There is a commonly used kind of pulse train analyzer that records and then dumps timestamps (absolute and/or delta) of low-to-high and high-to-low transitions for analysis on a computer. Is there a name for this method? I first saw it being used in the 80's to debug and reverse-engineer broadcast-over-POTS codecs and GCR floppies, but I'm sure it existed well before that.
This is similar to e.g. Tom's PICPET but we didn't use it for precision timestamping - we used it as a kind of generic computer front end for various pulse train modulation analysis. Maybe "Time-Stamping Counter" is the generic term for the device? Is there a phrase for data recovery/inspection using the recorded data? Tim N3QE On Tue, Jun 16, 2015 at 3:54 PM, Robert Gilchrist Huenemann < bo...@razzolink.com> wrote: > I stumbled onto the time nuts list from a posting on modulation domain > analysis a couple of weeks ago. I am enjoying the discussion. > > I want to comment on modulation domain analysis, or phase digitizing. This > is a technique that uses a period mode frequency counter, or two such > counters back to back, to recover the modulation history of a frequency > modulated waveform. > > This technique was first used in the HP9540 automated transceiver test > system. This system was described in the August 1973 HP Journal. The HP9540 > used a single HP5326 period mode counter with a 10 MHz clock. At that time, > no counter was available with a higher clock frequency. > > A breadboard system was assembled as part of the HP9540 development effort > which used two HP5326 counters back to back. To insure that alternate > periods were measured, the second HP5326 ran off the gate output of the > first. However, it was realized that the characteristics of the HP9540 and > its specific application were such that two counters were not required. > Please refer to my HP Journal article for details. > > The HP9540 was developed at HP's Automatic Measurement Division. This > division was disbanded in 1974. > > Modulation Domain Analysis and Phase Digitizing were terms that came into > use with the later development of specialized stand alone instruments that > combined computational capability, back to back period mode counters, > higher clock frequencies, interpolation and algorithms for various > measurements. All of these were worthwhile improvements on the basic > technique first used in the HP9540. > > I would be happy to answer questions. Thank you for allowing me to post > this information. > > > Robert Gilchrist Huenemann, M.S.E.E. > 120 Harbern Way > Hollister, CA 95023-9708 > 831-635-0786 > bo...@razzolink.com > https://sites.google.com/site/bobhuenemann/ > Extra Class Amateur Radio License W6RFW > IEEE Life Member 01189471 > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > _______________________________________________ > 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.