hi Edgardo, The best one in that price range is probably the PRS-10 from SRS. New it's about $1500, sometimes they go used for $500 if you can find one they are very desirable. Can be locked to an external GPS, a huge plus. Their tube is designed for 20+ years lifetime.
Has excellent ADEV and phase noise. As an external Gps consider a Motorola/iLotus M12M receiver. That combo is a professional level system, and with a bit of tinkering you can even implement sawtooth correction as described in the time nuts archives. Total cost used: under $700 with power supplies and enclosure.. But may require some patience and research to find one. Don't touch the cesium beam units unless you can get a guarantee and someone can tell you how much cesium remains in them, most of them have depleted tubes that cannot be refilled and cost more than a small car to replace with a new one. Bye, Said Sent from my iPad On Jun 30, 2012, at 8:41, Edgardo Molina <xe1...@amsat.org> wrote: > Dear Don, > > Good morning. Like probably many others, owning or collecting nice pieces of > equipment probably drove me to consider an HP unit, instead of wisely doing > some research on more specific and technically feasible options. The search > is only beginning. Your advise is welcome. Thank you. > > Best regards, > > > > Edgardo Molina > XE1XUS > > On Jun 30, 2012, at 3:05 AM, Don Latham wrote: > >> Edgardo: For the asking price, you can do a LOT better than this Hp. >> There will be more opinions from more knowledgeable time-nuts regarding >> your choices, I would consider them carefully. Again, you do not need to >> spend anything like $1k US to get what you need. >> Don >> >> Edgardo Molina >>> Dear Group, >>> >>> Good morning. I wish you well. This is my first post to the Time-Nuts >>> group. Please be gentle with the newbie ;) >>> >>> I have been offered an HP 5065a Rubidium Frequency Standard recently >>> in what I feel, a bad operational condition. I need a reliable >>> rubidium standard for my time/frequency experiments, still I am in >>> doubt to invest in buying such and old beast. The general situation of >>> the instrument (for what I have been able to see from the first >>> inspection) is: >>> >>> 100 Khz output: Not working, noise coming out of it. >>> >>> 1Mhz output: Working, sine wave clean and not distorted, a couple of >>> frequency meters showing 1.0000030 Mhz in frequency, the oscilloscope >>> shows a transient pulse on top of the sine wave signal and affecting >>> the frequency readout instantly and then returning to the value >>> previously mentioned. Last digits vary sporadically. >>> >>> 5Mhz output: Working. sine wave clean but a little bit distorted when >>> ramping up. A couple of frequency counters showing 5.0000014 Mhz in >>> frequency. No transient pulses or other glitches around the output >>> signal. Last digits vary sporadically. >>> >>> No lights coming up when the instrument turned on. No physical damage >>> of abuse on case or internal components. No options installed . A >>> couple of electrolytic caps replaced on some boards, no trace of burnt >>> PCB traces or visible damage to electronic components or physics >>> package. Haven't got the manual until today and was unable to check on >>> the front panel voltages to check on general health. As turning the >>> voltage test selector knob, voltage is shown for most positions, >>> except of course battery and the 100 Khz oscillator output. Some >>> voltage test positions get the instrument needle to go full scale and >>> out of range, other appear to be within scale. >>> >>> I can perform a second visual and operational inspection today, this >>> time with a copy of the instrument manual. I will take my own trusted >>> frequency counter and portable digital storage oscilloscope. Would >>> really appreciate if I could receive comments from you experts to >>> evaluate if such a unit could be worth buying. The asking price is $1K >>> USD. Should I consider it an instrument that can be repaired and >>> serviced to show some decent performance? Or should I look somewhere >>> else to get a decent rubidium frequency standard. >>> >>> Thank you beforehand for all your kind and expert comments. >>> >>> >>> Respectfully, >>> >>> >>> >>> Edgardo Molina >>> Mexico City, Mexico >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com >>> To unsubscribe, go to >>> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts >>> and follow the instructions there. >>> >> >> >> -- >> "Neither the voice of authority nor the weight of reason and argument >> are as significant as experiment, for thence comes quiet to the mind." >> R. Bacon >> "If you don't know what it is, don't poke it." >> Ghost in the Shell >> >> >> Dr. Don Latham AJ7LL >> Six Mile Systems LLP >> 17850 Six Mile Road >> POB 134 >> Huson, MT, 59846 >> VOX 406-626-4304 >> www.lightningforensics.com >> www.sixmilesystems.com >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts >> and follow the instructions there. > > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
