[time-nuts] FE5680 GPS Disciplined Controller

Max vk3yba at gmail.com
Wed Jun 18 22:04:47 EDT 2014


Please count me in on this project.  A mini kit would be fine at almost 
any cost.

Regards
Max



On 19/06/2014 4:49 AM, EWKehren at aol.com wrote:
>   
> FE5680 GPS Disciplined  Controller
> With all the FE  5680 rubidium oscillators being used as door stops out
> there some of us decided  to develop a GPSDO for it. The main question we have:
> Is there sufficient  interest among time nuts for a discipline controller
> for the FE5680 to make it  available? Looking at the postings over the last
> two years I am not so  sure.
> The  construction and preliminary testing of a Brooks Shera style GPS
> discipline  controller for the later version (6.81e-13 resolution) of the FE5680
> has been  completed. We are trying to determine the number of people that
> would be  interested in obtaining an FE5680 discipline controller (if there is
> sufficient  interest about $45 a kit shipping included, $75 for an
> assembled and tested  board, international orders for an additional $5) when it is
> released.
> We are also looking for three Beta  testers that would be willing to
> purchase, assemble, and test our Beta release  controller kit with their own
> FE5680A and GPS receiver or Tbolt and provide  feedback. Please send an email to
> _EWKehren at aol.com_ (mailto:EWKehren at aol.com)   Subject Time-Nuts FE 5680A,
> if you would be interested in being one of the three  Beta testers. A key
> requirement is the willingness to get to it right away, the  board assembly
> takes about 30 minutes. Instrumentation to measure results is  also a
> requirement. We obtained impressive results using a cheap ublox 6M  receiver.
>
> The  FE5680 GPS discipline controller is a small (2" x 2") board using 8
> DIP's and 1  SOT23-5 package powered by +5v with 0.1" headers for all inputs
> and outputs. Our  plan is to have the kit supplier solder in the only SMD
> device on the board. A  GPS receiver 1PPS and 10 MHz sine from the FE5680
> feed the board with two 9600  baud serial ports sending TTL level tuning
> commands to the FE5680 and receiving  commands from and sending status data to a
> PC for data logging and system  control via a simple terminal program.
> In the chip count are  two opto couplers that allow the use of isolated TTL
> to USB conversion. These  USB adapters are readily available and furnish
> the 5 V necessary for the  secondary of the opto circuit. An option is to not
> use the opto couplers and  send the PIC TTL level RX and TX into a TTL to
> RS232 adapter. Another option is  to use a TTL to RS232 converter after the
> opto couplers but then an external 5 V  source would have to be supplied for
> the opto couplers.
> As I  mentioned before to get best performance from the FE5680 temperature
> control is  a must and after much fan and metal work I realized that a Lap
> Top heat pipe is  the easiest lowest cost solution. Comments appreciated. As
> an alternative the  temperature correction needs to be disabled.  Otherwise
> two control loops fight each  other.  If you look close on page 7  of the
> brochure temperature stability from --10 to +60 C looks good but a closer  look
> and you see 4 E-11 changes over small temperature changes in the -10 to 60
> C range. Extensive analysis has been done on the FE 5680 A and maybe some
> one  can tackle that problem. Please look at what N5TNL did. It is attached
> and click  on his link. The FE 5680A does have a 4 channel MAX 1246 ADC and
> most likely it  is used to monitor temperature.
> Also  mentioned before the FE 5680 output is not the cleanest, I did
> observe it and  some one posted the attached. I apologize but my records do not
> show who did, so  if you posted the data please come forward. For serious
> applications where you  are using it as your main reference a clean up like the
> Morion MV89 or HP 10811  should be considered.
> This  addition is not required for beta tests but temperature control will
> help.
> I am also  enclosing the express PCB layout, be free to use it but it would
> be more  economical to do a group buy if there is enough interest and some
> one steps up  to kit.
> Bert  Kehren
> To  not exceed the attachment limit the plot will be a separate  posting
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.



---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com


More information about the time-nuts mailing list