[time-nuts] Symmetricom chip scale atomic clock

Tom Knox actast at hotmail.com
Fri Apr 25 10:53:25 EDT 2014


For the sake of discussion let me just add that even if medesigns comments were true of Microsemi, the Microsemi responses on this form have been from long time Time-Nuts who have for years contributed their knowledge to the betterment of the community in the proudest traditions of acadimia. Never have I seen them use the form for financial gain. Sure corporate greed is a problem in todays society but knowing some of the individuals at Microsemi it is clearly not a black and white issue. Further where it may be acceptable in some cases to release a product early and perform some of the final development on the backs of the customers to better serve their needs such as in the case of the fantastic "TimeLab".  In a mission critical product like the CSAC a problem like this will cost Microsemi far more then they would profit from a premature release. These manufacturing defects were clearly something they could not anticipate.   I for one will be purchasing many more Microsemi products in the future and viewing their performance on TimeLab with full confidence. Please keep the group update on your progress resolving this issue. It will be interesting to see if a single point of failure is found, a smoking gun so to speak; or whether it will be resolved with a number of minor changes during product evolution. In any case I hope the problem is resolved quickly.

Thomas Knox



> Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 08:14:06 +0200
> From: attila at kinali.ch
> To: time-nuts at febo.com
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Symmetricom chip scale atomic clock
> 
> On Fri, 25 Apr 2014 08:33:06 +0300
> MailLists <lists at medesign.ro> wrote:
> 
> > The recently acquired cash cow isn't working exactly as 
> > expected/advertised. We still don't have a clue when/if the fundamental 
> > (as in physics laws) design (we can't officially blame the cheap Chinese 
> > manufacturer) flaw will be fixed (manufacturer replaced), but as our 
> > main customer, which is used to (literally) blow up tons of (others') 
> > money, isn't very concerned (for now), and the profit margin is (still) 
> > high enough to replace (no questions asked, for the time being) the 
> > failed units of the other (civilian/commercial) customer(s).
> 
> Sorry, but this is was not necessary.
> Not every company is evil and not every company just works for the
> short term bottom line.
> 
> It is very normal that problems show up in series production which 
> were not visible before in the prototypes or pre-series production.
> It's part of the very nature how volume production work. And no, 
> you cannot always attriubute it to less care taken in the volume
> production than in the pre-series. Some flaws are only visible if
> you get enough produced and then it's still one in a couple hundred
> if not a one in a couple hundred thousand.
> 
> Every product i was ever involved with had some flaws uncovered during
> series production. Even if the gratest care was taken. IMHO it does not
> matter whether the product has a shows suddenly a flaw or not, but how
> the manufacturer reacts to it. And as it seems Microsemi is replacing
> the failing units without causing trouble. 
> 
> Also, please be aware that fixing a flaw that only very few units show
> is not an easy thing. You cannot just build a prototype and be sure
> that the bug is gone. You have to first produce enough to have a statistical
> significant sample size. This all takes time, weeks, months, or even years.
> 
> 
> So, please refrain from spreading false rumors that anyone is ignoring the
> issue when aparently the contrary is the case.
> 
> 
> 			Attila Kinali
> 
> PS: Disclaimer: i neither work for or have any ties with Microsemi or 
> Jacksonlabs.
> 
> -- 
> I pity people who can't find laughter or at least some bit of amusement in
> the little doings of the day. I believe I could find something ridiculous
> even in the saddest moment, if necessary. It has nothing to do with being
> superficial. It's a matter of joy in life.
> 			-- Sophie Scholl
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