[time-nuts] FE-5680A

[Rex]

Bob Camp wrote:
> Hi
>
> Like pretty much every other rubidium on the planet - no, not as far as I know. 
>
> Most of the test points and adjustments are of the "even if we told you, you aren't set up to use it" nature. Put another way, they would have to provide a lot of proprietary information to enable you to do anything. 
>
> A more cynical view would be "if it breaks we want to sell you another one". 
>
> My personal experience suggests that setting one up is indeed a black art known only to the select few. The high priest takes them into the back room and they magically come return in working order several days / weeks / what ever later.  High priest goes on vacation - not much is going to ship ....
>
> Bob
>
>
> On Mar 10, 2010, at 9:23 PM, Larry Snyder wrote:
>
>   
>> Hi all --
>> I have the info for setting up the output freq.  Has anyone managed
>> to snag the info for the test points and adjustments in this beast?
>> thanx!
>> -ls-
>>
>>
>>     

Well, I agree to a point.

I had some documentation on a Ball Efratom rubidium that had detailed 
theory sections and guidance on how to align the oscillator to the cell 
signal. It even had schematics of all the boards. So not every rubidium 
manufacturer was always guarding all the information.

On the other hand, in my experience, FEI is not a company that is 
willing to share anything unless big bags of money and a contract are 
involved. Some of the information I have seen is bits of general 
documentation saved by those in the loop long ago. The majority of other 
helpful information seems to have been dug out by determined reverse 
engineering or experimentation of a few determined individuals.

Documentation on most of the HP or Spectracom GPS or atomic stuff seems 
to be pretty sketchy too.