azonenberg changed the topic of #scopehal to: libscopehal, libscopeprotocols, and glscopeclient development and testing | https://github.com/azonenberg/scopehal-cmake, https://github.com/azonenberg/scopehal-apps, https://github.com/azonenberg/scopehal | Logs: https://freenode.irclog.whitequark.org/scopehal
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<_whitenotifier-3> [scopehal-apps] azonenberg pushed 3 commits to master [+0/-0/±5] https://git.io/fjWUG
<_whitenotifier-3> [scopehal-apps] azonenberg 18f1786 - Improve rendering of really long samples without any changes
<_whitenotifier-3> [scopehal-apps] azonenberg 7d063fb - Allow protocol decoders to have null inputs (for optional config)
<_whitenotifier-3> [scopehal-apps] azonenberg 75f102b - Added "refresh config" toolbar button. Fixes #42.
<_whitenotifier-3> [scopehal-apps] azonenberg closed issue #42: Figure out how/when to flush cache and load configuration from scope - https://git.io/fjcPI
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<bvernoux> does anyone here know a good frequency counter ?
<bvernoux> especially with GPSDO option
<bvernoux> so far I have only found HP Agilent Keysight 53181A / 53230A but they also requires option to go at more than 225Mhz...
<bvernoux> but unfortunately they are not with Ethernet only GPIB or RS232 ...
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<tnt> bvernoux: I use the keysight you mentionned. Option board can be self made pretty easily.
<bvernoux> ha really ?
<tnt> but yeah, gpib ... I have a gpib 2 ethernet conecting a bunch of my old gear.
<bvernoux> you are using 53181A ?
<tnt> oh sorry my font is too small, it's a 53131 :/
<bvernoux> yes it is similar anyway
<bvernoux> I search something with > 3Ghz
<bvernoux> I have found something amazing ;)
<bvernoux> 20GHz version
<bvernoux> on eBay
<bvernoux> 53147A HP AGILENT MICROWAVE FREQ COUNTERPOWER
<tnt> Oh nice. And working ? Those often use SRD input stages that are basically impossible to repair if not.
<bvernoux> it is wrote as working and calibrated in 2010 ...
<tnt> Ah this one uses external sampling head.
<bvernoux> I need to check what is the price of calibration to be sure all is good
<bvernoux> yes including sampling heads ;)
<bvernoux> seems really amazing for the price
<bvernoux> with 2 power sensor
<tnt> looks like a good deal indeed.
<bvernoux> power meter is a nice addon ;)
<bvernoux> even if I mainly want a good freq counter > 6Ghz
<bvernoux> I want it with GPSDO
<bvernoux> it is not clear if 10MHz ext input is used also for all measurement
<bvernoux> it seems used for calibration in fact
<tnt> huh ? Usually if you provide 10M it will just lock its internal oscillator to it.
<bvernoux> yes but it is not clear how it work
<bvernoux> I plan to buy such things too https://www.zachtek.com/product-page/10mhz-frequency-standard
<bvernoux> I will check it as it is 2ppb with 4x10MHz ;)
<bvernoux> for less than 100USD
<bvernoux> very nice when you do not have GPS ;)
<bvernoux> tnt, do you know the price to calibrate such beast ?
<bvernoux> the 53147A
<tnt> bvernoux: nope never really looked at calibration prices.
<bvernoux> I do not know what they calibrate in such hw except the clock
<bvernoux> but it is wrote they check everything
<tnt> Clock and the power head ...
<bvernoux> ha yes ;)
<tnt> But they do also perform a bunch of checks which are described in the service manual to check sensitivity and things like that.
<bvernoux> yes it is why it is a must especialy to check all is fine
<bvernoux> even if I probably do not plan to calibrate it every year depending on the price they ask which is suspect is something like > 500USD
<tnt> Do you have a calibration lab nearby ? Because shipping back and forth is already expensive on its own :/
<bvernoux> no i do not have
<azonenberg> Re freq counting, personally i would just use a nice comparator like the HMC675
<azonenberg> For up to ~1 GHz, you can do it discretely
<azonenberg> with FPGA GPIO
<azonenberg> just count pulses for say 1K GPSDO edges
<azonenberg> 1M*
<azonenberg> For higher frequency use an external TFF or two to divide it down
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<azonenberg> bvernoux: for most stuff in the past i have not bothered with periodic calibration
<azonenberg> For the kinds of work i do i need high bandwidth but even 1% or so of drift is a non-issue
<azonenberg> If i can tell a nice clean rising edge from one with steps and ringing in it, i'm happy
<azonenberg> and if my 450ps edge is actually 455ps that doesn't matter
<azonenberg> i'm not doing compliance testing or anything like that, i'm debugging
<azonenberg> bvernoux: I expect this channel to kinda shift in the direction of f/oss hardware test equipment in the future as the toolchain and hardware support in the software stack improves
<azonenberg> So if you have a wishlist for a freq counter we can definitely keep that in mind
<bvernoux> yes
<bvernoux> the aim is to have tools to validate HW
<bvernoux> I have found very interesting links to upgrade Agilent Freq Counter with OSHW ;)
<bvernoux> very nice link
<bvernoux> it allow to have a Time Base Oven 10x better than the best Agilent option for a very cheap price
<bvernoux> with temperature stability of 0.25ppb
<bvernoux> instead of 2.5ppb ;)
<bvernoux> It will be nice to support that in future with computation of Allan Deviation for clock
<bvernoux> I think we can do that with a 10digits or 12digits Freq Counter with an accurate ref clock
<tnt> bvernoux: I'm actually building my own option board that should go up to 8 GHz.
<bvernoux> ha nice
<tnt> OCXO I'm not sure if I'll build one yet since I have a gpsdo and 10 MHz distributed ...
<tnt> I also looked into how to upgrade a 53131A into a 53132A
<azonenberg> bvernoux: you can probably make a frequency counter in my modular backplane design i have in min
<azonenberg> mind*
<azonenberg> But that's a ways out from happening still
<bvernoux> yes there is no hurry
<azonenberg> i want to have a VNA you can integrate too
<bvernoux> I have lot of work to port Picoscope ;)
<azonenberg> :) have you started work on it yet?
<bvernoux> just spiritually ;)
<azonenberg> I need to find a bit more time to work on the Rigol backend still
<bvernoux> I need to check how to interface in a clean way with USB
<bvernoux> as in my case it is not Ethernet
<bvernoux> and also there is ugly dependencies with Picoscope lib/API so far with libusb IIRC
<azonenberg> Yeah i can't help you with their API etc
<azonenberg> What are the licensing terms on their API btw?
<bvernoux> let me check
<bvernoux> ISC
<bvernoux> like BSD 2 Clause
<azonenberg> Perfect, so compatible with our BSD 3-clause
<bvernoux> yes
<bvernoux> it just we need to add the picoscope lib to the project
<bvernoux> like a blob
<azonenberg> We can make a "3rdparty" directory or something in the repository as long as we can distribute it freely
<bvernoux> the lib is not open source just a blob ...
<bvernoux> yes
<azonenberg> But personally i would prefer not to do that
<azonenberg> So I'd rather just have code in the cmakelists to check if it's installed and use it if available
<azonenberg> among other things the blob is presumably platform specific
<azonenberg> But fall back if not
<bvernoux> as the examples relies on this blob static lib
<bvernoux> so as license for example is BSD-2Clause it means linking with their static lib is also compatible
<bvernoux> but it is not very clean ...
<bvernoux> yes it can be installed externally like in their examples
<bvernoux> it is what I do also in my own Pico tool i rely on it in install path
<bvernoux> on windows & linux
<bvernoux> so yes let do it like that
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