[time-nuts] Z3801A - notes on the hp58533a GPSDO
Didier Juges
didier at cox.net
Fri Jan 12 20:10:43 EST 2007
David I. Emery wrote:
> As for performance, I am curious myself. Certainly the
> Thunderbolt is better documented in respect to performance, but whether
> in fact it actually IS a lot better when GPS locked is something I'd
> like to know. Its firmware does seem to supply a lot more data about
> the quality of the lock than then 58540A does - that box is basically a
> simple power up and forget box for applications where tweaking for
> ultimate timing or frequency performance isn't needed.
>
>
The Thunderbolt I have (1999 vintage) has older firmware (2.2 I believe,
the current is 3.0), which actually offers much more control than
current firmware. Trimble found out a lot of people were messing their
Thunderbolts by changing settings they should have left alone. The newer
units also have slightly different hardware, so the software is
different also to accommodate the hardware. Therefore, there would be no
point in trying to upgrade the firmware on an older Thunderbolt.
The 58540A does have a few LEDs on the unit's front panel to indicate
status, and it would have been nice to have the same on the TB, but I am
going to put a small uC and a 2x15 LCD to display the TB status without
having to plug it in the computer.
Finally, a small switching step-up converter to make it run
uninterrupted from a 12V battery will finish the job.
Didier KO4BB
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