[time-nuts] NAVSTAR proteus GPS time and frequency unit

GandalfG8 at aol.com GandalfG8 at aol.com
Thu Nov 5 10:18:44 UTC 2015


Hi Steve,
 
I've got one of these, also came to me new in the box but that was  around 
twelve years ago and other than a short period of testing has stayed  there 
ever since, nothing wrong with it as far as I can remember  just  too much 
stuff, too much to do, and Thunderbolts and the like do take  up a bit less 
space:-)
 
How long do you have before you need to make a decision?, I can let you  
have a copy of the software if you want to play with that first, and  the 
manual too if you don't have ongoing access to it at the moment.
 
Interestingly, the Proteus software is badged Symmetricom, although I  
don't recall anything to suggest that they and Parthus had any working  
relationship.
 
My manual indicates the software as suitable for Win95, Win98, and NT,  
which does rather show its age:-), but I've run it ok on a P4 WinXP machine  
using a standard RS232 port.
I could try an installation under Win7 via a USB to serial adapter but my  
Proteus is tucked away in its box so I would need a bit of time to get it  
set up, and whilst that obviously won't confirm it will work with Win  10 it 
might at least be a step nearer.
 
Unfortunately whilst the manual does give information on the message format 
 for the time port output it doesn't for the control port, just refers to 
the  supplied CDU software.
Presumably it could be sniffed at the port but the manual does state that  
the messages are binary format and that a terminal emulator can't be  used 
for control.
 
The Proteus was supplied in 12, 24, and 48 Volt versions, and this will be  
indicated on the label on the unit. One thing to be aware of, just in case 
it  doesn't come with original antenna, is that the antenna port feeds 12 
Volts DC  to the antenna, rather than 5 Volts, or even 3.3 Volts, as often 
found  later. As far as I remember this isn't made clear in the manual.
 
Week 1024 rollover is discussed in the manual and shouldn't have been an  
issue, at least that's what they said for the 1999 rollover:-), but again I 
can  check that if you don't need to make a decision in the next day or so.
 
Regards
 
Nigel
GM8PZR
 

Hi all,
 
 I have the chance to buy a new boxed unit. Having glanced at the manual I
 understand that the configuration software runs under Windows 95 and uses a
 serial RS232 port. The only Windows box I have now runs Windows 10 and has
 USB only. So my questions are, can I run the config software under Windows
 10 and will a USB to serial adaptor work with it? I will need to make a
 power supply for it as I think it requires 24 volts. That should be no
 problem.
 
 Any comments great fully received.
 
 Thanks in advance,
 
 Steve G0XAR

 


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