[time-nuts] Ebay FE-5680A Rb: Connections and Features
EWKehren at aol.com
EWKehren at aol.com
Mon Jan 9 17:36:11 UTC 2012
In some cases they have been cough having some one bid up the price.
Bert Kehren
In a message dated 1/9/2012 11:05:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
ed_palmer at sasktel.net writes:
On 1/9/2012 7:21 AM, GandalfG8 at aol.com wrote:
> Hi Roy
>
> There's some very good stuff coming out of China via Ebay, but some
does
> come with confusion attached and it's probably best never to place too
much
> reliance on descriptions unless for items reasonably well known or with
> relevant documentation available.
>
> Just to add to the confusion, quite a few sellers seem to use multiple
IDs,
> sometimes blatantly obvious but sometimes not, and also exhibit almost
> paranoid behaviour at times when it comes to not sharing information with
> those considered to be local competitors. The paranoia, of course,
might be
> well founded:-)
One other aspect of their paranoia is that many of the Chinese sellers
make all their auctions private. It makes me wonder what they're
hiding. Maybe their paranoia is a bit contagious. :-) Private
auctions really annoy me because if I see some negative ratings, I can't
tell what item they were complaining about. Maybe it was the item I was
interested in, maybe not. But since I can't tell, I'm likely to take my
business elsewhere.
> Probably best not to assume either that any of these sellers are too
well
> informed electronically.
I asked one of the Fe-5680A sellers if his unit had the 1 PPS output on
pin 6. If he had been testing the units, it would have been trivial for
him to check. I never received a response from him. I won't be buying
anything from him in the future.
> If you think it can be confusing with the surplus commercial gear, just
> wait until you see what they can do when they start to dabble with
design,
> either their own or those "borrowed" from elsewhere:-)
>
> The FE5680A has certainly been one of the confusing items, firstly just
> because there are a number of variants that aren't publicly documented
but
> not helped again by some sellers providing incorrect information.
I've noticed that they often copy their competitor's information -
particularly amusing when you know that all of them are wrong!
Ed
> I wouldn't necessarily describe the current batch of cheaper FE5680As as
> basic though, or even non programmable.
> They provide both 10MHz and 1PPS outputs, I've identified a well defined
> 1uS 5V pulse available on pin 6 despite doubts in some quarters, and are
> programmable to the extent that the output frequency can be trimmed under
> computer control with a fair degree of accuracy and without any of the
possible
> longer term problems sometimes associated with variable resistors.
> They certainly beat at least one of my FE5660As, an FRS-C compatible
unit,
> where the internal trimmer fell off the PCB in transit:-)
>
> regards
>
> Nigel
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 09/01/2012 11:57:22 GMT Standard Time,
> phill.r1 at btinternet.com writes:
>
> Nigel
> Thanks for your information. The data given by Bert seems to be getting
> more
> sensible, and I think you will agree that of all the items that have
been
> purchased and discussed on "Time-Nuts", this one is hands down for
> confusion. One of the reasons for my trusting and buying from Bob (Fluke
> I)
> is that he is well informed, , has good electronic knowledge and has
> always
> provided good items of gear. It would seem that the number of Chinese
> sellers has increased in the recent past and many of them would seem to
> have
> little knowledge of the products and even less English to answer
> questions.
> Again it would seem that if you buy the "cheapies" then you probably
have
> the basic, non programmable model. I guess the guys at FE are all
falling
> about when they see our predicament !
>
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