[time-nuts] Homebrew frequency counter, need help

Bob Camp kb8tq at n1k.org
Sat Nov 29 09:23:52 EST 2014


Hi

Your data would be called “10 digits +/- 1.5 least significant digits”. Shave a the spread down to 2 instead of 3 and you are at a very tight 10 digit spec. Based on your equipment inventory, you have seen 10 digit +/- 2 counters. You have them beat. The same is true of 9 digit +/- any counters. 

It looks like there is a slight bias in the data. If the bias is stable, you can take it out in software. If it drifts, taking it out may be a bit more complex.

Bob

> On Nov 29, 2014, at 7:49 AM, Li Ang <lllaaa at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi
>   Thanks for the great article.
>   I did a little test just now. To measure the refclk of itself. And this
> is the result(I kept 10 digits of the fraction part):
> 
> ### Frequency Counter startup ###
> gate=1s #=8985  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9039  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9037  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9037  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9039  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9029  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9037  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000003
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000003
> gate=1s #=9037  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000003
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9039  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9037  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9037  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9035  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9039  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9037  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9030  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9031  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9039  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9039  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9039  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9037  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000003
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9037  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9037  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9037  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000002
> gate=1s #=9038  freq=10.0000000001
> gate=1s #=9038  freq= 9.9999999999
> gate=1s #=9034  freq=10.0000000000
> gate=1s #=9030  freq=10.0000000001
> 
> 2014-11-29 5:57 GMT+08:00 Kasper Pedersen <time-nuts at kasperkp.dk>:
> 
>> On 11/27/2014 03:08 PM, lllaaa wrote:
>>> Hi guys,
>>>    I've just get my homebrew counter working. And the resolution seems
>> 10x
>>> better than my RACAL DANA 1992.
>>>    This counter is heavily inspired by the idea from Kasper Pedersen.
>>> http://n1.taur.dk/permanent/frequencymeasurement.pdf
>>>    STM32F051RB & EMP240T100C5 do the control and counting job. TDC-GP22
>> as
>>> the interpolator. Linear regression is done by CPU.
>>>    There are no fancy analog front for both signal path and refclk path.
>>> I'm using two SN75ALS176 and the schmitt input of CPLD to do the job.
>>>    I've noticed that the 10s gate does not get more meaningful
>>> digits(looks worse than 1s gate). So here are the questions:
>>>    1) I'm wondering if I could say this is an 11 digits/s counter?
>>>    2) How can I improve that? Is it limited by the 485 transceiver? I
>> can
>>> switch to a faster MCU, that gets more measures per second, but I think
>>> that only gets no more than 2 stable bits.
>>> 
>> 
>> A few things to try, and learned:
>> 
>> Try measuring the reference against itself, triggering on the same edge
>> you clock the cpld on. If your VCC is wandering, your threshold will
>> wander, and you get wandering phase out of the schmitt trigger in the CPLD.
>> When I built my counter, I had much fun with my 'front end' (AC04s)
>> having variable heating, and thus variable delay, depending on slew rate.
>> I ended up giving each input channel its own low noise regulator to keep
>> crosstalk from going through VCC. I think I calculated that, for a 10MHz
>> 10dBm signal, 6mV threshold error is 100ps.
>> 
>> I assume you can pick which edge to trigger on. Measure the reference
>> against itself, and read out interpolator (phase) data on either edge.
>> When I did my counter, I had ground current flowing through the coax
>> between the counter reference input, and the house standard. I had been
>> silly and chosen a low cutoff frequency for the dc-block capacitor in
>> the reference input, which meant that the resulting voltage over the
>> coax shield resistance got through the dc-block, and caused phase
>> modulation. On the rising edge, the noise was low. On the falling edge,
>> it was nasty and wandering, since when you add LF to 10MHz, and then
>> slice it, the pulsewidth varies.
>> 
>> From bad experience, try dumping out adjusted timestamps of
>> almost-10MHz, and plot actual timestamp vs predicted timestamp. It will
>> show you if you have 10MHz crosstalk, or, if as I did, you added the
>> interpolator value instead of subtracting it. In my case the counter
>> appeared to work most of the time, while giving wrong readings all of
>> the time.
>> 
>> 
>> And congratulations on getting it working.
>> 
>> 
>> /Kasper Pedersen
>> 
>> 
>> (When getting 10MHz out of FEI5680As, mine had ferrite blocks around the
>> dsub connectors, and while I could get a cleaner signal by shorting GND
>> to shield on the connector, it was better again when I bypassed the
>> connector entirely and ran coax.)
>> 
>> 
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