[time-nuts] Frequency reference

[David C. Partridge]

I'm looking for a frequency reference for my home lab.  Cost is an issue.

I'm considering either a GPSDO such as the Trimble Thunderbolt if I can get
one at a reasonable price, or possibly a rubidium source.

I would also consider building my own GPSDO (possibly using an Oncore UT+),
but don't have a decent OCXO.

What do you guys recommend?

Cheers,
David Partridge


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Re: [time-nuts] Frequency reference

[Dan Rae]

David C. Partridge wrote:

>I'm looking for a frequency reference for my home lab.  Cost is an issue.
>
>I'm considering either a GPSDO such as the Trimble Thunderbolt if I can get
>one at a reasonable price, or possibly a rubidium source.
>

David, to be considered a true time nut, you will not ever be happy with 
just one standard...

But joking apart, the Trimble thunderbolt is a very good place to 
start.  It can be had for around £130 / $260 US recently from a chinese 
vendor on eBay; with the addition of an antenna, free monitoring / set 
up program (TboltMon), box and power supply, you then have a very 
accurate 10 MHz (and 1 pps) standard that needs no further action to 
calibrate.

Good luck!

Dan













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Re: [time-nuts] Frequency reference

[David C. Partridge]

Give me time (accurate time of course) - we all have to start with one
standard.

Seriously though, if I've got that sort of budget, can I do better than a
thunderbolt?

Thanks
Dave
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Dan Rae
Sent: 17 April 2008 15:45
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Frequency reference

David C. Partridge wrote:

>I'm looking for a frequency reference for my home lab.  Cost is an issue.
>
>I'm considering either a GPSDO such as the Trimble Thunderbolt if I can 
>get one at a reasonable price, or possibly a rubidium source.
>

David, to be considered a true time nut, you will not ever be happy with
just one standard...

But joking apart, the Trimble thunderbolt is a very good place to start.  It
can be had for around £130 / $260 US recently from a chinese vendor on eBay;
with the addition of an antenna, free monitoring / set up program
(TboltMon), box and power supply, you then have a very accurate 10 MHz (and
1 pps) standard that needs no further action to calibrate.

Good luck!

Dan













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Re: [time-nuts] Frequency reference

[Dan Rae]

David C. Partridge wrote:

>Give me time (accurate time of course) - we all have to start with one
>standard.
>
>Seriously though, if I've got that sort of budget, can I do better than a
>thunderbolt?
>
>  
>
For £150 total, say $300 US, I don't think so, but what do others think?

You will need to add for distribution to more than one destination.  You 
can get an Rb brick for that kind of money also, but then you will have 
the nagging doubt that it needs calibrating against something absolute.  
The gps units have that done for you courtesy of the tax payer's dollars 
( sorry, it's that time of year!)
dr



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Re: [time-nuts] Frequency reference

[Richard W. Solomon]

You can build a very good GPSDO for about $100 in parts.
Google N1JEZ.

73, Dick, W1KSZ

-Original Message-
>From: "David C. Partridge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Apr 17, 2008 2:24 AM
>To: time-nuts@febo.com
>Subject: [time-nuts] Frequency reference
>
>I'm looking for a frequency reference for my home lab.  Cost is an issue.
>
>I'm considering either a GPSDO such as the Trimble Thunderbolt if I can get
>one at a reasonable price, or possibly a rubidium source.
>
>I would also consider building my own GPSDO (possibly using an Oncore UT+),
>but don't have a decent OCXO.
>
>What do you guys recommend?
>
>Cheers,
>David Partridge
>
>
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[time-nuts] HP 59309A clock available

[Tom Van Baak]

Hi Jeff,

Sure, I'll post your note to the time-nuts list and see if anyone
would like your 59309A clock. They can contact you *offline*
for shipping details.

It's a cute clock, I can see why you don't want to throw it away.
Thanks for your kind offer to pass it on to someone on the list.

/tvb

Museum of HP Clocks
http://www.leapsecond.com/hpclocks/

- Original Message - 
> From: Lifereef 
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 12:04 AM
> Subject: HP Clock Museum--
>
> I have an HP59309A digital clock that I want to give
> to someone. I would hate to throw this away but I am
> cleaning shop and this has been in storage for the
> past 20+ years. Do you have anyone in your cirlce
> of enthusiasts that needs one?
>
> Jeff




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Re: [time-nuts] HP 59309A clock available

[Stanley Reynolds]

Is that a scratch in the hardwood floor on the right side of that third stack ? 
 I can come pick up the lot, when will you be at work ?
 
Stanley



- Original Message 
From: Tom Van Baak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Lifereef <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement 
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:28:11 AM
Subject: [time-nuts] HP 59309A clock available

Hi Jeff,

Sure, I'll post your note to the time-nuts list and see if anyone
would like your 59309A clock. They can contact you *offline*
for shipping details.

It's a cute clock, I can see why you don't want to throw it away.
Thanks for your kind offer to pass it on to someone on the list.

/tvb

Museum of HP Clocks
http://www.leapsecond.com/hpclocks/

- Original Message - 
> From: Lifereef 
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 12:04 AM
> Subject: HP Clock Museum--
>
> I have an HP59309A digital clock that I want to give
> to someone. I would hate to throw this away but I am
> cleaning shop and this has been in storage for the
> past 20+ years. Do you have anyone in your cirlce
> of enthusiasts that needs one?
>
> Jeff




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Re: [time-nuts] HP 59309A clock available

[Bruce Lanning]

Hi,
I would like very much to have your HP-59309A clock
Bruce
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

- Original Message - 
From: "Tom Van Baak" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Lifereef" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement" 

Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 12:28 PM
Subject: [time-nuts] HP 59309A clock available


> Hi Jeff,
>
> Sure, I'll post your note to the time-nuts list and see if anyone
> would like your 59309A clock. They can contact you *offline*
> for shipping details.
>
> It's a cute clock, I can see why you don't want to throw it away.
> Thanks for your kind offer to pass it on to someone on the list.
>
> /tvb
>
> Museum of HP Clocks
> http://www.leapsecond.com/hpclocks/
>
> - Original Message - 
>> From: Lifereef
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 12:04 AM
>> Subject: HP Clock Museum--
>>
>> I have an HP59309A digital clock that I want to give
>> to someone. I would hate to throw this away but I am
>> cleaning shop and this has been in storage for the
>> past 20+ years. Do you have anyone in your cirlce
>> of enthusiasts that needs one?
>>
>> Jeff
>
>
>
>
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>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG.
> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.0/1383 - Release Date: 4/17/2008 
> 9:00 AM
>
> 


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[time-nuts] Power monitoring

[Hal Murray]

My power went out the other day.  That reminded me that I've always been 
slightly curious about that area.

Are there any not-expensive boxes made for this?  Or something that shows up 
on eBay occasionally?


If I was doing it myself, I'd start with a low power (quiet) PC and a UPS.  
Then I'd have a platform that could monitor other things too, like 
temperature.

  Step 0 is just to measure when power is/isn't there.
I assume the UPS has a signal for that.

  Step 1 is to measure the voltage.
This takes an A/D.  The standard PC audio input might be appropriate.   
I'd probably use an AC wall-wart transformer for isolation and a couple of 
resistors to get down to a reasonable voltage.

  Step 2 is to catch dips and spikes.
That's just software behind the A/D.  (assuming the A/D is fast enough)


As long as I'm dreaming...  Suppose I wanted to measure the power my whole 
house is drawing.  What's available along the lines of a current transformer 
on the main lines?  My first thought is that nobody does that (for homes) so 
it's probably horribly expensive.  On the other hand there is a lot of 
interest in energy conservation these days so it might only be somewhat 
expensive.





-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.




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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[David Forbes]

Hal Murray wrote:
> My power went out the other day.  That reminded me that I've always been 
> slightly curious about that area.

Our telescope suffers from flaky mountain power, so we have to do this sort of 
thing.

The problem is sending a message that the power went out to the university 
campus from the mountaintop over a network that may not be working because the 
power went out. Many steps of communication depend on UPSes to hold up for a 
few 
minutes to get that email out.

We have a big honkin' Liebert 40 KVA UPS to run all the telescope's computer 
systems between when the power dies and the big generator kicks in. It has the 
nice byproduct of AC mains voltage and current monitoring over RS-232. I expect 
you can buy a separate box to do this, but it has to be installed by an 
electrician to read current draw and probably is not cheap due to the required 
agency approvals.

For monitoring whether there is mains power or not, a 110VAC coil relay plugged 
into the non-UPS outlet tells a computer that there is no mains power. 
Dirt-simple and reliable unless someone unplugs it or puts it into the UPS 
outlet. The relay's power cable has been wrapped in red tape and labeled 
prominently to help prevent tampering.

The computer that does the monitoring is on a UPS behind the Liebert UPS, so it 
will work for a longer while after a power failure. A battery-operated data 
acquisition system would be better for long outages.




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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[Stanley Reynolds]

You may want to look at the one wire weather stuff, monitor via ham radio or 
Internet, if you roll your own. Should be no problem to call your cell phone if 
something is wrong.
 
Yes they make "computer room monitors" (google the phrase) low end models in 
the $200 range and full featured ones for $500-$1000 



- Original Message 
From: Hal Murray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement 
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 1:10:11 PM
Subject: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

My power went out the other day.  That reminded me that I've always been 
slightly curious about that area.

Are there any not-expensive boxes made for this?  Or something that shows up 
on eBay occasionally?


If I was doing it myself, I'd start with a low power (quiet) PC and a UPS.  
Then I'd have a platform that could monitor other things too, like 
temperature.

  Step 0 is just to measure when power is/isn't there.
I assume the UPS has a signal for that.

  Step 1 is to measure the voltage.
This takes an A/D.  The standard PC audio input might be appropriate.  
I'd probably use an AC wall-wart transformer for isolation and a couple of 
resistors to get down to a reasonable voltage.

  Step 2 is to catch dips and spikes.
That's just software behind the A/D.  (assuming the A/D is fast enough)


As long as I'm dreaming...  Suppose I wanted to measure the power my whole 
house is drawing.  What's available along the lines of a current transformer 
on the main lines?  My first thought is that nobody does that (for homes) so 
it's probably horribly expensive.  On the other hand there is a lot of 
interest in energy conservation these days so it might only be somewhat 
expensive.





-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.




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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[Jim Lux]

Quoting Hal Murray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, on Thu 17 Apr 2008  
11:10:11 AM PDT:

> My power went out the other day.  That reminded me that I've always been
> slightly curious about that area.
>
> Are there any not-expensive boxes made for this?  Or something that shows up
> on eBay occasionally?

Lots of dataloggers out there in the <$200 range.
Check out things like the HOBO from Onset.

you can also get embedded style computer from someone like Tern or  
Z-world or Vesta that has all the hardware needed, and comes with some  
basic software that you could use.

>
>
> If I was doing it myself, I'd start with a low power (quiet) PC and a UPS.

Battery and single board computer or data logger is much better...  
such an application doesn't need a video monitor, keyboard, etc.


> Then I'd have a platform that could monitor other things too, like
> temperature.
>
>   Step 0 is just to measure when power is/isn't there.
> I assume the UPS has a signal for that.
>
>   Step 1 is to measure the voltage.
> This takes an A/D.  The standard PC audio input might be appropriate.

no DC coupling on the audio card.  Much better to either get something  
with the appropriate A/D OR a "one-wire" style interface.

You could transformer down the 60 Hz, digitize as an audio signal, and  
process it appropriately.

> I'd probably use an AC wall-wart transformer for isolation and a couple of
> resistors to get down to a reasonable voltage.
>
>   Step 2 is to catch dips and spikes.
> That's just software behind the A/D.  (assuming the A/D is fast enough)
>
>
> As long as I'm dreaming...  Suppose I wanted to measure the power my whole
> house is drawing.  What's available along the lines of a current transformer
> on the main lines?  My first thought is that nobody does that (for homes) so
> it's probably horribly expensive.  On the other hand there is a lot of
> interest in energy conservation these days so it might only be somewhat
> expensive.

Lots of these available, in the few hundred dollar range..

http://www.powercostmonitor.com/p3982/power_cost_monitor.php
http://www.theenergydetective.com/index.html

you can also do something like watch the wheel goaround on the meter  
with a photocell
or
put a suitable current transformer ($5 surplus, $50 new) on the mains  
coming in.



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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[Poul-Henning Kamp]

In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Jim Lux writ
es:

>> As long as I'm dreaming...  Suppose I wanted to measure the power my whole
>> house is drawing.  What's available along the lines of a current transformer
>> on the main lines?  My first thought is that nobody does that (for homes) so
>> it's probably horribly expensive.  On the other hand there is a lot of
>> interest in energy conservation these days so it might only be somewhat
>> expensive.
>
>Lots of these available, in the few hundred dollar range..

The best and likely cheapest solution is to get the data from your
utility meter.  Most meters have a "S0" output which sends a pulse
evern X Wh.

If you can't find it, ask your power-company for access.  Tell them
you want to monitor your energy conservation effort and they'll likely
not charge you for it.

If that fails, search google for "gasdims" :-)

-- 
Poul-Henning Kamp   | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20
[EMAIL PROTECTED] | TCP/IP since RFC 956
FreeBSD committer   | BSD since 4.3-tahoe
Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence.

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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[Jeff Mock]

Poul-Henning Kamp wrote:
> In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Jim Lux writ
> es:
> 
>>> As long as I'm dreaming...  Suppose I wanted to measure the power my whole
>>> house is drawing.  What's available along the lines of a current transformer
>>> on the main lines?  My first thought is that nobody does that (for homes) so
>>> it's probably horribly expensive.  On the other hand there is a lot of
>>> interest in energy conservation these days so it might only be somewhat
>>> expensive.
>> Lots of these available, in the few hundred dollar range..
> 
> The best and likely cheapest solution is to get the data from your
> utility meter.  Most meters have a "S0" output which sends a pulse
> evern X Wh.
> 
> If you can't find it, ask your power-company for access.  Tell them
> you want to monitor your energy conservation effort and they'll likely
> not charge you for it.
> 
> If that fails, search google for "gasdims" :-)
> 

I like this thing
   http://www.digital-loggers.com/epcr2.html

It has two busses, one can be powered by a UPS and the other directly 
off the mains.  You can measure power and voltage on both busses, it has 
a reasonable web interface, you can turn the outlets on/off from the 
network.

I think it's a deal for $295, but they also have a cheaper model.

jeff


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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[TheInfamousFlavio]

Dranetz 626 Series of Disturbance Analyzers.  Often on ebay.  Will let you 
capture everything you want plus more. RS232 interface. Time stamps. Catch 
problems with neutral wire.  Very nice stuff.  Less then $100 with ship 
usually.   They are 15-20 years old (the new ones are in the $5000 range). 
Quality peices.

I get alams all day long... spikes and sags.

-Flavio


Different plugins for different function
- Original Message - 
From: "Hal Murray" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement" 

Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 14:10
Subject: [time-nuts] Power monitoring


> My power went out the other day.  That reminded me that I've always been
> slightly curious about that area.
>
> Are there any not-expensive boxes made for this?  Or something that shows 
> up
> on eBay occasionally?
>
>
> If I was doing it myself, I'd start with a low power (quiet) PC and a UPS.
> Then I'd have a platform that could monitor other things too, like
> temperature.
>
>  Step 0 is just to measure when power is/isn't there.
>I assume the UPS has a signal for that.
>
>  Step 1 is to measure the voltage.
>This takes an A/D.  The standard PC audio input might be appropriate.
> I'd probably use an AC wall-wart transformer for isolation and a couple of
> resistors to get down to a reasonable voltage.
>
>  Step 2 is to catch dips and spikes.
>That's just software behind the A/D.  (assuming the A/D is fast enough)
>
>
> As long as I'm dreaming...  Suppose I wanted to measure the power my whole
> house is drawing.  What's available along the lines of a current 
> transformer
> on the main lines?  My first thought is that nobody does that (for homes) 
> so
> it's probably horribly expensive.  On the other hand there is a lot of
> interest in energy conservation these days so it might only be somewhat
> expensive.
>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.
>
>
>
>
> ___
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to 
> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
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> 


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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[Matthew Smith]

Quoth Hal Murray at 2008-04-18 03:40...
> My power went out the other day.  That reminded me that I've always been 
> slightly curious about that area.
> 
> Are there any not-expensive boxes made for this?  Or something that shows up 
> on eBay occasionally?

Firstly, I'll second the suggestion to use 1-Wire for the environmental 
monitoring.  Resources:
 1-Wire weather list.
 'Weather Toys' - this excellent book 
describes how to build a 1-Wire weather station.  See also the links 
page on the author's site.

My APC UPS monitors line voltage and always tells me when it blips or 
goes out of range (and by how much).  Serial connection to my (Linux) 
server running apcuspd:


Cheers

M


-- 
Matthew Smith
Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/
Personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy

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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[Dennis Tillman]

You're in luck! Much of what you want to do can be done for almost nothing.

Several years ago when I was interested in knowing more about the power
coming to my PCs I had a Uninterruptable Power Supply made by APC (American
Power Conversion). Most of their models, except for the very lowest price
ones, came with the ability to tell you just about everything you could be
interested in about the power line voltage through a DB-9 connector on the
rear. These models went by the name 'Smart UPS'. The software, provided by
APC, was called 'Power Chute'. Any company that made UPSes for servers had
features like this and software to go with it.  

The status of the power line is important for a computer server and an IS
manager to know. So, the UPS would report the line voltage at intervals you
selected via its built in A/D, the magnitude and duration of all over
voltage transients or drop outs, the line frequency, the status of the
batteries, etc. In the event of an imminent loss of power the UPS could tell
the server how long the batteries would last. Many of these messages had
settable limits so you could specify a 'normal' range for each of these
events. In addition, for each condition you could specify an action to be
taken (email someone, dial a pager number, shut the server down, etc). Lots
of interesting things can be found in the logs kept by the UPS software
about the status of the power coming into a server.

In addition the server could tell the UPS to test itself periodically to
verify and recalibrate the charge on the batteries, etc.

The batteries in a UPS wear out in 5 years (just like a car battery). Most
people don't know that the bateries are easy to replace. You can buy
replacements on-line or through a local alarm company. But because the
batteries wear out people think the UPS went bad and usually they throw the
UPS out or take the UPS to a local recycling station. You ought to be able
to find one with the smart features in it for next to nothing. You don't
need to have good batteries in it to be able to use the smart interface to
start monitoring your power line voltages. 

Dennis
 
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Hal Murray
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:10 AM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

My power went out the other day.  That reminded me that I've always been 
slightly curious about that area.

Are there any not-expensive boxes made for this?  Or something that shows up

on eBay occasionally?

If I was doing it myself, I'd start with a low power (quiet) PC and a UPS.  
Then I'd have a platform that could monitor other things too, like 
temperature.

  Step 0 is just to measure when power is/isn't there.
I assume the UPS has a signal for that.

  Step 1 is to measure the voltage.
This takes an A/D.  The standard PC audio input might be appropriate.   
I'd probably use an AC wall-wart transformer for isolation and a couple of 
resistors to get down to a reasonable voltage.

  Step 2 is to catch dips and spikes.
That's just software behind the A/D.  (assuming the A/D is fast enough)

As long as I'm dreaming...  Suppose I wanted to measure the power my whole 
house is drawing.  What's available along the lines of a current transformer

on the main lines?  My first thought is that nobody does that (for homes) so

it's probably horribly expensive.  On the other hand there is a lot of 
interest in energy conservation these days so it might only be somewhat 
expensive.


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Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring

[Hal Murray]

> Our telescope suffers from flaky mountain power, so we have to do
> this sort of  thing.

> The problem is sending a message that the power went out to the
> university campus from the mountaintop over a network that may not be
> working because the power went out. Many steps of communication
> depend on UPSes to hold up for a few  minutes to get that email out. 

Have you tried turning that around?  Do the active monitoring from the campus 
where you have a solid place to stand.  If you can't ping the mountain top 
there is a problem.


> For monitoring whether there is mains power or not, a 110VAC coil
> relay plugged into the non-UPS outlet tells a computer that there is
> no mains power.  

I like that level of simplicity.  Thanks.


-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.




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[time-nuts] Oncore Checksums

[Matthew Smith]

Hi Folks

I've been reading various notes on the Oncore protocol that have been 
suggested to me and have written a little bit of Perl that - I think - 
will output the correct set of bytes that should be sent to a receiver 
given a specific message.

If anyone is able to verify that I've got this right (or wrong), it 
would be appreciated, especially the checksum bit.

The code below has been written to display all values as 0xnn for ease 
of reading.  Once I know this is working, I'll convert this to a more 
machine-friendly format.  (Possibly as an array of chars, as this is 
heading for a microcontroller.)

Cheers

M

--
Matthew Smith
Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/
Personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy


#!/usr/bin/perl -w

# Oncore message fixer-upper.

use strict;

# Count number of arguments.
my [EMAIL PROTECTED];

# Check that we have one argument
# and that it begins with @@
if ($argc!=1 || $ARGV[0]!~/[EMAIL PROTECTED]@/)
{
   print "Usage: $0 [EMAIL PROTECTED]@[message]\n";
   exit;
}

# Set $instring to be the given
# argument, strip of the initial
# @@.
my $instring=$ARGV[0];
$instring=~s/[EMAIL PROTECTED]@//;

# Start $outstring with the hex
# representation of @@.
my $outstring='0x40 0x40 ';


# Convert each character to hex and
# do checksum stuff.
my ($cs,$last);
for (my $i=0; $i1)
   {
 # If we're past the 2nd character,
 # XOR this character with the
 # previous checksum.
 $cs=$cs^$thischar;
   }

   $last=$thischar;
}

# Convert the (decimal) checksum to
# hex.
$outstring.=sprintf("0x%x ",$cs);

# Finish off $outstring with the hex
# representation of .
$outstring.='0x0d 0x0a';

# Return $outstring.
print "$outstring\n";


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Re: [time-nuts] Oncore Checksums

[Chris Kuethe]

int
oncore_checksum(char *buf, int len){
unsigned char a, b;
int i;

a = buf[len-3];
b = '\0';
for(i = 2; i < len - 3; i++)
b ^= buf[i];
if (a == b)
return 0;
return 1;
}


On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 6:26 PM, Matthew Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi Folks
>
>  I've been reading various notes on the Oncore protocol that have been
>  suggested to me and have written a little bit of Perl that - I think -
>  will output the correct set of bytes that should be sent to a receiver
>  given a specific message.
>
>  If anyone is able to verify that I've got this right (or wrong), it
>  would be appreciated, especially the checksum bit.
>
>  The code below has been written to display all values as 0xnn for ease
>  of reading.  Once I know this is working, I'll convert this to a more
>  machine-friendly format.  (Possibly as an array of chars, as this is
>  heading for a microcontroller.)
>
>  Cheers
>
>  M
>
>  --
>  Matthew Smith
>  Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
>  Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/
>  Personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
>  LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy
>
>
>  #!/usr/bin/perl -w
>
>  # Oncore message fixer-upper.
>
>  use strict;
>
>  # Count number of arguments.
>  my [EMAIL PROTECTED];
>
>  # Check that we have one argument
>  # and that it begins with @@
>  if ($argc!=1 || $ARGV[0]!~/[EMAIL PROTECTED]@/)
>  {
>print "Usage: $0 [EMAIL PROTECTED]@[message]\n";
>exit;
>  }
>
>  # Set $instring to be the given
>  # argument, strip of the initial
>  # @@.
>  my $instring=$ARGV[0];
>  $instring=~s/[EMAIL PROTECTED]@//;
>
>  # Start $outstring with the hex
>  # representation of @@.
>  my $outstring='0x40 0x40 ';
>
>
>  # Convert each character to hex and
>  # do checksum stuff.
>  my ($cs,$last);
>  for (my $i=0; $i  {
>my $thischar=ord(substr($instring,$i));
>$outstring.=sprintf("0x%x ",$thischar);
>
># Handle the checksum bit.
>if ($i==1)
>{
>  # If we're on the 2nd character,
>  # XOR this character with the last.
>  $cs=$last^$thischar;
>}
>elsif ($i>1)
>{
>  # If we're past the 2nd character,
>  # XOR this character with the
>  # previous checksum.
>  $cs=$cs^$thischar;
>}
>
>$last=$thischar;
>  }
>
>  # Convert the (decimal) checksum to
>  # hex.
>  $outstring.=sprintf("0x%x ",$cs);
>
>  # Finish off $outstring with the hex
>  # representation of .
>  $outstring.='0x0d 0x0a';
>
>  # Return $outstring.
>  print "$outstring\n";
>
>
>  ___
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>  and follow the instructions there.
>



-- 
GDB has a 'break' feature; why doesn't it have 'fix' too?

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Re: [time-nuts] Oncore Checksums

[Matthew Smith]

Quoth Chris Kuethe at 2008-04-18 10:59...
> int
> oncore_checksum(char *buf, int len){
>   unsigned char a, b;
>   int i;
> 
>   a = buf[len-3];
>   b = '\0';
>   for(i = 2; i < len - 3; i++)
>   b ^= buf[i];
>   if (a == b)
>   return 0;
>   return 1;
> }

'Scuse me for being something of a C newbie, but does that not return 
either a 1 or a 0, but not the checksum?

Otherwise, I can follow the logic.  Thanks.


Cheers

M


-- 
Matthew Smith
Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/
Personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy

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Re: [time-nuts] Oncore Checksums

[Chris Kuethe]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 6:51 PM, Matthew Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Quoth Chris Kuethe at 2008-04-18 10:59...
>
> > int
>  > oncore_checksum(char *buf, int len){
>  >   unsigned char a, b;
>  >   int i;
>  >
>  >   a = buf[len-3];
>  >   b = '\0';
>  >   for(i = 2; i < len - 3; i++)
>  >   b ^= buf[i];
>  >   if (a == b)
>  >   return 0;
>  >   return 1;
>  > }
>
>  'Scuse me for being something of a C newbie, but does that not return
>  either a 1 or a 0, but not the checksum?
>
>  Otherwise, I can follow the logic.  Thanks.

yeah, i should've mentioned, that's function i use to check the sum,
not compute it. return b instead, or just patch the buffer inside the
function:

void
oncore_add_checksum(char *buf, int len){
unsigned char b;
int i;

b = '\0';
for(i = 2; i < len - 3; i++)
b ^= buf[i];
buf[len-3] = b;
}


-- 
GDB has a 'break' feature; why doesn't it have 'fix' too?

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Re: [time-nuts] time-nuts Digest, Vol 45, Issue 34

[Kit Scally]

Dennis,

Ah-ha.  Now here's the rub! 
I've got 2 such APC Smart UPS - but I cannot find, beg, borrow or steal
a copy of the PowerChute software from anywhere.
Does anyone have a copy lurking unwanted & unloved in their 3.5" floppy
cabinet ?

Cheers,

Kit
VK2LL


Message: 4
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:26:18 -0700
From: "Dennis Tillman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Power monitoring
To: "'Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement'"

Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain;   charset="us-ascii"

>>snip
 These models went by the name 'Smart UPS'. The software, provided by
APC, was called 'Power Chute'. Any company that made UPSes for servers
had
features like this and software to go with it.  
>>snip

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Re: [time-nuts] Power Monitoring

[Matthew Smith]

Quoth Kit Scally at 2008-04-18 11:37...
> Ah-ha.  Now here's the rub! 
> I've got 2 such APC Smart UPS - but I cannot find, beg, borrow or steal
> a copy of the PowerChute software from anywhere.
> Does anyone have a copy lurking unwanted & unloved in their 3.5" floppy
> cabinet ?

Try here:   (I just Googled for 
'Powerchute download'.)

I've got a 1.4kVA APC Smart UPS here - got it with new batteries on eBay 
for about $300 AUD plus freight and quite delighted.  (I don't have 
Windows software for it as I run Linux on the attached server and use 
apcupsd.)

Cheers

M

-- 
Matthew Smith
Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/
Personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy

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Re: [time-nuts] Oncore Checksums

[Matthew Smith]

Quoth Chris Kuethe at 2008-04-18 11:29...
> yeah, i should've mentioned, that's function i use to check the sum,
> not compute it. return b instead, or just patch the buffer inside the
> function:
Ah, thanks.  I suppose I should use that checksum checker in the Nixie 
clock I'm building.  I'm going to set the receiver up in polled mode, do 
the initial time set against the receiver then sanity-check the time 
every now and then.  It would probably make sense to check the data 
checksum before I go and set the clock with it.  Clock will get its 
'tick' from the 1PPS signal.

Cheers

M


-- 
Matthew Smith
Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/
Personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy

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[time-nuts] week 1024 roll over

[Glenn Little WB4UIV]

I recently bought a Datum GPS Time/frequency System 9390-5593. When I 
enter date, time and location, it fails to indicate GPS lock. It is 
indicating GPS week 451, when the week is really 1475. It is also 
indicating that the day is 246. I highly suspect that the receiver 
has firmware that needs to be updated.
I have not disassembled the equipment far enough to verify the type 
of GPS engine installed. Does anyone know what GPS engine is 
installed in this equipment?
Will the 1024 week rollover cause the receiver not to lock, I suspect 
that the receiver will not lock as it has incorrect date?
Can I change the engine to something that has correct firmware?
Does the receiver output NMEA 0183 data or something unique?

I contacted Symmetricom as they bought Datum. They say this product 
was out of support prior to them buying Datum. I requested the price 
of a manual. They will sell me one, if they have one to copy, for a 
mere $250.00. I suspect that they do not have a firmware update that 
they will release for a reasonable cost. This is a hobby, not a 
business for me.

Any help or advice? Possibly just scrap this and use the Rb standard?

Thanks
73
Glenn
WB4UIV





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