[time-nuts] Datum 4065A Cs Tube Response

Mon May 5 18:07:52 EDT 2014

The datasheet can be easily found with google. The functionality is very 
simple, it could be emulated with a CPLD+small memory or with an small 
FPGA (maybe the newer CPLDs from Altera.. they are FPGAs inside... and I 
think they have block RAM). But if you can still buy it in another 
package it would be cheaper and easier to make an adapter and be done 
with it.

Daniel

Em 05/05/2014 18:40, Ed Palmer escreveu:
> Hi Tom,
>
> Yes, that's the right chip, but the 'L' at the end means it's the DIP 
> package.  The PLCC package has an 'M' instead of the 'L'.  I also 
> found a lot of sellers on a far east site who have the DIP package 
> (probably used chips pulled from sockets), but none who have the PLCC 
> package.  The price is also a lot less than $65, but of course, you're 
> taking a risk that you might be buying a dead chip.
>
> Ed
>
> On 5/5/2014 3:18 PM, Tom Knox wrote:
>> Hi
>> Is this the right chip:
>> http://www.oemstrade.com/search/STEL-1173%252FCL/
>> At $65 it is pricy but a bargain if it fixes your clock.
>> Thomas Knox
>>
>>
>>
>>> Date: Mon, 5 May 2014 15:14:16 -0600
>>> From: ed_palmer at sasktel.net
>>> To: time-nuts at febo.com
>>> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Datum 4065A Cs Tube Response
>>>
>>> I know very little about today's DDS chips, but I think that emulating
>>> the STEL-1173 would be a challenge.  It provides 48 bit frequency
>>> resolution.  I counted 13 different frequencies that are used to 
>>> monitor
>>> the signal to make sure that it's on frequency. Based on the manual,
>>> they were shifting it many times per second. I'm not surprised the chip
>>> died - they worked it to death!
>>>
>>> Ed
>>>
>>> On 5/5/2014 6:49 AM, paul swed wrote:
>>>> I will agree with Joe. I have a CS tube thats darn near impossible 
>>>> to read
>>>> the beam current and yet it still locks. That truly amazes me. I 
>>>> seem to
>>>> recall other comments ages ago about that chip failing. There 
>>>> should be a
>>>> way to emulate it these days with all of the DDS chips and such 
>>>> that are
>>>> available.
>>>> Good luck.
>>>> Regards
>>>> Paul.
>>>> WB8TSL
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, May 5, 2014 at 8:20 AM, J. L. Trantham <jltran at att.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Ed,
>>>>>
>>>>> If I have the math correct, and you are measuring the voltage to 
>>>>> ground
>>>>> through a 10 MegOhm input impedance DMM, you have about 7.5 nA 
>>>>> beam current
>>>>> which seems a bit low compared to what I remember of the HP 5061A.
>>>>>    However,
>>>>> you still have a definable 'peak' with a 'peak to valley' voltage 
>>>>> of about
>>>>> 60 mV or a 'useful signal current' of about 6 nA.  If your unit's 
>>>>> circuitry
>>>>> can properly amplify that and keep it a clean signal, it should work.
>>>>> However, I would recommend setting the OCXO precisely on frequency 
>>>>> with a
>>>>> GPSDO before trying to close the loop and 'locking' the signal to 
>>>>> the CS
>>>>> tube.  It will dramatically lower the work load of getting everything
>>>>> adjusted properly, particularly in a setting of low beam current.
>>>>>
>>>>> Somehow, the value of 40 nA sticks in my mind from the 5061A.  The 
>>>>> 5061A
>>>>> manual says end of life of the HP CS tube is a peak beam current 
>>>>> of 8 nA or
>>>>> less.  However, I have units with less current and they still 
>>>>> lock.  The HP
>>>>> manual also says to measure the voltage at the output of the tube 
>>>>> with a
>>>>> 100
>>>>> MegOhm or higher input impedance DMM.  If yours is less, that may
>>>>> artificially lower your values.
>>>>>
>>>>> EOL of the tube is a multifactor issue, including Signal to Noise 
>>>>> ratio and
>>>>> the 'useful signal current' to 'background current' ratio.  The 
>>>>> 'background
>>>>> current' is what you see with no RF signal applied to the tube.  
>>>>> Have you
>>>>> measured that?  A ratio of 1 is EOL per the HP manual.  If yours 
>>>>> is about
>>>>> 4.5 nA, as suggested by the 'off peak' values shown, or less, you 
>>>>> still
>>>>> have
>>>>> a useful signal and, hopefully, a useful tube.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd recommend continuing with the repair.
>>>>>
>>>>> Good luck.
>>>>>
>>>>> Joe
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com 
>>>>> [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
>>>>> Behalf Of Ed Palmer
>>>>> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2014 12:46 AM
>>>>> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
>>>>> Subject: [time-nuts] Datum 4065A Cs Tube Response
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm playing with my first Cs standard.  It's a Datum 4065A which 
>>>>> appears to
>>>>> have a dead STEL-1173 synthesizer.  Before I put too much effort into
>>>>> replacing that, I thought I'd check the tube and see if it has any 
>>>>> life
>>>>> left.  I've attached a chart showing the response of the central 
>>>>> peak.
>>>>>
>>>>> My methodology was similar to TVB's as shown here:
>>>>> http://www.leapsecond.com/pages/cspeak except that I measured the 
>>>>> tube
>>>>> output directly with a digital voltmeter.  The system is reporting 
>>>>> wildly
>>>>> varying levels for the beam current so I didn't want to use any of 
>>>>> it's
>>>>> circuitry.
>>>>>
>>>>> Does this look like a usable tube?  Healthy or on it's last legs? 
>>>>> What
>>>>> response levels are typical for a Datum 7504A tube?  I see that these
>>>>> levels
>>>>> are somewhat lower than those shown on leapsecond for the 5061A 
>>>>> tube, but
>>>>> that could just be the specifics of the measurement.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> Ed
>
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