[time-nuts] New timing receivers?

W2GPS w2gps at cnssys.com
Mon Apr 28 01:57:27 UTC 2014


Tom,

When Motorola decided to get out of the GPS business there was uncertainty
about the future of the products that relied on the M12+ so a market
opportunity presented itself and the SSR-6T series receivers were born. In
the meantime the confusion over the future of the M12M was resolved and the
product line was rescued by iLotus. Fortunately for Synergy they are the
distributor for both products. 

Rick
W2GPS

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Van Baak [mailto:tvb at LeapSecond.com] 
Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2014 6:12 PM
To: 'Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement'
Cc: W2GPS
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] New timing receivers?

Hi Rick,

Thanks very much for the correction, and for the additional information.
Glad to hear the M12M is still around. That's good news for all of us.

But then can you explain what you meant in your PTTI paper when you said:
    "Anticipating the need for a M-12 replacement, Synergy examined the
     uBlox LEA-6T receiver. Because of the large installed base of Motorola
     and iLotus receivers, a hybrid M-12 emulator was developed"

http://www.gpstime.com/files/PTTI/Low_cost_GPS-based_time_and_frequency_prod
ucts.pdf

Thanks,
/tvb

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "W2GPS" <w2gps at cnssys.com>
To: "'Tom Van Baak'" <tvb at leapsecond.com>; "'Discussion of precise time and
frequency measurement'" <time-nuts at febo.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2014 1:10 PM
Subject: RE: [time-nuts] New timing receivers?


> Tom,
> 
> There is an important error in your message below. The Motorola designed
> M12M receiver is still in popular and in full production mode. You can get
> them from Synergy Systems, LLC in San Diego. They are very friendly to
> time-nuts members. The M12M  has been used continuously by commercial
> companies in the timing community since iLotus took over production from
> Motorola in 2006. The timing characteristics of the M12M are basically the
> same as the Motorola M12+ but the M12M has a wider input gain range (10 to
> 50 dB) and a faster Time To First Fix (TTFF) and it continues to be
> available from stock.
> 
> Synergy also has the SSR-6T series of receivers that have a uBlox module
but
> emulate the M12M commands and messages. These are plug in replacements for
> the M12M. The emulation is not total but has most of what you need from
the
> M12M command set. These boards support some additional commands including
> one that puts the receiver in uBlox binary message mode at 9600 baud.
These
> boards are very useful to those wanting the improved performance of the
> uBlox modules but do not want to rewrite all their application software.
> They are also useful for those migrating from the Motorola world to the
> uBlox world but don't want to do it all at once.
> 
> Finally, Synergy has the SSR-6Tru which is a uBlox receiver on a PC board
> that is the same size as the M12M and plugs into an M12M slot but
> communicates only in uBlox's binary language at all baud rates supported
by
> the uBlox module.
> 
> Rick
> W2GPS
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Van Baak [mailto:tvb at LeapSecond.com] 
> Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2014 9:45 AM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] New timing receivers?
> 
> For a nice comparison of the M12+T, M12M, and ublox-6T, start with page
34,
> and especially note the ADEV plot on page 40:
> http://www.cnssys.com/files/tow-time2013.pdf
> 
> The ublox-6T performs at least as well as the M12+T does. They are both in
> the 1 to 2 ns/day ballpark. The advantage is that the 6T is a production
> part and the M12+T and M12M are no longer made. So that's why commercial
> users have been forced away from the Motorola or iLotus parts. But
amateurs
> still grab any M12 they can find because they are so good, and now dirt
> cheap on the surplus market.
> 
> Note that Rick Hambly created the (Synergy) SSR-6T, which is a ublox-6T on
a
> M12+T compatible PCB. Using a PIC it transparently translates between
> motorola and ublox binary so that the board is h/w and s/w compatible with
> any M12+T; a drop-in replacement. The plots you see in that PDF are the
> result of comparing M12+T and ublox-6T for this project.
> 
> See also:
>
http://www.gpstime.com/files/PTTI/Low_cost_GPS-based_time_and_frequency_prod
> ucts.pdf
> 
> The bottom line is if you're looking for a low-budget but very
> high-performance GPS timing receiver, the M12+T is still a favorite among
> amateurs. If you're looking for something more modern, or a GPS timing
> receiver to use in quantity, or want an architecture that does or will
> accommodate Galileo and GLONASS, and are willing to pay the higher price,
> then check out the ublox-6T.
> 
> /tvb
> 
> 
>





More information about the Time-nuts_lists.febo.com mailing list