[time-nuts] Help ID 5 MHz Distribution Box

Richard W. Solomon w1ksz at earthlink.net
Fri May 15 02:01:39 UTC 2009


That should give me a good start on this. Thanks very much for the info.

Sometimes you find some interesting items "over there". I picked up two
boxes that had 4 SMA's marked 10 MHz, 75 MHz, 750 MHz and 7,975 MHz. They
also had a MIL style power connector with the mate attached.
Turns out they were three oscillators that will lock to a 10 MHz input.
When coupled with my 10 MHz GPSDO, they make great calibration signals
for Service Monitors and Frequency Counters.

I'll keep you posted on what I find.

73, Dick, W1KSZ

-----Original Message-----
>From: Ed Palmer <ed_palmer at sasktel.net>
>Sent: May 14, 2009 8:49 PM
>To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement <time-nuts at febo.com>
>Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Help ID 5 MHz Distribution Box
>
>   Pinout is as follows - I think - remember that this is a work in
>   progress
>   1 - no connection
>   2 - alarm output - High = alarm, low = normal  (TTL)
>   3 - probably 'reference fail' - High = fail, low = normal (TTL)
>   4 - EFC okay - High if  4V8 < EFC < 7V5 else low (TTL)
>   5 - no connection
>   6 - buffered EFC voltage for oscillator
>   7 - no connection
>   8 - +10V reference output from oscillator - doesn't seem to be used for
>   anything
>   9 - +5V supply (input)
>   10 - External EFC input - only used when reference fails
>   11 - ground
>   12 -    "
>   13 -    "
>   14 - +24V supply (input) for oscillator
>   15 - +15V supply (input)
>   You talked about BNC.  Did you mean TNC?  My unit has TNC and SMA
>   connectors.  The SMA connectors are all outputs from the oscillator.
>   J3 (TNC) is the input from an external 5 MHz reference.  J4 (TNC) is
>   another output from the oscillator.  Approximate output levels are as
>   follows:
>   J2 - +7 dbm
>   J4 - 0 dbm
>   J5 - 0 dbm
>   J6 - +7 dbm
>   The purpose of the box is to discipline the internal oscillator to an
>   external reference and then distribute the oscillator's signal to four
>   outputs.  The level of the external reference can vary over an unknown
>   range because there's an internal AGC circuit.  I haven't figured out
>   the parameters of the low pass filter used on the output of the phase
>   detector.  Just for laughs I took the 10 MHz output of a Navsync CW-12
>   GPS board, divided it by 2, and fed it into the reference input.  The
>   result wasn't pretty.  Obviously, the circuit wants a smoother source.
>   On mine, the oscillator was defective.  I had to hack into it to fix a
>   broken wire on the output transformer.  I started a message thread a
>   few months back about how to hack into an oscillator - check the
>   archive if you need to.
>   Remember Engineering Rule #1 - Tune for minimum smoke!
>   Ed
>   Richard W. Solomon wrote:
>
>Was it that good a deal ?? I'll share my secret, I use Gixen to snipe
>on e-Pay. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
>
>Do you know the connections for the DB-15 connector ? Then I can do the
>smoke test !!
>Also what are the BNC and SMA connectors for ? Basically, I know nothing
>but would appreciate any help. I will likewise share my findings.
>
>73, Dick, W1KSZ
>
>-----Original Message-----
>
>
>From: Ed Palmer [1]<ed_palmer at sasktel.net>
>Sent: May 14, 2009 1:10 PM
>To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement [2]<time-nuts at febo.com>
>Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Help ID 5 MHz Distribution Box
>
>Since you beat me by *THREE SECONDS* I shouldn't help you, but I have
>one of these boxes and have partially figured it out.  What do you want
>to know?
>
>Ed
>
>Richard W. Solomon wrote:
>
>I picked up a box from "over there" that says ..."5 MH REF DISTRIB"... ,
>which I assume stands for 5 MHz Reference Distribution. It was made
>by Satellite Transmission Systems of Hauppagge, NY. 2 BNC connectors
>on one end, 3 SMA's a Red LED Alarm light and a DB-15 connector.
>
>A real long shot, I know, but on the off-chance, does anyone know
>anything about this ? Anyone know if the company still exists ?
>
>Thanks, Dick, W1KSZ
>
>_______________________________________________
>time-nuts mailing list -- [3]time-nuts at febo.com
>To unsubscribe, go to [4]https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>and follow the instructions there.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>time-nuts mailing list -- [5]time-nuts at febo.com
>To unsubscribe, go to [6]https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>and follow the instructions there.
>
>References
>
>   1. mailto:ed_palmer at sasktel.net
>   2. mailto:time-nuts at febo.com
>   3. mailto:time-nuts at febo.com
>   4. https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>   5. mailto:time-nuts at febo.com
>   6. https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>_______________________________________________
>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