[time-nuts] HP 117/10509a...

[J. Forster]

> Hi:
> This is so frustrating!

Agreed.

> Who makes cheap clocks? CHINA.
>
> Who uses phase comparison? DOD, American Colleges and Universities,
> Laboratories, Astronomers, American Private Industry, Time Nuts, ETC.

Not really. They have all drunk the GPS Kool-Aid.

To allow a second source for a standard of time interval, carries the
implication that GPS is not invulnerable. If that's true, people may
wonder what else needs a backup, like navigation? Electric grid
synchronization? Phones?

> What is our government doing?

One man, one vote, (one time?). There are a lot more cheap Chinese
'Atomic' clocks sold every day than timing receivers sold in a year.
Numbers count.

> They appear to be the best friend Chinese manufacturers ever had!

Certainly true, in The Donald's view. The US government plays checkers,
the Chinese and Japanese play Chess...  to steal an analogy.

US companies, driven by Wall Street quarter-over-quarter greed, think
about the next quarter; Asian companies think about the next few decades.

The switch to HDTV was supposed to be a giant stimulus for the US
electronics industry, hence a US 'standard'. How did that work out? What
fraction of HDTVs are US made?

YMMV,

-John

==============

>
> Ron
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
> Behalf Of J. Forster
> Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2012 10:29 AM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] HP 117/10509a...
>
> The only ones that will work are very recent designs.
>
> The HP 117 and Fluke 207 will not work.
> Many Spectracoms will not work. A few will. See their web site
> The Stanford 620 will not, I believe. Some models may.
>
> I posted a partial list some time ago.
>
> Apparently, NIST is working on a receiver and possibly a retrofit. When
> it
> will be available and how much it will cost is TBD.
>
> I suspect the 'retrofit' will be the receiver with a 60 kHz output
> added,
> nothing more, but don't know.
>
> Seems to me, we are down to one egg in one basket.  :((
>
> -John
>
> ================
>
>
>
>> Dear Group,
>>
>> This thread just saved me from a prospective purchase of an HP 117.
>>
>> Now the big question. Which instruments in general will be affected by
>> the BPSK transition? I have been reading about Kinemetrics 60DC WWVB
>> receiver and clock. It appeals to me if I find one. Will other WWVB
>> instruments not designed specifically for phase comparisons be
>> affected for the WWVB signal modulation changes? Which kind of
>> instruments and interactions with WWVB should I avoid?
>>
>> Thank you. Your comments are surely welcome.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>>
>> Edgardo Molina
>> Dirección IPTEL
>>
>> www.iptel.net.mx