely would chew up a good chunk of that power. 

In some applications, people used little plug on connectors to supply power to an OCXO. Just why always baffled me. Was it done in this case? Who knows … doing it that way was rare. 

If it comes up on frequency and moves < 10 ppm in the first 10 minutes, it’s not an OCXO. If it moves > 40 ppm in < 10 minutes, it is an OCXO. 

Bob

> On Feb 26, 2024, at 10:32 PM, skipp isaham via time-nuts <time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello to the Group,
> 
> I picked up three or four Austron Inc (Austin Texas) Crystal Oscillators, all appear to be Model 1170.  52.000000 MHz and 28 VDC operation. The two power feed-through (capacitor type bulkhead) connections are clean, bare and unsoldered, so I'm assuming these units were never used.
> 
> The trusty Fluke Multi-meter indicated one of the two connections (XE1) was near/same as chassis ground, so input power (+28Vdc to XE2) was applied. Metered initial current was about 154 mA and the unloaded J1 output looks like a very clean sine of at least 6 to 8 Vp-p and nearly spot on 52.00xxx initial start up.
> 
> There are two SMA jacks (J1 & J2), both seem to have the same output wave form.  Date of MFG is 10/81 and the part number is 302549-88
> 
> Little info on the current status of Austron seems to turn up in my initial web searching. These type of search results often mean the company is gone and/or swallowed up ("merged") by another company.
> 
> Would anyone here on the group have a basic history or Austron and possibly some data on their crystal oscillator line. I did see other oscillator models offered on Ebay as well as other products.
> 
> Based on the current draw, visual appearance, date of MFG and it being a high precision oscillator, I'm assuming it's got an internal oven, although it didn't start to get warm after the initial 20 min power on time.
> 
> Thank you in advance for your replies, see some of you at Hamvention 2024.
> 
> cheers,
> 
> skipp
> 
> skipp025 at yahoo dot com
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at lists.febo.com
> To unsubscribe send an email to time-nuts-leave at lists.febo.com