[time-nuts] TrueTime XL-AK Questions

[al wolfe]

Dick,
    I have had a couple of the XL-AK receivers here for several years.
They both do not have the down converter option and do put out 5 volts
to the antenna jack. It is simple to measure with a volt meter into
the antenna jack.

    While they kind of worked with a hockey-puck antenna, they are
much happier with a bullet type of amplified antenna. They would loose
satellite lock from time to time with the hockey-puck but are rock
steady with the bullet.

    If the antenna is open or shorted you will get an alarm. Manual is on line.

    IIRC, using the down-converter option for long feedlines was
paired with an up- converter in the  receiver. If you have the
up-converter in your receiver you may be able to just bypass it.

Al


> Hi
>
> The older GPS units had a downconverter in the antenna and passed an IF
> frequency
> back to the receiver. There also was an era when the standard antenna was
> fed 12V
> (rather than 5V) and had 50 db of gain (rather than 20 to 30 db). Most
> modern hockey
> pucks will be unhappy with 12V.
>
> Bob
>
>> On Aug 25, 2017, at 6:13 PM, Richard Solomon <w1ksz at outlook.com> wrote:
>>
>> I was given two of these about 20 some years ago. At that time they both
>> worked
>>
>> fine, except the "keep-alive" batteries were quite low. But they did lock
>> up to the
>>
>> GPS Satellites.
>>
>>
>> I pulled one out today to try out (slow day !!) but I had this nagging
>> feeling that
>>
>> they required a different antenna than the run of the mill GPSDO. I have
>> one of
>>
>> the e-Bay "hockey puck" antennas hooked up to it and the status window
>> says
>>
>> ..."looking for satellites"... .
>>
>>
>> Do the TrueTimes require something special in an antenna ?
>>
>>
>> Thanks, Dick, W1KSZ