[time-nuts] B.V.A. 8600 for sale
SAIDJACK at aol.com
SAIDJACK at aol.com
Thu Aug 29 19:03:57 UTC 2013
Here is my experience with trying to get one of these for very low noise
ADEV measurements:
* waited for some years for one to pop up on Ebay/Time-Nuts/Craigslist etc.
I even sent a couple of BVA WANTED emails to time-nuts in the past, no
response from anyone.
* called the factory, they quoted >$10K prices if I remember correctly,
out of my budget.
* emailed some known "BVA owners" and asked if they wanted to part with
one. No.
* asked the factory for demo units, used units, etc. None available.
* based on an old email, found one used for similar price, bought it, and
happy now
I agree, it's much cheaper to get a ULN oscillator from Wenzel for phase
noise measurements. Those tend to have not quite as good ADEV though (we have
a number of these) and because they drive the crystal with massive power
they age like crazy, but they do have very good phase noise.
For ADEV measurements, these BVA are great, much better than any Wenzel we
have. Potentially better to way better than the 10811. Not many 10811 will
perform in the xE-13 level close-in. 10811 also sometimes suffer from
crystal jumps, BVA's don't as far as I know due to the nature of the crystal
design.
If you need great phase noise, simply buy a used Wenzel ULN for a couple of
100 $$ and phase-lock it to the BVA. That way you can get excellent phase
noise, and ADEV at the same time. Likely one would do two measurements
anyway, one for phase noise and one for ADEV, that way there is no need to
phase lock a Wenzel to a BVA. That's the way we do it here - just use different
references for different measurements.
Those folks that need these and have large budgets (NIST, etc) probably
don't care if it costs $300, $3000, or $25K and the factory needs to pay its
employees and rent so their asking price is justified versus the small
volume they sell.
For us other folks having a seller offer these at $3000 is a nice
opportunity - if you happen to want exactly this unit. I just wish the seller would
rent a Rhode and Schwarz, Symmetricom or other ADEV/PN meter for a week
and specify the performance of these units.
Bye,
Said
In a message dated 8/29/2013 10:21:52 Pacific Daylight Time,
actast at hotmail.com writes:
I could be wrong but I thought when I priced these for work the BVA 8600
AT cut was substantially cheaper then that. I think the $11,000 is more in
line with a BVA 8607 SC cut with an option. But from my point of view the
close in Phase Noise on this particular oscillator is what dictates it's
value. These BVA 8600's typically range from 110 to better then 120 dB @ 1Hz
which is a big difference. If this BVA is at the low phase noise end of the
range it could be a real bargain at $3000.
Another option in the $3000 range is the Wenzel Blue Top ULPN oscillators.
It may not match a good BVA inside 1Hz but will have at least a 20dB
better noise floor from about 10KHz out. The other plus with a BVA is the the
Quartz is capacitive coupled where most other oscillators have metal
deposited directly on the Quartz which will interact over time and potentially
diminish performance. As Tom and other explained prices go up exponentially for
ULPN oscillators.
Thomas Knox
> Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 12:53:47 -0400
> From: paulswedb at gmail.com
> To: time-nuts at febo.com
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] B.V.A. 8600 for sale
>
> OK but like a new car the value drops 50% off the lot.
> Anyway you slice it as nice as this might be I will stick with the $100
and
> less 10544/1081s 105s and sulzers. I may be a time-nut. But I am not
> time-Nutz.
> Perhaps for the lab that need it that is a darned good price.
> Regards
> Paul
> WB8TSL/1
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 11:39 AM, Said Jackson <saidjack at aol.com> wrote:
>
> > Yup, I heard price goes up from there...
> >
> > Sent From iPhone
> >
> > On Aug 29, 2013, at 8:37, "Poul-Henning Kamp" <phk at phk.freebsd.dk>
wrote:
> >
> > > In message <572A741B-0213-4F1C-BA59-C2D396A031EC at aol.com>, Said
Jackson
> > writes:
> > >
> > >> These are about $11,000 or so new if I am not mistaken.
> > >
> > > Depends what options it has...
> > >
> > > --
> > > Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20
> > > phk at FreeBSD.ORG | TCP/IP since RFC 956
> > > FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe
> > > Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by
> > incompetence.
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