[time-nuts] 58503A alarm light on

[Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd)]

On 5 Apr 2015 02:26, "Charles Steinmetz" <csteinmetz at yandex.com> wrote:
> One expects a safety factor between the minimum spec and typical
operation.  I'd be concerned if a 58503 was consistently predicting >2uS
(to me, >2uS means "I may still meet spec, but I'm not as stable as I
should be").
>
> Best regards,
>
> Charles

I gathered from Said and others these oscillators can take a long time to
reach their best stability - up to a year. How good they are then is just
luck.

Given mine was e-waste at some point in Hong Kong,  and has certainly been
in water, the oscillator has probably had a hard time.

I have now had two other people email me to say that the alarm light lit on
their 58503A recently.  One person emailed me 2 hours ago and said it
happened 2-4 days ago.  Mine was about 5 days ago. And another person said
"recently", but I don't know how recent that is.

I am beginning to wonder if the impending leapsecond could be the cause of
the alarm.

My antenna location could be improved,  but so can any antenna
installation. I could push it up so it is a couple of metres clear of the
garage - currently it is mounted to the side of the garage,  about 500 mm
above the apex. If I mounted the mast on the garage,  rather than a fence
post, it would be more in the clear of the garage.  I can't clear my house
or a neighbours house, but they are both a reasonable distance away.

Dave