Re: PPS issue on Ubuntu 20.04 server

[Gary E. Miller]

Yo Russ!

On Mon, 26 Apr 2021 13:00:13 -0500
Russ Ramirez <russ.ramirez@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for your reply Gary. I found out from a couple of posts on the
> EEVBlog forum that the particular BG7TBL GPSDO unit I have contains a
> fake u-blox NEO-7m device and will not respond to certain commands
> sent to it.

I find the claim of "fake" to be raised too often.  u-blox devices
have fuses inside that adjust which features are available.  A lot of
the "fakes" are real u-blox, but with non-standard fuses blown.  u-blox
hates to sell small quantities, so much of the u-blox on the resale market
are these odd variants left over from large purchaese.

That said, the 8 and 9's are so much better, no point starting any
project with a 7.

> As for the Trimble, it is a ThunderBolt unit from 2003. As it has
> been a good unit for a 10 MHz reference and pretty good for an NTP
> implementation, I'll keep it in service a while longer.

I know time-nuts love them, but it is easy to do better today.

> I have however started to look at refurbished Symmetricom SyncServer
> 1520R and Spectracom 9183 time servers,

For less price you can get new units that perform better.  Those "atomic"
clocks are just GPSDO's.

If you want a good GPSDO then Leo Bodner is a good bet:

http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=107&products_id=301

Or for a good stratum 1:

https://store.uputronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_70&product_id=92

> as well as some new GPS
> devices containing more recent u-blox devices in them (which are also
> attractive as they run on 12v from my solar system).

DC-DC converters are cheap.

> I'll try the gpsdebuginfo tool as it sounds interesting.

Good.  I'm curious about your M.2 GPS.

RGDS
GARY
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Gary E. Miller Rellim 109 NW Wilmington Ave., Suite E, Bend, OR 97703
        gem@rellim.com  Tel:+1 541 382 8588

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