Efratom FRS-C Rb Oscillator Teardown - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: SoundTech-LG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2014, 10:52:38 pm
content: Hi,got a complete Lucent RFTG timing shelf on the cheap off the bay. It consists of two independent sections. A Rubidium Oscillator (Efratom FRS-C), and a OCXO Piezo Co. 10Mhz. Both units are GPSDO disciplined by the Motorola Oncore radio included on the OCXO side. all was well until the Rb side died, well, for the most part. It would not lock, on cold power up, or any power up. Got a replacement Efratom module from the seller on ebay, a very professional operation by the way. He has another Lucent unit listed there. $199.00 it's a steal!Tore down the Rb oscillator, and replaced a yellowed/browned 10K res. (R6) that measured 4.6 K. Put it all back together, and it seems fine so far. Still burning in. Should have taken photos, but you can see the innards as I did, here...http://home.catv.ne.jp/ff/y226/1/1-12/Cs_Rb/sub1-12-Cs_Rb_osc.htm#FRS-C

author: daqq
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2014, 08:52:30 am
content: Thank you very much! I love the actual pics where the tube is actually glowing! Great!Clicking on the high res photos gives me a 404 error... could you please fix it? I'd really love to see the high res pics

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2014, 12:31:45 pm
content: Also getting 404 on the images.It's good to see a non-destructive teardown; I was expecting something more like this:

author: edpalmer42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2014, 02:33:53 pm
content: Those pictures weren't posted by the OP. That site has been around for years and, unfortunately, those links have been broken for just as long. It's a shame because it's a great site.Ed

author: notfaded1
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 09:00:57 pm
content: The site looks like it was once really informative. It looks like all the linked pictures are all gone and all that is left are the thumbnails from the main page... sad seeing good old reference data collected and allowed to atrophy. These days with cheap storage this is just a travesty to say the least for us time and volt nuts! Long live the knowledge and information that's sad to see being lost as some of the original experts and experimenters unfortunately leave this planet. It's a shame seeing any of this being lost even if we lose these great pioneers that tirelessly recorded and organized some of this great reference material. Some of these are timenut legends we've all referred to and learned from. I hope to continue on some of these most excellent traditions. Honestly some of this information is priceless because the digital record generally is a more recent technological advancement. Some of the earliest recorded data posted during the earliest days of the public "internet" could never be replaced. Sometimes they just don't make things like they used to really does apply!Bill

author: notfaded1
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 09:04:28 pm
content: I have some other models but just acquired an FRS-C with some original support circuitry. It'll be neat to see how it compares to the Rb units I have. Gotta love differen't Rb designs. There is a lot of variation in the build, design, and performance of these Rubidium standards.Bill