[time-nuts] Thunderbolt initial check out?

J. L. Trantham jltran at att.net
Sun Sep 19 23:23:55 UTC 2010


Russell,

Load TBoltMon on your computer, connect the TBolt to the Serial Port,
connect the antenna, connect the power supply (make sure of the correct
connections), fire up your computer, then turn on the TBolt, double click
the TBoltMon icon, select the appropriate port, and just watch what happens.
If you have a power supply that monitors voltage and current, the +12VDC
will go > 550 mA for about 5 minutes then settle around 130 mA after the
oven stabilizes, the +5VDC will be around 250 mA, and the -12VDC will be
extremely low, maybe 5 mA.

Should not take too long (30 to 45 minutes for a first acquisition) before
all indicators are 'in the green' as shown on TBoltMon.

Since you apparently do not have another 'standard', you'll just have to
trust that the output frequency is correct, assuming all is 'in the green'.

Caution, this can be addicting.

Joe



-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of russell
Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2010 5:48 PM
To: time-nuts at febo.com
Subject: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt initial check out?


This is my first attempt at having a time reference for my home lab.   I
have recently ordered a pulled / untested Tbolt (board in box wo/ power
supply) from ebay.  It has a 5 day right to return if non functional.  While
waiting to receive the unit, I have been getting things ready here (antenna,
power supplies w/ connector, and TboltMon).

My question.....  Is there a check out procedure or list of things that I
can test quickly to determine if I have received a functional unit with a
decent oscillator?  I just want to make sure I have not been sent a dud.
Longer term I can read more, learn, monitor and tweak its performance.   I
am only trying to make sure I have a good platform to start with.

Thanks for you advice / comments.
_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
and follow the instructions there.




More information about the time-nuts mailing list