[time-nuts] BG7TBL FA1 frequency analyzer

[Mark Sims]

Yes, it should work with Timelab, Stable32, etc.  It streams a series of frequency measurements every second out the USB port (it uses a FTDI chip for the USB interface).  The data is of the format:
"   F:0123456789.123456789<cr><lf>"  (without the quotes)

Measurements with a PLL unlock error are preceded by an '*'.   I've only seen unlocks when changing the input freq from say 1 MHz to 10 MHz.  I get two flagged measurements each time the freq changed.   I don't know how small a freq change can cause an unlock.

I don't know if Timelab can directly take the output data stream because of the leading "F:".  You may need to capture data to a file and edit off the "   F:"

I also don't know how well it would work for phase noise measurements... it would be no where as good as a TimePod.   I am doing some tests to see how well it compares to a TAPR TICC.

BTW,  my FA1 seems to have a frequency measurement bias of around -0.0002 Hz on a 10 MHz signal.  Also, I don't see any temperature related variation in the measurements... air conditioning was swinging the room temp over a 2 degree C span and I saw no traces of it in the results.