[time-nuts] Meaning of "SS" on status screen from 58503A

[Bob Camp]

Hi

SS is signal strength. There is a setting somewhere buried deep in the SCPI to switch the display units.

Bob

> On Dec 14, 2014, at 2:40 PM, Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd) <drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to make sense of the output from the status screen of this GPSDO
> 
> E-113> :SYSTEM:STATUS?
> ------------------------------- Receiver Status -------------------------------
> 
> SYNCHRONIZATION ............................................. [ Outputs Valid ]
> SmartClock Mode ___________________________   Reference Outputs _______________
>>> Locked to GPS                              TFOM     3             FFOM     0
>   Recovery                                   1PPS TI +48.6 ns relative to GPS
>   Holdover                                   HOLD THR 1.000 us
>   Power-up                                   Holdover Uncertainty ____________
>                                              Predict  8.5 us/initial 24 hrs
> 
> ACQUISITION ................................................ [ GPS 1PPS Valid ]
> Tracking: 6 ____   Not Tracking: 1 ________   Time ____________________________
> PRN  El  Az   SS   PRN  El  Az                UTC      19:12:37     14 Dec 2014
>  5  43 191   71    21  13 307                GPS 1PPS Synchronized to UTC
> 13  67  96   59                              ANT DLY  0 ns
> 15  36 290   52                              Position ________________________
> 26  81 307   50                              MODE     Hold
> 28  50 108   53
> 30  39  62   45                              LAT      N  51:39:04.122
>                                              LON      E   0:46:36.379
> ELEV MASK 10 deg                              HGT               +44.16 m  (MSL)
> HEALTH MONITOR ......................................................... [ OK ]
> Self Test: OK    Int Pwr: OK   Oven Pwr: OK   OCXO: OK   EFC: OK   GPS Rcv: OK
> E-113>
> 
> 
> What does the "SS" mean? According to the 58503A / 59551A *Symmetricom* manual
> 
> http://www.leapsecond.com/museum/hp59551a/097-59551-02-iss-1.pdf
> 
> there should be a "C/N" there, not a "SS". The manual says 50 is the
> maximum value for C/N, and 35 is the minimum for stable tracking. The
> fact I have four satellites showing an SS of over 50 indicates that I
> can't just assume SS=C/N.
> 
> The manual for the 58503B,
> 
> http://www.leapsecond.com/museum/hp58503a/097-58503-13-iss-1.pdf
> 
> which I assume is a later model than the 58503A, says again C/N is
> used on the 58503B, but it does say "SS" is used on the 59551A, which
> is a quite a different beast - it does not have a 10 MHz output. For
> that it says SS ranges from 0 to 255, and that 20-30 is weak. *IF* I
> can assume the SS in the 58503A works the same was as SS in the
> 59551A, then it looks like I have 6 satellites which are not weak. But
> that is a big "IF"
> 
> Does anyone have an HP manual for the 58503A?
> 
> Dr. David Kirkby Ph.D CEng MIET
> Kirkby Microwave Ltd
> Registered office: Stokes Hall Lodge, Burnham Rd, Althorne, Essex, CM3 6DT, UK.
> Registered in England and Wales, company number 08914892.
> http://www.kirkbymicrowave.co.uk/
> Tel: 07910 441670 / +44 7910 441670 (0900 to 2100 GMT only please)
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