You may find that the behavior varies quite a bit depending on what you put between the maser output and the doubler. I've seen one case in particular that generates a ton of PM spurs, specifically an HP 11721A doubler driven by the 5 MHz output of a 5061A Cs standard. The 5 MHz output uses a narrowband transformer with a parallel-tuned primary, so it looks highly reactive at frequencies other than 5 MHz. I'm not sure what's really going on, but the 11721A (which is being run below its frequency spec in this case) doesn't seem happy at all ( http://www.ke5fx.com/11721a.png ). Adding an SLP-5 lowpass filter in front of the 11721A makes the spurs go away, as does an isolation amp.
The 1.5 Hz spur in your plot looks like leakage from a nearby 10 MHz source, presumably a free-running OCXO that's a bit off frequency. The rest of it looks like an open coax shield or something. (If you're using a coaxial balun, try removing it.) It's possible to get 2-3 dB of excess noise from a multiplier beyond the expected 20*log(N), depending on source and load characteristics, but I haven't seen anything that bad in the absence of other problems. -- john, KE5FX Miles Design LLC > >> I'm seeing +20-30 dBc/Hz of excess AM/PN, as well as a strong 1.5 Hz spur > >> created by frequency doubling from 5 MHz to 10 MHz. > >> https://goo.gl/photos/GFx9tQoxrSmyzUQo8 > >> The input amplitude to the doubler should be just above the > recommended 11 > >> dBm. > >> What's going on?? > >> > >> thanks! > >> Anders _______________________________________________ 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.
