Hi, John -- I'd be potentially interested in the beta program, as I need to upgrade my current 10 MHz rat's nest. However... 4 ports are nowhere near enough, and I think quite a few people will agree with me there.
Right now, my Thunderbolt drives an HP 5345A, HP 5370B, HP 8656A, Tek 492(4)AP, a homebrew synthesizer, a VHF/UHF receiver, and a loose coax cable to drive whatever is on the workbench at the moment. That's 7 applications, and if I had another port, I could probably find a use for it. Currently I make do with a 4-way CATV splitter and a couple of BNC tees. Output level needs to be at least +10 dBm into 50 ohms for the benefit of some of the pickier "clients" like the 5345A... and not more than about 3V peak into an open circuit (aka about +20 dBm into 50 ohms). I (personally) don't have a use for 1 pps, so that feature would probably go untested. Houses should come pre-wired for 110V, 220V, CATV, RJ45, Cat6, and 10 MHz! -- john, KE5FX > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of John Ackermann N8UR > Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 1:41 PM > To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement > Subject: [time-nuts] Call for input and beta testers -- Simple > DistributionAmp/1pps divider > > > Hi All -- > > I'm working on a new project for TAPR that some of you may be interested > in, and I'm soliciting your input, as well as three or four of you to be > beta testers. > > By way of background, TAPR (http://www.tapr.org) is an international ham > radio organization that supports advanced R&D work in ham radio. For > the last several years, I've been its President (i.e., chief cook and > bottle washer). Although TAPR started by developing hardware for packet > radio, we've been involved in time and frequency stuff as well. We > supported the development of, and marketed, the "TAC" (GPS interface > board) that's used all over the world in GPS timing systems, and we're > about to introduce the Reflock II, a PLL system designed to lock an > oscillator of virtually any frequency to a frequency reference or > GPS input. > > I'm just about finished designing my first TAPR project, and it's one I > think this crowd might find useful. > > It's a combination distribution amplifier and 1pps divider built on a > single circuit board. The key features are: > > * Broadband amplifier (from near-DC up to about 30MHz, with usable > response out well beyond that. There will be an optional bandpass > filter to reduce spurs from, e.g., a square wave input. > > * 50 ohm or high-Z input, with 4 buffered and isolated 50 ohm outputs. > > * PIC-based divider that can generate 1pps output from 100kHz, 1MHz, > 5MHz, or 10MHz inputs. It has a synch input to for setting against an > external pulse, and provides two low-Z outputs. (The code is based > heavily on the design that TVB published, and is used with his > permission.) > > I have some specific questions about the feature set that I'd like to > ask potential users, and I would also like to find three or four people > willing to build beta versions of the kit (it's through-hole technology > and assembly should be fairly straight-forward, but will require basic > electronic assembly skills). Beta testers will be asked to pay the cost > of parts, and can keep the beta unit when testing is finished. > > Our hope is to have the beta kits available within six to eight weeks. > We'd like anyone buying a beta kit to commit to building it within a > month after receipt. > > If you're interested in providing design input, or being a beta tester, > please contact me off-line. I'll be setting up a separate mailing list > to handle the discussion. > > Thanks! > > John > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list > time-nuts@febo.com > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list time-nuts@febo.com https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts