Category Archives: FMT

Leo Bodnar mini GPS Reference Clock

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Bob Beatty

I finally powered up my Leo Bodnar mini-GPS Reference Clock yesterday.  It took only a few seconds to achieve lock and within 15 minutes it was stabilize to within 1 milliHertz.  I’m told by the factory that within a few … Continue reading →

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April 2019 FMT Results: Green Bar!

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Bob Beatty

Well the results are in, with 112 people submitting measurements, 74 of 112 (including me) made the Green Band (< 1 Hz error).  Five of those had errors less than 0.1 Hz error. My results were 0.26 Hz high on … Continue reading →

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Siglent SDG 2042X Stability Test

Posted on April 13, 2019 by Bob Beatty

I want to replace my dead HP 3335A with a new Siglent SDG 2042X.  After all, the latter is 40 years newer, 20 pounds lighter, and maybe 1/8 the volume.  It is also silent as a church mouse (the HP’s … Continue reading →

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Elecraft K3s DDS/PLL Induced Drift

Posted on April 13, 2019 by Bob Beatty

I wasn’t very clear when I was posting about my pre-FMT calibration.  But I did describe that the K3s was not a particularly effective rig to use for a FMT.  This is because of how the digital synthesizer was implemented.  … Continue reading →

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So Long OLD Friend!

Posted on April 13, 2019 by Bob Beatty

And just like that, my 1980 vintage HP 3335A Synthesizer died this afternoon when I turned it on to get a better graph of my K3s PLL frequency hunting.  Dreaded “Unlocked” indicator and crazy display.  I have another that I’ve … Continue reading →

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Preliminary Results for April 2019 FMT

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Bob Beatty

I was able to participate in the FMT last night (around 10 PM local time).  This was a pretty big deal for me, because I haven’t been in the basement that late at night since I was in the hospital … Continue reading →

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Rig Instability and Calibrating for FMT

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Bob Beatty

Back in the day, a superhet receiver, employed several mixer stages, requiring various oscillators, and a sometimes sketchy VFO (Anybody remember the Swan 753 — lovingly referred to as the Seven Drifty Three?).  That made for a real challenge when … Continue reading →

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Getting Ready for April 12 FMT

Posted on April 6, 2019 by Bob Beatty

The next Frequency Measuring Test (FMT) is scheduled for 0200 UTC on April 12.  For us East-coasters, that would be 10 PM EDT on THURSDAY. I’ve just powered up my gear so it will be sitting in a stable for … Continue reading →

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“Green Band” April 2018 FMT!

Posted on April 8, 2018 by robert

I managed to fulfill one of my 2018 goals by getting into the “Green Band” of the ARRL FMT.  The standard is to be better than 1 Hz on all three bands.  My best result was within 0.010 Hz, and … Continue reading →

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Warming Up for the FMT

Posted on April 4, 2018 by robert

2018’s first FMT is scheduled for 0100-0225 UTC on April 6 (9 PM-10:25PM EDT Thursday).  It’s been many months since I’ve fiddled with my measurement gear, so today it was hooked up and will be left powered on so that … Continue reading →

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