[time-nuts] KS-24361 REF-0 standalone

paul swed paulswedb at gmail.com
Wed Sep 2 16:47:34 UTC 2015


To add a note to this fine conversation.
I have built up several different arduinos to drive the REF 0s using Dans
program. They all worked and the last unit is the postage stamp size
arduino mini.

Interestingly its close to the same form factor as the ublox neo6 I have
been using. A $11 wonder. Better GPS receivers yield even better results.
For the fun of it I hooked up a TBolt 1 PPS and because Dan uses an
interrupt to capture the TBolt 1PPS 10 us pulse it all works just fine. I
find that with a TBolt the reference jitters about + - 5 ns. Its a slow
forward and backward movement. But it does not slip from what I have seen.

The 15 pin connectors arrived from ebay. 10 for $3.59 and work perfectly. I
was worried that there might be an issue with pins 8-10. Not the case.

Regards
Paul
WB8TSL

On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 3:29 AM, Adrian Godwin <artgodwin at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for doing these write-ups.
>
> I've bought several units from the US supplier with the intention of
> getting shipping down to a sensible level, and have a lash-up based on your
> article which has had all the first few running. They won't lock to
> anything far off 1pps so need a properly working receiver or source
> (perhaps another ref-0) to test. An attempt to generate a 1pps signal from
> the micro as a quick test was a failure - too much variation or error for
> the loop to track.
>
> I'd also like to use the spare space inside the box - I'm planning to mount
> a beaglebone black there as a self-contained NTP server and reference
> source.The BBB can run gpsd to accept a wide range of receivers and supply
> the packets to the ref-0 with or without actual data. Perhaps your pcb
> design could allow for a suitable header as an alternative to the inboard
> micro.
>
> I'm don't yet know what receiver to choose : I'm currently using it with a
> Symmetricon 58534A  and also have some Oncore modules which will, of
> course, fit neatly in the box.
>
> I'm also interested in what could to be done to the 10MHz output. Bob has
> mentioned that it's not ideal but I'm not sure how to evaluate it or clean
> it up. Maybe that's a different project that would appeal to someone else
> here.
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 3:53 AM, Daniel Watson <watsondaniel3 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > All,
> >
> > I hope some more of you have had luck getting your REF-0s running
> > standalone.
> >
> > My earlier write-ups were focused on the bare minimum connections and
> code
> > needed to make a REF-0 work. Of course, external connections are not
> ideal
> > for long-term operations. The real end-state here is to have a nice board
> > with a modern GPS that will install cleanly inside the REF-0. I have
> > completed another write-up showing my work toward that goal. I show how
> you
> > can access all of the necessary pins on the REF-0 directly on the board,
> > without using the external Interface connector. I also show a simple
> > prototype of my custom REF-0 GPS board.
> >
> > Here's the write-up:
> >
> >
> >
> http://syncchannel.blogspot.com/2015/08/prototyping-gps-board-for-ks-24361-ref-0.html
> >
> >
> > If you just want to solder something together, you can easily house your
> > microcontroller and GPS on some protoboard as I did. This is the
> protoboard
> > I used, it fits almost perfectly where a real Oncore GPS would go. I just
> > had to widen the mounting holes with a drill.
> >
> >
> >
> http://www.amazon.com/10Pcs-Double-Sided-Protoboard-Prototyping/dp/B00NQ387TY
> >
> >
> > Beyond the prototype though, I personally want a nice PCB with a Ublox on
> > it for my REF-0s. I plan to work on that as I have time. Though now that
> my
> > summer break is over, time is a bit harder to find. :)
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Dan W.
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