[time-nuts] My stubborn Z3801A

[Robert Benward]

To All,

An update to my Z3801A saga.

Summary: As you know, I purchased this Z3801A at the Dayton Hamfest.  The 
person who sold it to me said it was modified for RS-232.  I powered the 
unit up and the only thing it ever did was go into the holdover mode.  Tried 
hooking RS-232, but got no response.  Did some reading and found the little 
green blinking light was a good thing, all the others indicated a failure in 
ram, rom, etc.  Boot was good if all the front panel lights went on in 
sequence.

Update: Took the unit apart to do some serious trouble shooting.  Found the 
signals (logic side) on the RS-232 did not go all the way to ground.  Subbed 
in another RS-232 transceiver, still no luck.  Found another note on the 
internet about removing the 5 little zero ohm resistors on the bottom to do 
the RS-232 conversion.  Looked on the bottom and they were still there!!!  I 
removed them and the signals now went all the way to ground and appeared to 
be normal.  Tried various programs to link up (GPS.EXE, SatStat, RS-232 
comm).  Saw the commands going in, and I did see a response from the Z3801A, 
but the computer could not read the response.   Since I did see a response 
from the Z3801A on the scope, I figured it was receiving commands.  I hooked 
up an antenna and sent a survey command.  Apparently if the GPS is moved (I 
don't know how much)  the Z3801A needs to do a survey otherwise it won't 
lock.  I went shopping, and came back about 2 hours later, and low and 
behold, a GPS LOCK!!!

Still to go:  The RS-232 signals look fine going into the cable, +/-5V, any 
ideas why the computer won't read it?  Am I missing something?  I tried two 
different ports in case I screwed one up one of the ports, but no luck.

Bob
AC2AZ