Thunderbolt "osc age alarm", where to get replacement oscillator?
Hi all,
Lady Heather just reported that my Thunderbolt's "osc age alarm" just activated.
The manual tells me this means that the oscillator control voltage is
at a rail and that the oscillator should be replaced. It says this
shouldn't be needed during the first 12 years of service, but mine is
~17 years old, so its time may have come.
Where can I find a suitable replacement oscillator? Is there a
recommended part number? If the original part is no longer available,
what is a good substitute?
Cheers!
-Pete
--
Pete Stephenson
Typically all that means is the crystal needs to have its
trimmer capacitor adjusted back into range. I have no direct knowledge
of the TBolt's oscillator, but it might be as simple as removing
a screw, and adjusting the trimmer... Or, in some cases you have
to remove a solder blob from the metal can, and access the trimmer.
I would sure hate to toss away all that hard earned aged xtal for
a new one at this point.
-Chuck Harris
Pete Stephenson wrote:
Hi all,
Lady Heather just reported that my Thunderbolt's "osc age alarm" just activated.
The manual tells me this means that the oscillator control voltage is
at a rail and that the oscillator should be replaced. It says this
shouldn't be needed during the first 12 years of service, but mine is
~17 years old, so its time may have come.
Where can I find a suitable replacement oscillator? Is there a
recommended part number? If the original part is no longer available,
what is a good substitute?
Cheers!
-Pete
Hi
First thing to check is that it really is at limit. There apparently are a few odd things
that can trigger the alarm.
The OCXO’s out of the TBolt are sold on the auction sites from time to time. They
seem to go for < $40 delivered. The footprint on the OCXO is pretty standard. You
can tune the parameters on the TBolt. There are a lot of other choices. About the only
real limit is the 10 MHz frequency.
Bob
On Nov 13, 2015, at 2:53 PM, Pete Stephenson pete@heypete.com wrote:
Hi all,
Lady Heather just reported that my Thunderbolt's "osc age alarm" just activated.
The manual tells me this means that the oscillator control voltage is
at a rail and that the oscillator should be replaced. It says this
shouldn't be needed during the first 12 years of service, but mine is
~17 years old, so its time may have come.
Where can I find a suitable replacement oscillator? Is there a
recommended part number? If the original part is no longer available,
what is a good substitute?
Cheers!
-Pete
--
Pete Stephenson
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.
Pete,
I would doubt anything is directly available.
But if there is hope for some hack its certainly here from my experience.
Hack may be the actual reality. Got a saw?
Good luck because one day sooner then later I suspect I will ask the same
question.
Regards
Paul
WB8TSL
On Fri, Nov 13, 2015 at 2:53 PM, Pete Stephenson pete@heypete.com wrote:
Hi all,
Lady Heather just reported that my Thunderbolt's "osc age alarm" just
activated.
The manual tells me this means that the oscillator control voltage is
at a rail and that the oscillator should be replaced. It says this
shouldn't be needed during the first 12 years of service, but mine is
~17 years old, so its time may have come.
Where can I find a suitable replacement oscillator? Is there a
recommended part number? If the original part is no longer available,
what is a good substitute?
Cheers!
-Pete
--
Pete Stephenson
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.
Hi,
Sadly my tbolt is sick as well. There is some fault that causes the processor to constantly reset. I already had the outer screws undone, so I popped open the case to look for the trimmer you need. There is indeed a solder blob on one side of the oscillator, under which I would presume is the adjustment screw. Hopefully a tweak there will take care of your error.
Dan
On Nov 13, 2015, at 2:53 PM, Pete Stephenson pete@heypete.com wrote:
Hi all,
Lady Heather just reported that my Thunderbolt's "osc age alarm" just activated.
The manual tells me this means that the oscillator control voltage is
at a rail and that the oscillator should be replaced. It says this
shouldn't be needed during the first 12 years of service, but mine is
~17 years old, so its time may have come.
Where can I find a suitable replacement oscillator? Is there a
recommended part number? If the original part is no longer available,
what is a good substitute?
Cheers!
-Pete
--
Pete Stephenson
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.
Hi
I think you will find that tearing open a TBolt OCXO does not reveal a mechanical trimmer
anywhere to be seen. That’s true at least if it was made past about 1997 …
It’s unusual to see them actually age out. Most that I have seen still have > 90% of their trim
range left. A much more common situation is a shorted or open EFC line. Sometimes the
issue is outside the OCXO on the TBolt pc board. Other times it’s inside the OCXO. The quick
check is to watch it on a counter and try to swing the DAC. If the frequency does not change….
you have an open or a short.
Bob
On Nov 13, 2015, at 5:58 PM, Chuck Harris cfharris@erols.com wrote:
Typically all that means is the crystal needs to have its
trimmer capacitor adjusted back into range. I have no direct knowledge
of the TBolt's oscillator, but it might be as simple as removing
a screw, and adjusting the trimmer... Or, in some cases you have
to remove a solder blob from the metal can, and access the trimmer.
I would sure hate to toss away all that hard earned aged xtal for
a new one at this point.
-Chuck Harris
Pete Stephenson wrote:
Hi all,
Lady Heather just reported that my Thunderbolt's "osc age alarm" just activated.
The manual tells me this means that the oscillator control voltage is
at a rail and that the oscillator should be replaced. It says this
shouldn't be needed during the first 12 years of service, but mine is
~17 years old, so its time may have come.
Where can I find a suitable replacement oscillator? Is there a
recommended part number? If the original part is no longer available,
what is a good substitute?
Cheers!
-Pete
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.
Where can I find a suitable replacement oscillator? Is there a
recommended part number? If the original part is no longer available,
what is a good substitute?
Cheers!
-Pete
Hi Pete,
I have plenty of TBolt's from the group buy years ago. I'm sure there's a spare oscillator in there. Or maybe just a working unit to replace yours. Contact me off-list. If you bought your TBolt through TAPR there's no charge.
/tvb
On Sat, Nov 14, 2015 at 12:00 AM, Bob Camp kb8tq@n1k.org wrote:
Hi
First thing to check is that it really is at limit. There apparently are a few odd things
that can trigger the alarm.
What sort of odd things might cause that?
It was weird: yesterday LH highlighted the DAC value which was around
0.38V (I didn't write down the number, alas) and the "osc age alarm",
both of which were red.
I did a factory reset for good measure and things cleared up. The DAC
value is now around 0.42V and the alarms are off and everything is
green. The OSC plot in LH tracks the DAC value, so it appears that the
Thunderbolt is able to control the oscillator reasonably well.
What's the max range that the DAC can produce? +/- a volt? Two?
The OCXO’s out of the TBolt are sold on the auction sites from time to time. They
seem to go for < $40 delivered. The footprint on the OCXO is pretty standard. You
can tune the parameters on the TBolt. There are a lot of other choices. About the only
real limit is the 10 MHz frequency.
Cool. I see a bunch of Trimble and non-Trimble oscillators for sale on
eBay but would hate to get the wrong one. Does it need to be the exact
same model number, or are they usually all compatible (assuming that
they are 10MHz and use the same voltage for the oven and other
electronics?
Cheers!
-Pete
--
Pete Stephenson
Hi
On Nov 14, 2015, at 8:01 AM, Pete Stephenson pete@heypete.com wrote:
On Sat, Nov 14, 2015 at 12:00 AM, Bob Camp kb8tq@n1k.org wrote:
Hi
First thing to check is that it really is at limit. There apparently are a few odd things
that can trigger the alarm.
What sort of odd things might cause that?
Since we do not have an exact firmware dump of any of the TBolt firmware (let alone a
dump of each version) it’s only a guess as to what can trigger the alarm. What I have seen
are OCXO’s that trigger it without being at either end of the tune range. What I would guess
is that there is some sort of aging estimation going on.
It was weird: yesterday LH highlighted the DAC value which was around
0.38V (I didn't write down the number, alas) and the "osc age alarm",
both of which were red.
Which is the sort of thing I have seen.
I did a factory reset for good measure and things cleared up. The DAC
value is now around 0.42V and the alarms are off and everything is
green. The OSC plot in LH tracks the DAC value, so it appears that the
Thunderbolt is able to control the oscillator reasonably well.
What's the max range that the DAC can produce? +/- a volt? Two?
The DAC range is +/- 5V. The OCXO’s apparently start out from the factory
set to center at 0V. If that’s true, your 0.4V OCXO has aged less than 10% of the
range in how ever many years since it left the factory.
The OCXO’s out of the TBolt are sold on the auction sites from time to time. They
seem to go for < $40 delivered. The footprint on the OCXO is pretty standard. You
can tune the parameters on the TBolt. There are a lot of other choices. About the only
real limit is the 10 MHz frequency.
Cool. I see a bunch of Trimble and non-Trimble oscillators for sale on
eBay but would hate to get the wrong one. Does it need to be the exact
same model number, or are they usually all compatible (assuming that
they are 10MHz and use the same voltage for the oven and other
electronics?
I would go for a proper TBolt part. I’d get one with the most recent date code
you can find. Newer is always better :) To get the right sort, I’d take Tom up
on his offer. It sounds like the best deal I’ve heard.
Bob
Cheers!
-Pete
--
Pete Stephenson
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.