[time-nuts] Releasing sources (was Re: Brooks Shera)

Bob Camp lists at rtty.us
Thu Mar 28 21:25:34 UTC 2013


Hi

The BNC on the back is indeed a nice clean 10 MHz sine wave. The odd stuff comes out of the SMB jacks. The antenna is SMB as well, but at least some of the sellers include N to SMB adapter cables. The big D connector on the back has a bunch of LVDS 1/2 pps and LVDS CDMA chip x 4 outputs. There is also an RS-485 line and an LVDS loopback line. The beast runs with LH and responds to most of the normal stuff. It does not save the results of an auto-tune, but that's not as bad as a TBolt. The numbers they have as defaults are a lot closer to what they should be. They have a switcher in them, so no need for strange supplies. They have a switcher in them, so you get interesting spurs (just like the TBolt without a switcher …). Phase noise floor on the OCXO isn't quite as good as a TBolt, or the buffer amp really isn't doing it's job. 

Bob


On Mar 28, 2013, at 5:01 PM, paul swed <paulswedb at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes they do seem inexpensive at $139. I looked at some pix on e### and its
> not clear what port the 10 Mhz comes out of. There is a BNC on the back
> thats labeled BIT. Built in test.
> But that doesn't make much sense.
> Regards
> Paul
> WB8TSL
> 
> On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 4:48 PM, Bob Camp <lists at rtty.us> wrote:
> 
>> Hi
>> 
>> Thunderbolts may make a comeback one of these days. Who knows what's
>> sitting waiting to be scrapped out.
>> 
>> At the risk of running up the price - the Trimble EBSCTM's are as good as
>> a TBolt, and at the moment cheaper. They do lack a pps output, but 10 MHz
>> seems to be the more popular output on the TBolt. For NTP use, they have a
>> bunch of 1/2 pps (pulse every other second) outputs.
>> 
>> Bob
>> 
>> On Mar 28, 2013, at 4:11 PM, Chris Albertson <albertson.chris at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Some times a project will "take off" when the number of users reaches
>>> a critical mass.  There are many Open Source projects where the
>>> initial creator is long gone but the project lives on.    How to get a
>>> project to that stage?  First off you need numbers of users put allso
>>> you need some kind of communications forum like this one where the
>>> uesrs can help each other.  In other words you need to build a
>>> community around the project.
>>> 
>>> With the Thunderbolts getting more expensive we might see interrest
>>> agin on home brew GPSDOs.  A comunity could ddevelope about these.
>>> That would be the goal of every Open Source author, to get out of the
>>> job of support and pass that job on to the community.
>>> 
>>> On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 11:16 AM, NeonJohn <jgd at neon-john.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 03/25/2013 09:36 AM, Jim Lux wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> One reason is that if one DOES release source, one will wind up
>>>>> supporting it, because generally, we all nice people and helpful, and
>>>>> it's hard to tell someone no when they send an email asking how to get
>>>>> it to compile on Version N+3 when you used version N, etc.  This can be
>>>>> a real distraction from whatever else you are doing.
>>>> 
>>>> Boy, you can say that again.  And open source hardware is even worse.  A
>>>> couple of years ago I put up an open source induction heater on my site.
>>>> Everything included - schematics, board layouts, CAD files, theory of
>>>> operation, how to wind the transformer - in short, everything I could
>>>> think of.  There's even a kit available from Fluxeon.com.
>>>> 
>>>> Yet I probably spend an hour a day responding to emails about that
>>>> project.  Approximately 100% of the questions are either answered on my
>>>> site or by a little googling.  It's getting to be enough of a burden
>>>> that I'm considering taking the page down.
>>>> 
>>>> I'm a dedicated supporter of Open Source but this experience has
>>>> tempered my enthusiasm a bit.
>>>> 
>>>>> And then there's the folks who argue with you about your implementation
>>>>> or coding style.
>>>> 
>>>> Or electrical design style.  I think that the people who want to argue
>>>> design, especially "what if I did this?" type arguments are more
>>>> tiresome than the software know-it-alls.
>>>> 
>>>> People need to really think and do their Google homework before hitting
>>>> the email button on a project site.
>>>> 
>>>> John
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> John DeArmond
>>>> Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
>>>> http://www.fluxeon.com      <-- THE source for induction heaters
>>>> http://www.neon-john.com    <-- email from here
>>>> http://www.johndearmond.com <-- Best damned Blog on the net
>>>> PGP key: wwwkeys.pgp.net: BCB68D77
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>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
>>> Chris Albertson
>>> Redondo Beach, California
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