[time-nuts] Z3801A in holdover

[Joseph Gray]

My Z3801A has been going into holdover randomly for at least a month.
Sometimes it doesn't happen for many days and other times two days in
a row. The time in holdover is anywhere from under 1/2 hour to several
hours. Last night, it went into holdover again and has been that way
for over 20 hours.

Ulrich's program currently shows nine satellites available and
attempting to acquire six. No satellites are acquired. When satellites
were acquired, the signal strengths have always been good to very
good.

The Z3801A has been on a shelf and nothing has been changed with the
configuration, antenna, power supply, location, etc. It has been in
continuous operation for several months. The only changes were a new
serial cable to replace a BOB and switching to Ulrich's program.

I'm assuming that something is failing or has finally failed on the
Z3801A. Any ideas what? Is it likely that the Oncore receiver would go
intermittant like this? And if it is the Oncore, would it still be
showing satellites available?

Joe Gray
W5JG