[time-nuts] 10811 performance

Sun Jan 5 18:29:58 UTC 2020

I'm back, sorry for the delayed response.

My understands is in the HP 5340A counter (all HP counters?) the 10544 
or 10811 always has  power, regardless  of the power switch, as long as 
it is plugged in.  Everything at our work bench is always plugged in.

History
We (the radio club) have three HP 5340A counters, two 5345A counters and 
an HP 106B.  We took one of the 5340As and the 106B to the building with 
the Cs standard in a minivan with a 12V to 120V inverter.  The 106B had 
a good battery pack, but it was still powered with the inverter.  The 
first test was to put 10 MHz from the Cs standard into the counter, and 
it read 10000000. MHz.  We moved on to plan B, we put the output of the 
OCXO into a counter what was driven by the Cs standard.  The error was 
less then 0.1 Hz.  We made a little change to the 10811 and moved on to 
the 106.  The error on the 5 MHz output was again less than 0.1 Hz, we 
made a small change to it.  We ate our lunch and moved the counter cable 
back and forth between the 5340A and 106B and watched them. They both 
stabilized.  20 years latter, I don't recall what the final error was.  
It was much better than any piece of ham gear anyone would have.

In 2011 the club got relocated to three mobile home trailers. They have 
HVAC wall-packs, so we have Heat and AC 24/7 year-round.
Before the move the HVAC in the one room building that housed our work 
bench and VHF station stopped working.  The 106 also stopped working.  I 
started looking at a GPSDO after the move.  I picked up some 10811s and 
Navman Jupiter TU modules with 10 KHz output, but other projects came 
along and I lost interest in this.

Today:
This fall at a hamfest I got a working TrueTime XL-DC with antenna and 
feedline for $45, it has 1 ppp and IRIG-B, but no 10 MHz output.  This 
restarted my interest in this project.  Then I got some complaints from 
other club members that our HP Modulation Analyzer was both off 
frequency and the deviation measurement it was giving was also wrong.

The first goal is to have fun and learn something new.

At the club we  have 3 5340As (18 GHz), the 53131A (225 MHz), a pair of 
5435As that don't work, and the 106B that doesn't work.
The goal is to have a calibrated standard to drive all of our test 
equipment.  It should be accurate and precise enough to allow club 
members to calibrate their own equipment.  That would point to a GPSDO.  
A 10811 for start, the 106 if I can fix it.

At home I have several HP counters, 5340A (18 GHz), 5341A (4.5 GHz), 
5385A (1 GHz), 5386A (3 GHz) and a 5334B (100 MHz, dual channel, sill do 
TI), but none are calibrated.  I have a NI HPIB card I need to get 
working.  I have a HP Z3801A that I need to get a power supply for.  I 
have several 10811s, a pair of 105Bs, a Trimble 57963 board, and the 
simple complete Trimble 57963 system.  I also have a Brooks Shera board 
that is built, I have some connectors for it on the way.

I have a full set of time-nut toys to play with!  My view is I have no 
known working primary standards yet, so I'm starting from scratch.
I need to compare the Trimble GPSDO to something else.  The Z3801A or 
Brooks Shera's board controlling a 10811 or one of the 105Bs.

Thanks

Robert

On 12/26/2019 11:51 PM, Robert DiRosario wrote:
> I am trying to calibrate some equipment at the amateur radio club at 
> work, and my stuff.  We have an HP 5340A with a 10811 inside. It must 
> have been upgraded at some point in the past, the display uses Nixie 
> tubes.  I calibrated it c2000 using a HP Cs standard. That lab and 
> it's equipment are gone.  :-(
>
> From ebay / China I got a simple GPSDO that uses a Trimble 57963 
> inside.  I use the output of the 10811 in the 5340A to drive an HP 
> 53131A.  I then measured the 10 MHz output of the GPSDO using the HP 
> 53131A and got 10,000,000.08 Hz.
>
> Assuming the GPSDO is correct, is 0.08 Hz drift over 20 years a 
> reasonable amount of drift for an 10811?
>
> I have an HP Z3801A, once I get a power supply for it I can check the 
> other GPSDO.
>
> Thanks
>
> Robert
> KA3ZYX
>
> __________________

On 12/26/2019 11:51 PM, Robert DiRosario wrote:
> I am trying to calibrate some equipment at the amateur radio club at 
> work, and my stuff.  We have an HP 5340A with a 10811 inside. It must 
> have been upgraded at some point in the past, the display uses Nixie 
> tubes.  I calibrated it c2000 using a HP Cs standard. That lab and 
> it's equipment are gone.  :-(
>
> From ebay / China I got a simple GPSDO that uses a Trimble 57963 
> inside.  I use the output of the 10811 in the 5340A to drive an HP 
> 53131A.  I then measured the 10 MHz output of the GPSDO using the HP 
> 53131A and got 10,000,000.08 Hz.
>
> Assuming the GPSDO is correct, is 0.08 Hz drift over 20 years a 
> reasonable amount of drift for an 10811?
>
> I have an HP Z3801A, once I get a power supply for it I can check the 
> other GPSDO.
>
> Thanks
>
> Robert
> KA3ZYX
>
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On 12/26/2019 11:51 PM, Robert DiRosario wrote:
> I am trying to calibrate some equipment at the amateur radio club at 
> work, and my stuff.  We have an HP 5340A with a 10811 inside. It must 
> have been upgraded at some point in the past, the display uses Nixie 
> tubes.  I calibrated it c2000 using a HP Cs standard. That lab and 
> it's equipment are gone.  :-(
>
> From ebay / China I got a simple GPSDO that uses a Trimble 57963 
> inside.  I use the output of the 10811 in the 5340A to drive an HP 
> 53131A.  I then measured the 10 MHz output of the GPSDO using the HP 
> 53131A and got 10,000,000.08 Hz.
>
> Assuming the GPSDO is correct, is 0.08 Hz drift over 20 years a 
> reasonable amount of drift for an 10811?
>
> I have an HP Z3801A, once I get a power supply for it I can check the 
> other GPSDO.
>
> Thanks
>
> Robert
> KA3ZYX
>
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> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at lists.febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to 
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