[time-nuts] Oscillator Hookup

Rex rexa at sonic.net
Mon May 21 04:28:55 EDT 2007


On Sat, 19 May 2007 08:32:00 -0700 (PDT), k7hbg at dslextreme.com wrote:

>Hi everybody! I've got a bit of a mystery to solve;
>
> I was wondering if you have run in to an Agilent Crystal Oscillator p/n
>10811-60168 before. 

Is that number right? Could it be 10811-60158? If so, or maybe even if
not, Tom Van Baak has a wealth of knowledge on his web pages. One
document that might help is:
http://www.leapsecond.com/museum/10811a/90027-1.pdf
that describes differences between some of the 10811 models.

{Aside to TvB]
While looking for where I got that document, I noticed this file in the
same basic location:
http://www.leapsecond.com/museum/10811a/10811a.del

Seems like it is a valid pdf file that is an HP 10811 manual, but with a
strange file extension. Is it meant to be there? Should the file name be
fixed?
[end aside]

>This model is not the customary 10811 a/b device I
>have seen on the Internet. It has the exact same case as the 10811 a/b but
>a different interface PCB terminated with a "pig tail" and a little 6 pin
>amp fem connector attached.

I think all the 10811's are basically the same in how they get power and
what should come out. Any board the silver box attaches to is a function
of what device it came out of or was meant to go into. That board may or
may not be helpful depending on what you want to do with the oscillator.
If you describe the interface board in more detail -- part numbers and
what it looks like -- someone may have information. 

The connector on the board may be helpful if you just want to apply
voltages and see what happens. The basic 10811 wants 20-30 V for the
oven and 12 V for the electronics. I think many of the interface boards
may take the oven voltage as input and include a regulator that makes
the 12 V from that.

>
> I would like to power this little gem in the up mode to see if it works
>but lack connection info.
> Any help in this would be most welcome!
>
> Best regards, Bob K7HBG
>
>PS, There is a Z3801a on ebay with a bid price of $500. Is this thing
>really worth the bucks?

Depends on how bad you want one. A few years back there were a lot more
of them recently set free. Then they could be had cheaper. I haven't
been following trends lately, but I think Z3801A's often do sell for
that kind of money now.

What did you pay for the 10811 (rhetorical question). That's not a big
percentage of what is in the Z3801A so maybe could help to justify the
current going rate. 

Good stuff cheap is always a good thing, though, especially for
hobbyists, experimenters, and other kinds of nuts.




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