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Good GPSDO on eBay?

MS
Mark Sims
Sun, Jul 10, 2016 12:39 AM

They are based upon a telco surplus "UCCM" GPSDO board.  Both Symmetricom and Trimble made (mostly) compatible units.  I prefer the Trimble units...  they store their settings in EEPROM.  The Symmetricom units don't... and have to do a long re-survey every time you power them up.  Plus the firmware in the Symmetricom units has a couple of minor glitches (occasionally drops a time stamp output message and can send the time stamp message in the middle of other message outputs).  That said,  the Symmetricom is rumored to have a slightly better oscillator)... but it is driven by a 6V to 12V DC-DC converter that is known to be somewhat unreliable.  I have not measured the output ADEVs, etc.

A little shopping on Ebay (search Trimble GPSDO) will turn up some units for less money.  I bought one of these and it arrived quickly and safely in good condition (BTW, you used to be able to get them for $50):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trimble-GPS-Receiver-GPSDO-10MHz-1PPS-GPS-Disciplined-Clock-/121966793020?hash=item1c65c9913c:g:TTgAAOSwVllXHYRU
There are unscrupulous sellers shipping damaged units.

This thread on EEVBLOG covers the units pretty well:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/a-look-at-my-symmetricom-gpsdo-(ocxo-furuno-receiver)/

I now have Lady Heather working with both models.

They are based upon a telco surplus "UCCM" GPSDO board. Both Symmetricom and Trimble made (mostly) compatible units. I prefer the Trimble units... they store their settings in EEPROM. The Symmetricom units don't... and have to do a long re-survey every time you power them up. Plus the firmware in the Symmetricom units has a couple of minor glitches (occasionally drops a time stamp output message and can send the time stamp message in the middle of other message outputs). That said, the Symmetricom is rumored to have a slightly better oscillator)... but it is driven by a 6V to 12V DC-DC converter that is known to be somewhat unreliable. I have not measured the output ADEVs, etc. A little shopping on Ebay (search Trimble GPSDO) will turn up some units for less money. I bought one of these and it arrived quickly and safely in good condition (BTW, you used to be able to get them for $50): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trimble-GPS-Receiver-GPSDO-10MHz-1PPS-GPS-Disciplined-Clock-/121966793020?hash=item1c65c9913c:g:TTgAAOSwVllXHYRU There are unscrupulous sellers shipping damaged units. This thread on EEVBLOG covers the units pretty well: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/a-look-at-my-symmetricom-gpsdo-(ocxo-furuno-receiver)/ I now have Lady Heather working with both models.