[time-nuts] NTS-100 IRIG to GPS Conversion - (Was Tymserve 2100-

Jim Palfreyman jim2 at tasmail.com
Thu Jan 11 05:00:49 UTC 2007


>From my *memory* (the board is at home, I'm at work) the pinout sounds correct.

I've just realised when I said the default is TAIP, that that is how mine were configured - but mine were surplus too. I get TAIP output (it's all 0s) from power up even before a lock. The 1PPS will only start after a lock, but will be independent of any settings - I don't believe it can be turned off.

As to software - no I haven't gone there yet. I would guess www.trimble.com would be the place to start. I've only been talking to the ACE III via a home built serial cable (with the max232 chip) and minicom using a linux laptop.

I'm guessing that if it's configured to TSIP it may be hard to configure back or change without the software since TSIP uses binary codes, whereas TAIP uses ascii.

But no matter you can tell if your unit is working by connecting an antenna, power on pins 2 and 8, wait 5 minutes and see the 1PPS on pin 6. You will of course need an oscilloscope that can detect a 10 uS pulse. It was a very faint narrow line on my old crappy analogue cro. My new Tektronix TDS1012B sees it very easily!!

Regards,

Jim


On Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 09:55:20 PM, Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement wrote:

> Jim,
> 
> I'm assuming the ACE II & ACE III are the same (that's what Trimble says), I
> have both PDF manuals and it's almost like they just did a find/replace to
> update the model number and leave everything else the same. The pin-outs are
> the same, just in the ACE II manual they point out Pin 1, in the ACE III
> they don't.
> 
> Double check me, just to make sure - If you were looking at the board with
> the pins facing up and towards the front (so the antenna connector would be
> on the back), Pin 1 would be the left front pin. I don't know why they
> didn't mark the PCB or mention it in the ACE III manual... Bad Trimble...
> Bad...
> 
> The units I have someone removed from some equipment I think, so I don't
> know how they were configured. Just from the initial power-on I wasn't
> getting any 1-second data, but then again I also didn't leave it on long
> enough before I left to update itself from a "cold start". What worried me
> was there was a short data cable already attached, but Pin 1 on the cable
> was the wrong side! Some of the cables were even hot-glued to the boards.
> They must of just been surplus/pre-made cables though, a couple had an extra
> row of sockets.
> 
> I haven't even read the full manual yet, so I don't know what features it
> has and specifications. I don't expect it to be any better or worse than
> other GPS modules from the late 90's / early 2K.
> 
> Will update more tomorrow once I make some headway (or blow something up).
> 
> Jason
> 
> 
> > Well I'm playing with the ACE III at the moment too. I have 
> > one driving my home built GPS based clock (I only use the 1 
> > PPS in that) and I have another ACE III on the bench for 
> > fiddling and so I've been recently talking to it via its serial ports.
> > 
> > The default mode is TAIP on port 1. The actual pinouts of the 
> > ACE III are not clear in the ACE III technical manual - I had 
> > to email Trimble to get them. Let me know if you want them. 
> > (The pinout descriptions are in the manual just not which is 
> > pin 1 etc).
> > 
> > Don't forget the ACE III serial ports talk TTL and so your 
> > conversion cable will need to convert this to RS-232. I use 
> > the max232 chip. All it needs is a few 0.1 uF capacitors and 
> > a 5V supply. The default baud rate is 4800.
> > 
> > The 1PPS pin is a good indication if you've got a lock on a 
> > satellite. If you lose lock, the 1PPS continues for about 10 
> > seconds and then stops. It's a 10uS pulse.
> > 
> > A cold start of the ACE III can take a number of minutes to lock.
> > 
> > Hope some of this may be of some use and I'd be interested in 
> > anyone's opinion or experiences of the ACE III.
> > 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > Jim
> > 
> 
> 
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