[time-nuts] Did a member of time-nuts buy this?

Sun Dec 7 19:15:13 EST 2014

On Sat, 6 Dec 2014 11:47:10 -0500, you wrote:

>I am looking forward to long term data on the Lucent unit. GPSDO's are  
>getting closer and closer to Cesium. Having worked for 18 month on two GPSDO  
>projects we find that the limiting factors are the Cesium Standards.  Working 
>presently on a Cesium GPSDO. Short term OCXO, medium Rb and long term  
>Cesium.  With Cesium may be able to use 14 day filter. Will find out. If we  do 
>not see an improvement we will most likely retire our Cesium units.
>Bert Kehren

Hi Bert,

Out of curiosity, what Rb are you using, and how does it respond to
air pressure changes? 
Combining temp control, air pressure compensation and drift
compensation can give very good results with the right Rb.

Angus.

> 
>In a message dated 12/6/2014 10:46:57 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
>kb8tq at n1k.org writes:
>
>Hi
>> On  Dec 6, 2014, at 10:35 AM, Magnus Danielson 
><magnus at rubidium.dyndns.org>  wrote:
>> 
>> Bob,
>> 
>> On 12/06/2014 04:16 PM, Bob Camp  wrote:
>>> Hi
>>> 
>>>> On Dec 6, 2014, at 9:54 AM,  Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd) 
><drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk>  wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> I see this cesium reference on eBay,  where apparently someone returned
>>>> it due to the fact it had a  bad tube.
>>>> 
>>>>  
>http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Agilent-5061A-Cesium-Beam-Frequency-Standard-FOR-PARTS-REPAIR-/141483787108
>>>>  
>>>> I'm wondering if it was someone on this list. It is likely to  be
>>>> practical to replace the tube?
>>>> 
>>>  
>>> New tubes for Cs standards are in the >$20K range. Getting a  modern one 
>re-tubed with a high performance tube is > $32K.
>>>  
>>> The stock of new old stock tubes is long gone. About the only  tubes 
>you see are pulls from used gear. The question with them (as with any  Cs) 
>is just how many years (or months) is left on the tube. You physically  move 
>Cs from one end of the tube to the other when you operate the device. One  
>you have exhausted the pre-loaded stock, the tube is dead. Its also coated  
>all over the inside with surplus Cs. Since signal to noise ratio is very  
>important, the drop in Cs at end of life and crud on the inside leads to  
>degradation in the performance towards the end of the tube life. Even if the  
>tube works, it may (or may not) be useful in a given application.
>>>  
>>> For many applications, GPSDOs are the more useful device. Their  
>performance rivals that of most of the older Cs standards. They are way  cheaper, 
>and they dont wear out. Indeed, if you have a 5071A with a high  
>performance tube in it, a GPSDO is not going to match its performance. Ive  
>replaced two tubes in one of those, so they are correct when they talk about  the 
>projected life of the tube.
>>> 
>>> The other subtle  issue with Cs standards is shipping. If you are going 
>to do it right its a  major pain. Sending one back for re-tube does 
>require you to do all the formal  shipping nuttiness. That may or may not be an 
>issue on the surplus market  
.
>> 
>> Well, there is one use-case for a cesium, which is the  validation of GPS 
>receivers. Rubidiums do help to some degree. Comparing two  GPS clocks with 
>their highly systematic sources, so you can't get useful  differences that 
>way for the stability of the produced signal.
>
>Unless  you are making a GPS receiver from scratch (which you might be), 
>there is a  certain trust factor that comes into using a GPS for timing. 
>Since you cant  play with the firmware, you trust that the guy who wrote it 
>did a good  job.
>
>In making a GPSDO, yes on a commercial basis verification against  primary 
>standards is likely to be required by this or that customer. In a  basement 
>lab, Im not so sure thats true. Simply comparing things against an  
>ensemble of known good designs (and cross checking the results) should be  
>good enough. If your design passes the performance of the ensemble, building  
>several of your design is likely to be cheaper than keeping a Cs running long 
> term. Thats even more true if you need a fully functional 5071A to do the 
> comparison. Lets see .. new BMW or rebuild the 5071 
 hmmm  :)
>
>Bob
>
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Magnus
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