[time-nuts] Symmetricom TimeSource 2700

[Kevin Rosenberg]

On Nov 21, 2011, at 4:13 PM, Charles P. Steinmetz wrote:
> The whole point of the TS2700 is to be a Stratum 1 time source.  See the TS2700 manual at pp. 14 and 113.  The TS2700 clearly sends TOD information -- pretty much every BTMon window contains a TOD display.

Hi Charles,

Thanks very much for the information and your insights. Much appreciated.
Your point above is dead-on. I think the TS2700 is an excellent tool and its
"whole point" is clearly stated and very well executed.

Reading your post, I realize I had misspoke in a previous message using
the term 'dismayed'. The TS2700 gave me exactly what I was seeking, a spare
PRS10. There was a time when I would have also appreciated the T1 input and 
output 1.544 MHz references. I think I rather surprised the local RBOC's 
engineer in our town of 40,000 when I ordered a T1 and 30 voice circuits for
my bedroom back in 1994. As there was no internet service in that town when 
I moved there, I went about changing that.

I regret intimating that the TS2700 is anything less that it purports to be.
The reason for my posts about its internals is to see if it can do more that
what it advertises. Things like a unused cutout in the case with the label 
"GPS" on the inside and a BTMon error message about "PPS too high" makes me
wonder what the TS2700 can do beyond what's documented.

I do wonder about its TOD capabilities. Yes, the time of day is clear in the 
BTmon. Thanks for the explanation of the term "Craft". I see your point
that some time of day information is coming though the RS-232 and Craft outputs.

When I get the Rb back inside the TS2700, I look to see if any signals are coming
out of the DE-9F connector labelled as "TOD" on the case. The PDF manual labels
that connector as "Not used." As the BTMon software has a "TOD" option where
one can choose "Cisco" or "NTP" makes me think that there is a precision PPS
signal somewhere on the circuit board. With the error message of "Not implemented"
when one chooses "Cisco" or "NTP", my suspicion is output on the TOD connector
wasn't completed in firmware. But, perhaps a precision PPS will even be present
on one of the TOD connector's 9 pins. I look forward to further investigation.

Thanks again for your very informative post.

Kevin