[time-nuts] Trimble Mini-T end of life
SAIDJACK at aol.com
SAIDJACK at aol.com
Thu Jul 19 22:33:14 UTC 2012
Hi guys,
thanks so much for all the great suggestions on how to make this product
better!
Yes, cost targets are a very important goal here, and we are looking into
adding options that make sense for most customers and don't add excessive
cost or delay to the schedule. We definitely will improve the performance of
the unit over the original Mini-T though, because we feel that the Mini-T
had sub-par performance on many fronts, and don't want to make the same
mistakes. Some of the improvement items we have already decided upon are:
* 50 channels GPS with WAAS/EGNOS/MSAS and Position-Hold mode with
automatic initialization of the Auto-Survey process by default. Alternatively, the
unit can be put into mobile mode, with Auto-Kalman filter optimization
depending on vehicle velocity. -160dBm GPS tracking capability
* A secondary 10MHz output (SMA or SMB connector, only the connector needs
to be stuffed onto the PCB) to have access to the +13dBm output signal
* Internal +3.3V antenna supply, that is automatically over-driven by the
externally applied antenna supply
* USB connector for command/control, RS-232 option, and TTL serial port for
legacy compatibility
* RoHs 6/6 for compatibility, and RoHs 5/6 option for much longer life and
better MTBF than Mini-T
* more than 3x better thermal stability, and at the same time more than
double the temperature range (+/-5ppb over -40C to +85C versus +/-10ppb from
only 0C to +60C) standard, and DOCXO option for even higher thermal
stability performance and low-g sensitivity/ruggedized crystal options.
* Better phase noise
* Status LED's on board
* TTL lock/ALARM indicator
* External 1PPS input option on unused pin 1 of the main connector
* Fully field-upgradable firmware, no FPGA programmer needed
* Support for NMEA and SCPI commands
* 3-axis accelerometer built-in
* lower height: 0.47 inches OCXO height versus 0.75 inches
* Much better ADEV performance
* Factory-testing for crystal-jumps on every unit
We also had several folks ask for alternative frequency outputs, and are
currently investigating if we could use the secondary 10MHz connector to add
another VCXO to generate any output frequency from 10MHz to 120+MHz such as
is done on our ULN-1100 boards. This would add some cost though, and may
just end up in a secondary version of the board so that customers who don't
need it won't have to pay for it..
The most important item to get feedback on is the TSIP port, we cannot
implement the entire TSIP command set as this is quite complex, most customers
probably only use a handful of actual commands, and we believe the
SCPI/NMEA command/control/status interface is much superior over the proprietary
binary TSIP port.
We are however open to implement a couple of useful and common TSIP
outputs, and would greatly appreciate feedback and suggestions on this, for
example a minimum set to make Lady Heather work..?
Thanks,
Said
In a message dated 7/19/2012 13:41:07 Pacific Daylight Time, wb6bnq at cox.net
writes:
Hi Said,
I know everyone is going to ask for the kitchen sink to be thrown in.
BUT, how about
just making a replacement that does exactly the same job with no added
thrills ?
That way your spending the least amount to produce a product and keeps the
cost down
to the customer which may cause them to want to keep designing with that
particular
product.
just saying........
Bill....WB6BNQ
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