[time-nuts] Am I doing something wrong?

[Bob kb8tq]

Hi

The steering on the TBolt comes from code phase measurements on the 
incoming GPS signals. The pps is derived directly from the 10 MHz by 
division. Since the OCXO is phase locked to the GPS, the PPS follows 
along. Indeed they have the usual “reset the counter” stuff when things
are big time out of whack. It would take a long time to get things to align 
if they didn’t do that. 

The problem with measuring the OCXO via LH is that she gets the info
*from* the TBolt. There is no direct measurement capability in the software.
If the TBolt is confused, it is unlikely to feed back accurate data. If a counter
is unavailable a radio and WWV would do just fine for this sort of check. 

Bob

> On Sep 25, 2019, at 2:55 PM, Bill Beam <wbeam at gci.net> wrote:
> 
> I am not sure, but I belive that DAC steering may be derived from GPS PPS
> compared to osc derived PPS signal.  There may be a component failure
> blocking the PPS signal(s).  Is there a pulse on the PPS output port?
> 
> There is no documentation of the hardware available....
> 
> 
> On Wed, 25 Sep 2019 12:20:08 -0400, Roger Rehr W3SZ wrote:
> 
>> Thanks to Bill and Mike for the very helpful info!
>> Unfortunately, doing warm reset, cold reset, factory reset, multiple 
>> self surveys did not solve the problem.
>> Forcing Disciplining to Enabled did not help.
>> Tuning the oscillator did not help.
> 
>> I can manually control the DAC voltage using appropriate commands and 
>> the 10 MHz output changes appropriately following each manual command.
>> But the DAC voltage doesn't respond to GPS input.
> 
>> I note from my old records that when the unit is working properly and 
>> the DAC IS being controlled by the GPS, Lady Heather still says "Doing 
>> fixes", because fixes are in fact being done.-  But when Lady Heather is 
>> working properly, she says that the Discipline mode is "Normal" instead 
>> of "Power-Up" as she does now.
> 
>> I used TBoltMon.exe to see if I could get any more info on the problem.-  
>> In TBoltMon.exe's GUI under "Disciplining Status" Mode is listed as "(1) 
>> Power-up" and Activity is listed as "(1) Osc Warm-up".
> 
>> So I wondered if the problem is that the Thunderbolt thinks that the 
>> oscillator has not warmed up and therefore won't come out of Power-Up 
>> mode.-  But the manual says that the Tunderbolt won't start acquiring 
>> satellites and do the self survey until it has warmed up.-  And the 
>> situation is that it has acquired satellites and it has done the self 
>> survey, both of which would suggest that it thinks that the oscillator 
>> HAS warmed up.-  The the TBoltMon reading on the oscillator status seems 
>> to be inconsistent with how the Thunderbolt is performing;-  it is acting 
>> like the oscillator IS warmed up, at least in some respects.
> 
>> Are there any schematics or diagrams or service manuals available for 
>> the Thunderbolt?-  I couldn't find any with Google.
> 
>> Thanks again to Bill and Mike and all for your help!
> 
>> 73,
> 
>> Roger
>> W3SZ
> 
> 
>> On 9/24/2019 1:32 PM, Roger Rehr W3SZ wrote:
>>> HI All,
>>> 
>>> I am wondering if I have set up my Trimble Thunderbolt wrong.
>>> 
>>> I have corrected for roll-over and everything looks good in Lady 
>>> Heather but the Thunderbolt stays in Power-up mode according to Lady 
>>> Heather, and is always "doing fixes" even though I have entered the 
>>> lat and lon for a fixed location.
>>> 
>>> According to Lady Heather Disciplining is OK, and of course the log 
>>> reflects this as well
>>> 
>>> #! new minor alarm state 0800:-  Tracking sats- -  Discipline OK- -  : at 
>>> tow 235167
>>> 
>>> You can see the situation from this screen grab of Lady Heather:
>>> http://w3sz.com/TrimbleLadyHeather.PNG
>>> 
>>> Have I done something wrong in configuration, or is this consistent 
>>> Power-up mode and "doing fixes" notation the expected behavior?
>>> 
>>> I am using the Thunderbolt as at 10 MHz source for my microwave station.
>>> 
>>> Thanks in advance and 73,
>>> 
>>> Roger Rehr
>>> W3SZ
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> Bill Beam
> NL7F
> 
> 
> 
> 
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