[time-nuts] What are people paying for Stanford PRS10 rubidium standards?

David Kirkby david.kirkby at onetel.net
Wed Apr 27 07:26:17 UTC 2005


Rex wrote:
> I've had mixed results buying from that seller. Never a deliberate scam,
> but one xtal oscillator that seems to be not quite right while other
> things were fine.

Em, I'll let you know how it works for me, as I have just bought the PRS10.

> The worst experience was buying a FEI 5680 Rubidium, though. Brian Kirby
> and I bought around the same time and swapped emails as we were having
> the same experience. Glossa advertised them as tested good,
> programmable, and pointed to several documents on the web. Turns out
> none of that information was actually correct for these units. After
> sending one back and getting a replacement that worked (actually didn't
> work) the same, I finally figured how to power it correctly by tracing
> circuits and got it working.

That does sound dishonest.

> I have never figured out how to program these things. In fact I know of
> no way to adjust the frequency at all, so its live with it as it runs
> now.  So I find it pretty hard to figure how he tested them, if he
> couldn't tell us how to power them. He has a 'friend' who knows how to
> program them, but couldn't tell us how or give us a contact for
> 'friend'. He claims lots of other satisfied buyers of these units, but I
> can't see why unless they have access to more information than I do.

I guess people do not always want to program the things. The Stanford is 
programmable, but I bet a lot of people just buy them with a view to it 
being an accurate source, and leave it at that.

The trouble I had with the 10811-60111 / 10811A is another example. It 
seems people are buying those as ovened oscillators, not realising the 
10811-60111 is not such a high spec device as the 10811A.

> So, much of his stuff is good, but not all, and don't take everything he
> says as fact.

OK. I'm pretty sure the documents I have related to that device are 
correct. I will however quickly check if it is programmable via the 
serial interface.

-- 
Dr. David Kirkby,
G8WRB

Please check out http://www.g8wrb.org/
of if you live in Essex http://www.southminster-branch-line.org.uk/






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