[TangerineSDR] [hamsci-grape] Re: 3-Channel VLF SDR Backend System

Mon Aug 21 09:58:00 EDT 2023

Jonathan,

1&2 - I'm using the UBLOX M8T freq out and the 1PPS out - but with the
[(A/B)+C] non integer freq synthesis in the UBLOX the clock domains are no
longer in sync - they walk wrt each other hence creating 2 seperate clock
domains (you can see this on a scope with infinite persistence turned on
looking at 1PPS wrt the freq out) hence the need to sync the clock domains.

3 - I am capturing ~30Hz to 4KHz audio bandwidth

John N8OBJ

On Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 1:26 PM Jonathan <emuman100 at gmail.com> wrote:

> John,
>
> Do you have a time domain plot showing the clock domains?
>
> Do you synthesize it from the timepulse2 output on the M8T or do you
> utilize a DDS with a holdover oscillator?
>
> Also, do you capture bandwidth in the audio range or even less?
>
> Jonathan
> KC3EEY
>
> On Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 12:58 PM John Gibbons <jcg66 at case.edu> wrote:
>
>> Jonathan,
>>
>> Yes - the 1PPS is spot on and the 8KHz A/D sample timing is synthesized
>> directly from the UBLOX 8MHz GPSDO'd output that runs the entire data
>> collection engine.
>>
>> John N8OBJ
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 15, 2023 at 12:50 PM Jonathan <emuman100 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi John,
>>>
>>> Did you take measurements of the PPS  and clock accuracy? How is the 8
>>> kHz sample clock synthesized?
>>>
>>> The Audio Injector Octo uses a crystal oscillator, but like in the
>>> previous email thread about timing, vlfrx-tools is constantly making
>>> measurements and calibrating out the delay, then realigning each sample
>>> according to that series of calibrations and alignment of the centroid of
>>> an RC network-shaped PPS. I manually insert a calibration value consisting
>>> of the time between the rising edge of the rectangular pulse and the
>>> centroid of the RC network-shaped pulse, giving me similar PPS accuracy as
>>> you have achieved.
>>>
>>> Jonathan
>>> KC3EEY
>>>
>>> On Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 2:44 PM John Gibbons <jcg66 at case.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Jonathan,
>>>>
>>>> The absolute accuracy of the 1PPS synchronization lies exactly between
>>>> 1-2 sync clock cycles (crossing over clock domains requires this to prevent
>>>> metastability - you must do this as well!)
>>>> so my 1PPS is always between 125-250 nSec (8 MHz clk) from the 50 nSec
>>>> window that the UBLOX gives me for absolute timing of the 1PPS signal.
>>>>
>>>> The derived sample clock, however, is deadly accurate as it is also
>>>> derived from the UBLOX freq output so it will easily hold 1x10^-10 accuracy
>>>> and on an 8 KHz sample clock it guarantees me to be within 12.5 aSec (yes
>>>> 10^-15 sec).  Since I presume you're using the on board clock for your A/D
>>>> card you will be at least 4 orders of magnitude worse as quartz xtals (or
>>>> even worse a resonator!) are not so good (not to mention temp drift that
>>>> will eat you alive...).
>>>>
>>>> The sample clock is very important as it determines your A/D sample
>>>> freq hence directly affects any timing / frequency measurements you extract
>>>> from your data.
>>>> For us it directly affects the freq measurement of the carrier freq and
>>>> needs to be pretty darn good (12.5 aSec is pretty respectable).
>>>>
>>>> What is your freq ref standard for the A/D sample clock?  Is it GPS
>>>> DO'd?  Is it synced to the 1PPS?
>>>>
>>>> John N8OBJ
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 12:13 PM Jonathan <emuman100 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> John,
>>>>>
>>>>> Did you take measurements of the sampling and timestamping accuracy of
>>>>> the Grape 2? I don't believe you included it in the other email.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jonathan
>>>>> KC3EEY
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 11:21 AM John Gibbons <jcg66 at case.edu> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> That has already been designed and built and hardware tested (with
>>>>>> better timing for data sampling) - it's called the Grape 2
>>>>>>
>>>>>> John N8OBJ
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 9:57 AM Jonathan <emuman100 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> My apologies, the pictures did not attach inline. The attachments
>>>>>>> are all in order of what I describe.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jonathan
>>>>>>> KC3EEY
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 6:20 AM Jonathan <emuman100 at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I have been working on a 3-channel VLF backend system similar to
>>>>>>>> the single channel system I built in 2020. It's based on a Raspberry Pi 3,
>>>>>>>> Audio Injector Octo Soundcard, Trimble Resolution SMTx GPS timing receiver,
>>>>>>>> and VLF preamp interface board and power distribution. It's designed to
>>>>>>>> capture VLF spectrum from an E-field receiver and an orthogonal loop dual
>>>>>>>> channel H-field receiver for triple axis reception of the VLF band. With
>>>>>>>> it, bearing can be determined and the loops can be synthesized for any
>>>>>>>> bearing based on how the loop signals are mixed. This provides additional
>>>>>>>> analysis of VLF signals using the powerful vlfrx-tools software. Everything
>>>>>>>> in mounted in a Hammond dicast aluminum enclosure. In the center is the
>>>>>>>> Raspberry Pi 3B, Audio Injector Octo Soundcard with audio breakout board,
>>>>>>>> and TTL<>RS232 adapter for the serial console. On the left are power,
>>>>>>>> capture, and timing status indicator LEDs as well as a safe shutdown button
>>>>>>>> to safely unmount the data USB drive. On the right is the Trimble
>>>>>>>> Resolution SMTx and interface board. On the bottom is the VLF receiver
>>>>>>>> interface board.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This is the Pi 3B with Audio Injector Octo soundcard. It has 6
>>>>>>>> audio inputs and can sample up to 96 kHz. The audio breakout board breaks
>>>>>>>> out the audio inputs to RCA jacks, which I removed, for a direct solder
>>>>>>>> connection. The PPS from the GPS gets get through a potentiometer for
>>>>>>>> adjustment to 80% of the soundcard’s full scale. I will be feeding it
>>>>>>>> through an RC network to shape the 125 us pulse. The PPS is also connected
>>>>>>>> to a GPIO pin for use with the ppsgpio driver, GPS Daemon, and ntp and
>>>>>>>> functions as a networked stratum 1 time server as well. Data is stored on a
>>>>>>>> 512 MB USB drive. The console port is accessible via TTL<>RS232 adapter (in
>>>>>>>> blue heat shrink) for complete headless operation, especially when the
>>>>>>>> network is not available. Both the Ethernet and RS232 are connected to RJ45
>>>>>>>> bulkhead couplers for panel jack connection. The indicator LEDs, shutdown
>>>>>>>> button, console port, and GPIO PPS all connect through a 40-pin female
>>>>>>>> header.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The GPS is a Trimble Resolution SMTx GPS timing receiver. I used it
>>>>>>>> because it was cheap and what I had on hand, but still performs well for an
>>>>>>>> older model of the Trimble/Protempis GNSS timing receiver line. The PPS
>>>>>>>> time pulse width is 125 us. It’s powered using the handy PPS Piggy
>>>>>>>> interface board for Trimble/Protempis receivers. The antenna is connected
>>>>>>>> through an SMA to SMB pigtail with bulkhead SMA jack. The other hole in the
>>>>>>>> enclosure is for the Raspberry Pi WiFi antenna jack which I will add later.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The indicator LEDs are panel mounted as well as the safe shutdown
>>>>>>>> button. These provide an indicator for power, soundcard capture, and GPS
>>>>>>>> timing, with the later two controlled by GPIO pins and series resistors.
>>>>>>>> The safe shutdown button will issue “shutdown -h now” when pressed for
>>>>>>>> longer than 3 seconds to safely unmount the USB drive if no network or
>>>>>>>> console access is available. Data will constantly be written to the USB
>>>>>>>> drive during normal operation in bursts. The USB drive is ext2 fornated.
>>>>>>>> The LED indicators and safe shutdown button are monitored via script.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Lastly, this is the VLF receiver interface board. It provides power
>>>>>>>> to the Pi and GPS receiver using an adjustable 3A DC-DC converter set to
>>>>>>>> 5.1V. Power to the E-field and H-field VLF receiver channels is through 24V
>>>>>>>> isolated DC-DC converters. Main power comes in via 12V unregulated wallwart
>>>>>>>> and drives both the adjustable DC-DC converter and the isolated DC-DC
>>>>>>>> converters. The VLF receiver channels also have audio isolation
>>>>>>>> transformers to maintain isolation between the backend system and VLF
>>>>>>>> preamp and connect to the audio inputs on the audio breakout board. Both
>>>>>>>> the power and signal paths have 10M bleeder resistors to bleed off any
>>>>>>>> excess charge on the feedline as well as gas discharge arrestors for surge
>>>>>>>> protection. The feedline is shielded cat5 or cat 6 cable pairs and connect
>>>>>>>> to the green screw terminals. The isolated DC-DC converters are plugged
>>>>>>>> into pin sockets and are removable in case the feedline is too long and 48V
>>>>>>>> DC-DC converters are used to maintain the voltage at the end of the
>>>>>>>> feedline due to the voltage drop of a long feedline. The board also
>>>>>>>> provides a connection to power LED indicator as well.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> My next step is to fine tune the shaped PPS pulse for more accurate
>>>>>>>> timing. Once complete, I will start work on the dual channel H-field
>>>>>>>> receiver.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Jonathan
>>>>>>>> KC3EEY
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hamsci-grape/CAOY0kB1oFMEHL2-ph5Re%3DOBnBBz%2Bv7aKhZiYnvH5gFTS0L4K-g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>>>>>>> .
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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