[time-nuts] GPSDO advice

[Wes]

Hi Bob,

According to the USPS tracking number I'll have a BG7TBL GPSDO on Monday :-)

I really wanted to "Buy American" but a 10 dB price difference is worth taking 
the risk.

Wes

On 5/1/2020 7:29 PM, Bob kb8tq wrote:
> Hi
>
> I would guess that the vast majority of folks on the list and an even
> larger percentage doing the FMT are buying their GPSDO’s on eBay.
> Which ones they buy and how well the work is very much a “that depends
> sort of thing”.
>
> The crop of devices at low(er) prices changes every 3 to 5 years. Whatever
> is being torn apart right now will be contributing the low cost stuff. If you bought
> 5 years ago your choices were very different. Go back 5 or 10 years past that and
> the devices change again and then again.
>
> There’s no reason to believe that “things were better in the old days”. Mostly just
> different.  The issues have been worked out on stuff that hit eBay 20 years ago.
> That’s just the way it works. How well they have been worked out …. that depends
> on the device and how picky you are.
>
> This does not simply apply to GPSDO’s. A while back eBay was awash in telecom
> Rb’s. Some bought so many they can’t keep track of all of them. Today a $35 listing
> for an Rb is pretty unusual. That’s just supply and demand. Wait another 5 or 10
> years and we probably will be awash in cheap ones again.
>
> Right now “entry level” GPSDO’s are still below $100 delivered. That’s not all that
> crazy compared to a lot of gear in a typical shack or on a typical bench.
>
> Bob
>
>> On May 1, 2020, at 9:25 PM, Wes <wes at triconet.org> wrote:
>>
>> An update on this:
>>
>> I emailed both Jackson and Brandywine for prices on both the Desktop Fury, in Jackson's case, and the board versions from each of them.
>>
>> The good news is that they both were responsive.  The bad news is they are both out of my price range. Jackson by about 3 dB.  Brandywine clearly didn't want to sell me anything, as exemplified by a fee of $47 to use a credit card.
>>
>> As much as I would like to be more nutty, I can't justify spending this kind of money just to participate in ARRL FMTs where the only direction I have to go is down.
>>
>> Wes  N7WS
>>
>> On 4/24/2020 11:56 AM, Wes wrote:
>>> Taking some of the advice offered, I've emailed them for P&A.  I'll let you know if I hear back.
>>>
>>> Wes
>>>
>>> On 4/24/2020 10:45 AM, Kevin Rowett wrote:
>>>>> On Apr 24, 2020, at 10:32 AM, Mark Spencer <mark at alignedsolutions.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Speaking both as an amateur radio operator and some one who modestly pursues precision time and frequency as a hobby, I am extremely happy with my Jackson Labs Fury
>>>>> GPSDO.
>>>> Speaking of Jackson Labs, has anyone heard from them, since the lockdown commenced?
>>>>
>>>> KR