Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

:50:08 + From: Giorgio Barinetti To: "time-nuts@lists.febo.com" Subject: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice Hi, As a newbie in the field, I've collected, by chance, some frequency standards Now is the time to measure them, and see how they perform. I've inherited a 5371, but somet

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Gents, In the manual there is no mention of a calibration jumper and I can't find any inside the counter. New battery, power cycle, reset etc. no joy. Maybe some secret sauce to get to the 61 characters? Stijn Rex schreef op 2020-11-12 02:05: > Stijn, > > Sorry to hear writing the

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi Rex, Putting my memory to the test, by opening up the 6681 I conclude my memory failed me. On the other hand, I also discovered that my 6681 have failed me, since the power supply fails to boot up. I consider a shorted tantal to be potential cause, but I felt that smell of burnt electronics

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Stijn, Sorry to hear writing the string I read out hasn't worked so far. Magnus, Earlier in this thread (date 11/9) you said, "In order to write, you need to move the calibration jumper inside." Do you recall, is there any truth to that? I only saw it mentioned in that one message and I

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Stijn, Have you tried to power-cycle your counter? May seem like a silly question, but just to make sure we are on the same page. I have had similar problems, but did not debug them all. I do remember that after writing the string successfully I had to power-cycle the counter thought, before it

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi All, I am one of the lucky persons with a PM6681 that has lost it's calibration parameters. Unfortunatly it seems not as simple as sending: :SYST:UNPR; *PUD #261 CALIBRATED: 2006-11-07, CALPLS: 4.25 ns, TMP: +22 °C This produces an error. If I sent: :SYST:UNPR; *PUD #253 CALIBRATED:

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

On Mon, Nov 9, 2020 at 6:18 PM Rex wrote: > > Then I sent *PUD? > and got > #261 CALIBRATED: 2006-11-07, CALPLS: 4.25 ns, TMP: +22 °C[LF] > where the [LF] at the end is not literal, it represents the line feed > char 0x0a. > > ... > There is one odd thing I see though. The last two of #261 is

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Magnus and Azelio, (About Pendulum or Fluke or Philips PM6681 Counter or equivalent CNT-81) Here's a link to the thread where Magnus shared info in 2015. https://time-nuts.febo.narkive.com/6WTFfsyN/pm6680-or-53131a-for-timepod Your post is about half way down -- 2015-11-18 22:18:04 UTC

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Thanks for the memory refresh. You can read the string using PUD? Do that and keep the result. PUD and PUD? is the magic in the counter, the rest is software and hardware outside of the counter for calibration. In order to write, you need to move the calibration jumper inside. Cheers, Magnus

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Several USB--GPIB designs may be found on the web, for example, https://github.com/fenrir-naru/gpib-usbcdc/ I chose this one because it uses the bus driver chips, rather than driving the bus directly with the microporcessor. It uses a

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

On Fri, Oct 23, 2020 at 9:14 AM jimlux wrote: > ... > to be set - for instance, Arduinos work that way: > > digitalWrite(pin#, HIGH) > > I think GPIB would still work if you had to do 8 digitalWrite() calls, > then a final digitalWrite() call to assert DAV. > > > I suspect that for a number of

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Old story about the PM6681 (18 Nov 2015, thread: "PM6681 and Timelab") where a sort of calibration procedure is described: the PUD command is NOT a calibration command. PM6681 programming manual, page 9-127: PUD Protected User Data...This is a data area where the user may write ANY data up to 64

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi Magnus, Just catching up on list messages and saw this one from you. I have a Fluke PM 6881 counter. I don't think I've ever seen a description of a method for reading/restoring these battery backed up calibration constants. I looked for a way, as losing them is something I've worried

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Just for reference, I have an HP5334 that is missing the entire display assembly and it works just fine over GPIB. Try it, it would most likely work. Didier KO4BB On Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 9:46 AM Mark Spencer wrote: > I am just curious how viable would it be to use a 531xx series counter > with

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi, I second this. You can read the calibration data out of the counter and save. I've done some experiments with that, but nothing conclusive, but I blame my lack of patience and not a proper setup. Do replace the battery, it is cheap and relatively easy to do. Would you loose this

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

For those who have the PM6681 (aka CNT81): check the 3V memory backup cell and replace it before the dreaded calibration lost (CAL LOST) will appear on the LCD. Replace the coin cell with great care (with the counter powered up), see the service manual for the procedure.

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi, On 2020-10-22 19:13, Attila Kinali wrote: > On Thu, 22 Oct 2020 11:50:08 + > Giorgio Barinetti wrote: > >> Choices are many, but I'll try to avoid the "older" machines lile 5370 or >> 5335. The 531xx series seems nice ( money apart ) >> But again : which one between the 3 ? 53131, 53132

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

I actually did much the same to use my ancient HP and TI gear, and turned it into a commercial product. My KISS-488 is listed on eBay and Amazon (though not much longer on Amazon, as sales via Amazon have been really slow). Just a standard GPIB plug with an Ethernet jack on the back. If it

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

On 10/22/20 7:09 PM, Elio Corbolante wrote: While I love my Prologix adapters, I wonder if one could implement the protocol using GPIO pins on something like a Beagleboard or Arduino clone? (yes, as a product, with the right connector and line driver/receivers, etc. - it would cost the same as a

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

On 10/22/20 12:08 PM, Oz-in-DFW wrote: On 10/22/2020 11:52 AM, jimlux wrote:  I wonder if one could implement the protocol using GPIO pins on something like a Beagleboard or Arduino clone? (yes, as a product, with the right connector and line driver/receivers, etc. - it would cost the same as

[time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi Attila, Thanks for the very nice job. I’ll sharpen out my math and try to read it  Regards, Giorgio. On Thu, 22 Oct 2020 13:29:07 -0400 Bob kb8tq http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com>> wrote: > There is a paper running around behind the IEEE paywall by

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

On 10/22/2020 11:52 AM, jimlux wrote: >  I wonder if one could implement the protocol using GPIO pins on > something like a Beagleboard or Arduino clone? > > (yes, as a product, with the right connector and line > driver/receivers, etc. - it would cost the same as a Prologix... but > as a hack...)

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

> >While I love my Prologix adapters, I wonder if one could implement the > >protocol using GPIO pins on something like a Beagleboard or Arduino clone? > >(yes, as a product, with the right connector and line driver/receivers, > >etc. - it would cost the same as a Prologix... but as a hack...) >

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi …. and now I have a copy :) Bob > On Oct 22, 2020, at 6:12 PM, Attila Kinali wrote: > > On Thu, 22 Oct 2020 13:29:07 -0400 > Bob kb8tq wrote: > >> There is a paper running around behind the IEEE paywall by Collins that >> details >> one approach to designing multi-stage limiters. There

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

On Thu, 22 Oct 2020 13:29:07 -0400 Bob kb8tq wrote: > There is a paper running around behind the IEEE paywall by Collins that > details > one approach to designing multi-stage limiters. There are other ways to do > it. > The key is to not go to crazy all in one stage. You can find a

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi One approach to a mixer setup is the DMTD (dual mixer time difference). It has a “little cousin” that also does very will running one mixer instead of two. The limit there being that you need to be able to tune one or both the devices you are testing to get a beat note in the 2 to 10 Hz

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

In days of yore + DOS, I implemented a GPIB control by bit-banging a parallel printer port. Those were the days Andy www.g4jnt.com Virus-free. www.avg.com

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

On Thu, 22 Oct 2020 11:50:08 + Giorgio Barinetti wrote: > Choices are many, but I'll try to avoid the "older" machines lile 5370 or > 5335. The 531xx series seems nice ( money apart ) > But again : which one between the 3 ? 53131, 53132 or 53181 ? Maybe try to get hold of one of the

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

On 10/22/20 8:29 AM, Tom Van Baak wrote: 3) Instead of replacing the front panel readout, instead do all your comms over SCPI, to the point where you have created a virtual instrument, not unlike some of the logic analyzer or 'scope PC apps. This solution would be very welcome by lots

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Mark, Yes, the VFD on those counters do seem to have a limited lifetime. I have some 20 years old that are getting hard to read in bright light. If the VFD dies, yes, the counter will continue to measure just fine, not only all the serial talk-only data output, but the full capability of

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

As a newbie to nuttery I would like to throw my brief experiences into the mix. When I started down this slippery slope I was using a HP5386A frequency counter because I had one. It was entertaining for a short period of time. I then acquired a HP5372A which for hooking up to Timelabs and running

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi Provided you can get a few key parameters set up (= enable the serial port / set baud rates), it should run just fine without the display. You would need to do some GPIB fiddling to set various modes. Bob > On Oct 22, 2020, at 10:22 AM, Mark Spencer wrote: > > I am just curious how

[time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi Bob, Nice explanation. I'll see what I can do to find a 53132. Maybe, in the meantime, if I'll be lucky to find a 5370, I'll play on it. Regarding the mixer based setup, I'm already in progress for setting up a suitable test jig. Please point to some information, if you have it

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi, Small correction, 5371A and 5370A are different beasts. The 5370A has 20 ps resolution and the 5371A has 200 ps resolution. So, the 5371A is about the same performance as the 53132A at 150 ps resolution. I work with 5372A which is essentially a 5371A with hardware histogram and a few other

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

I am just curious how viable would it be to use a 531xx series counter with Timelab if the counter display has failed ? Thanks in advance Mark Spencer m...@alignedsolutions.com 604 762 4099 > On Oct 22, 2020, at 6:36 AM, Bob kb8tq wrote: > > Hi > >> On Oct 22, 2020, at 7:50 AM, Giorgio

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Avoid the 53181A; too limited. Both the 53131A / 53132A are "universal" counters so they do frequency, period, time interval, and lots more. They are very useful counters. The rs232 talk-only mode makes it very easy to collect data on a PC. No programming required. The 53132A has a bit higher

Re: [time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi > On Oct 22, 2020, at 7:50 AM, Giorgio Barinetti wrote: > > Hi, > > As a newbie in the field, I've collected, by chance, some frequency standards. > > Now is the time to measure them, and see how they perform. > > I've inherited a 5371, but something tells me that is not the right >

[time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

Hi, As a newbie in the field, I've collected, by chance, some frequency standards. Now is the time to measure them, and see how they perform. I've inherited a 5371, but something tells me that is not the right instrument - and maybe is even faulty. So, I'm in the need to buy a counter to use