[time-nuts] was there ever a "conclusion" on distribution amps ?

[Bob Camp]

Hi

How good a 10 MHz do you need noise wise? 

If the stuff is common lab gear, there are a bunch of ways to go. If you are
driving dual mixer setups then your choices narrow down a bit. Having stuff
on one bench (and ground) is easier than running cables hundreds of feet. 

Assuming it's normal lab gear on one bench: 

Sixteen port power splitters from a junk pile should have about 12 db of
loss. Run about 100 mw / 20 dbm into it and you will have plenty of signal
to run normal lab gear. An ACMOS hex (or octal) buffer based amp can give
you that sort of power. Having the logic levels also helps get to 1 and 5
MHz. Not a lot of isolation, not real low noise, plenty good enough for 1 to
2x10^-11 at one second. 

A few alternatives are also pretty easy. Use a single logic to sine amp per
output and drop the power splitter. Run video amp chips and forget about the
logic conversion. For better performance, run discrete 2N3904(6) based amps
for each channel. A lot depends on what you already have lying around. 

If it's not the garden variety stuff, then indeed you likely will need
something a bit more complex. I'd still consider a simple system to drive
the easy stuff and only go fancy for the one or two things that really need
something that's low noise / high isolation / what ever. 

If you also are trying to do RF work (like HF radio) consider the spray from
what ever you do. I have seen 10 MHz standard setups that put out massive
signals at 30 or 50 MHz. A bit of thought, a solid ground sheet, and some
cheap coils / caps can go a long way. 

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of Pete Lancashire
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 11:18 AM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: [time-nuts] was there ever a "conclusion" on distribution amps ?

I will soon have my 11 th piece of equipment that I want to feed 10
MHz (and some oldies 5 and 1).

What is the current though on making one's own distribution box ?

-pete

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