[time-nuts] Achieving maximum performance when driving 5370A/B inputs

Stanley Reynolds stanley_reynolds at yahoo.com
Sun Feb 28 03:46:55 UTC 2010


I have a bnc type connector with two pins inside the shield on a FTS cesium standard labeled DS1 must be a phone industry jack.

Stanley



----- Original Message ----
From: Bob Camp <lists at rtty.us>
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement <time-nuts at febo.com>
Sent: Sat, February 27, 2010 8:53:16 PM
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Achieving maximum performance when driving 5370A/B inputs

Hi

I don't even have the counter and already we're butchering it....

The big issue is suitable twin-ax connectors and cable. I have both, but they are *big*. They never really made it into the world of miniature connectors and miniature cable. 

Shielded twisted pair would be another option. That eliminates the cable as an issue. Small connectors (BNC drop in) are still an issue though. 

Bob


On Feb 27, 2010, at 9:48 PM, Bruce Griffiths wrote:

> Since the input amplifier and trigger circuit are located on a small daughter board it wouldn't be too difficult to replace this with an LVDS to CML stage.
> The only remaining isue would be what input connector to use (twinax??, SATA??).
> 
> Bruce
> 
> Bob Camp wrote:
>> Hi
>> 
>> Gee, LVDS what an unusual approach :)....
>> 
>> It would be nice if these instruments had a balanced input. Common mode noise is indeed an issue in a lot of cases.
>> 
>> Of course wrapping the coax headed to the counter 10X around a fairly large core can help things a bit.
>> 
>> Bob
>> 
>> 
>> On Feb 27, 2010, at 9:32 PM, Bruce Griffiths wrote:
>> 
>>  
>>> If one is feeling paranoid about ground loop noise (and wishes to avoid transformers, optoisolators , or fibre optics), etc one could always use an LVDS driver with a batter powered(?) LVDS to CMOS receiver/translator right at the 5370A/B input BNC connector.
>>> This may be useful for a DMTD system that uses a 5370A/B.
>>> 
>>> Bruce
>>> 
>>> Bob Camp wrote:
>>>    
>>>> Hi
>>>> 
>>>> AC cmos will easily drive an L pad to match a 50 ohm cable at these levels. That's true at either 3.3 or at 5.0 volts. There are a lot of cmos families out there that beat AC for speed and match the output drive capability.
>>>> 
>>>> Bob
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Feb 27, 2010, at 9:12 PM, Bruce Griffiths wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>      
>>>>> 1) One method with 5V CMOS is to add a resistive voltage divider at the CMOS driver output with a 50 ohm output impedance at the tap that drives the 5370A/B input.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 2) If one has a 5V 50 ohm driver (eg Thunderbolt PPS output) use a 50 ohm attenuator at the 5370A/B input.
>>>>> For a 5370A an attenuation of at least 11dB is required.
>>>>> For a 5370B an attenuation of at least 3dB is required.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 3) One can always use the 10x input attenuation setting built in to the 5370A/B however this reduces the signal swing to 0.5V at the trigger amplifier input (5V CMOS input).
>>>>> 
>>>>> 4) Attenuate the output of the logic signal by a factor of 2 and use an npn emitter follower to drive the 50 ohm load.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 5) Use 3.3V CMOS signal levels for the 5370B.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 6) Use a current mode emitter or source coupled switch to drive the 5370A/B input.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The switching jitter of the above drivers will be much lower than the internal noise of the 5370A/B as long as HCMOS or faster logic is employed.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Bruce
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Bob Camp wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>        
>>>>>> Hi
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Which *still* carefully avoids the issue of how .....
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Bob
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Feb 27, 2010, at 8:52 PM, Bruce Griffiths wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>          
>>>>>>> Oops! a small correction (2nd paragraph):
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> For the 5370A attenuating the 5V CMOS signal to a 1V swing with the threshold set to 0.5V is close to optimum.
>>>>>>> An input signal with limits of 0V and +1.4V with a trigger threshold of 0.7V is the maximum usable (for high performance).
>>>>>>> An input signal with limits of 0V and +0.3V with a trigger threshold of 0.15V is the minimum usable (for high performance).
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> For the 5370B attenuating the 5V CMOS signal to a 2V swing with the threshold set to 1V is close to optimum.
>>>>>>> An input signal with limits of 0V and +3.5V with a trigger threshold of 0.7V is the maximum usable (for high performance).
>>>>>>> An input signal with limits of 0V and +0.3V with a trigger threshold of 0.15V is the minimum usable (for high performance).
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Thus using the PPS output (~270 ohm is series with a 5V 74AC04 output) from a Synergy evaluation board that uses an M12M or M12+ GPS timing receiver to drive the inputs (with a 0-750mV signal) of a 5370A or 5370B is well within the recommended input signal range for high performance.
>>>>>>> This avoids having to adding an external 5V 50 ohm driver that some would use.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Bruce
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Bob Camp wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>            
>>>>>>>> Hi
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> So exactly how did you know that I bought a (cheap) 5370B a few hours ago on the e-place  and was just about to ask about how best to use it.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Hmmmm.......
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Bob
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Feb 27, 2010, at 7:01 PM, Bruce Griffiths wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>              
>>>>>>>>> The attached excerpts from the 5370A and 5370B manuals indicate that for best performance, that the common practice of driving the 5370A/B 1x inputs directly from a 5V CMOS logic signal is a bad idea.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> For the 5370A attenuating the 5V CMOS signal to a 1V swing with the threshold set to 0.5V is close to optimum.
>>>>>>>>> An input signal with limits of 0V and +1.4V with a trigger threshold of 0.7V is the maximum usable (for high performance).
>>>>>>>>> An input signal with limits of 0V and +0.3V with a trigger threshold of 0.15V is the minimum usable (for high performance).
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> For the 5370A attenuating the 5V CMOS signal to a 2V swing with the threshold set to 1V is close to optimum.
>>>>>>>>> An input signal with limits of 0V and +3.5V with a trigger threshold of 0.7V is the maximum usable (for high performance).
>>>>>>>>> An input signal with limits of 0V and +0.3V with a trigger threshold of 0.15V is the minimum usable (for high performance).
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Bruce
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> <5370ATriggering.png><5370BTriggering.png>_______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>                
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>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>              
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>            
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>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>          
>>>>> 
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>>>>> 
>>>>>        
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>>>>      
>>> 
>>> 
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> 
> 
> 
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