[time-nuts] Rubidium as radio reference

John Ackermann N8UR jra at febo.com
Sun Nov 4 12:23:02 UTC 2012


Joe, the question is whether the DDS spurs and noise on the FE-5680A are strong enough to interfere with your measurements.  I suspect that in the HF/VHF range, you'd probably be OK, at UHF maybe dicey, at microwave probably not good (assuming you're multiplying the Rb up).

I have phase noise measurements of the "narrow DDS" version of the FE-5680A along with some other low-cost Rbs at http://febo.com/pages/oscillators/rubes/

73,
John

On Oct 30, 2012, at 8:28 PM, Joseph Gray <jgray at zianet.com> wrote:

> I know that some here are Amateurs and have used external sources to
> provide a more accurate reference for a receiver. So, I have a noob
> question or two.
> 
> Is the programmable FE-5680A suitable to replace the 12.8 MHz
> reference in a Midland XTR? If so, where do I feed the rubidium into
> the circuit (see attached screen clip)? X101 is the 12.8 MHz crystal
> and R107 is used for temperature compensation.
> 
> What I have in mind is to use the XTR radio for measuring off-the-air
> carrier frequency error. It's just part of a project that I've been
> thinking of doing. Things are still in the planning and experimenting
> stage.
> 
> Joe Gray
> W5JG
> <ScreenClip.png>
> _______________________________________________
> 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