[time-nuts] Any thoughts on best rubidium?

Robert Deliën Robert at delien.nl
Fri Sep 23 16:25:23 UTC 2011


I'm missing the PRS10 in this list. I have been wanting to buy one for a long time, but didn't because it has been a solution to no problem for all this time.

But now I have bought a spectrum analyzer, a Rohde & Schwarz FSIQ3, with tracking generator and lots of options. It would be nice to have a PRS10 as it's external reference. I already bought a Resolution-T timing GPS receiver to discipline it over the long term.

But PRS10 standards are quite rare lately: I think I've seen only on eBay in the past year and prices have doubled since the time they showed up in numbers. And I'm starting to doubt if it will be worth the effort. My instrument has the B4 option, for low phase noise. The specifications of the internal reference are pretty good:
Aging per day					1x10−9
Aging per year					2x10−7
Temperature drift (0°C to +50°C)	8x10−8
Total error (per year)				2.5 x 10−7
No phase noise specifications on the internal reference are specified, but a plot for the instrument overall is (http://www.livingston-products.com/products/pdf/130413_1_en.pdf).

I'm starting to wonder if connecting PRS10 as an external reference would actually improve overall accuracy, because it may introduce extra phase noise. And even if I've finally got one: How to tell it's an improvement without a reference?

Any thoughts please?

>> * EFRATOM 10MHZ LPRO-101
>> * FE-5680A
>> * SLCR-101
>> * Efratom 10MHZ Rubidium FREQUENCY Standard FRS-C
>> 
>> Is there any reason to chose one over another for the application I have?





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