[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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