Trimble Thunderbolt 10 Mhz GPSDO Frequency Standard
The Thunderbolt series of GPS disciplined oscillators were made by Trimble to be used in wireless locator equipment used in cell tower sites. The Thunderbolts you see for sale on Ebay are the removed GPS module you have to assemble with other pieces of equipment to make a useful unit. This Thunderbolt is a complete system with everything you need except the antenna. Built in is the power supply, a front panel display that shows how the unit is performing, and a highly isolated and filtered sinewave distribution amplifier. This Thunderbolt has been built into a repurposed compact case to make a very nice complete stand-alone unit. All you have to do is plug it in to a 100-240 vac outlet, connect your antenna, and after it locks to the GPS system, you have a highly accurate and stable 10 Mhz sinewave output of about 1 volts rms into 50 ohms. The unit size is 15”Lx6”Wx3.5”H and it weighs about 5 pounds. I have used this as my standard for months and it works as intended with no problems. Check around and you won’t find a better more complete Thunderbolt package at any price.
A view of the inside of the unit shows the Thunderbolt, display, distribution amplifier, power supply, and associated wiring. The back of the unit has a TNC connector for a 5 VDC active GPS antenna and 4 BNC connectors for the 10 Mhz sinewave outputs to connect to your equipment. The distribution amplifier is a high quality Down East Microwave 10 Mhz. buffered and filtered 4-way divider that gives 4 very clean well isolated sinewave outputs. There is also a BNC with the 1 PPS pulse and a 9-pin RS232 connector.
To use this GPSDO all you have to do is plug it into a 120-240 V. A.C. outlet, connect a standard 5 volt GPS antenna to the TNC connector, connect the 10 Mhz BNC outputs to whatever you need a precise 10 Mhz standard frequency for, and you’re up and running. It typically takes 10 minutes to 60 minutes for the unit to do a satellite survey, lock, and stabilize. For maximum accuracy and stability you should leave it turned on so it will always be ready when you need it.
What you are buying is a fully tested complete Thunderbolt package with power cord, and a CD with Lady Heather freeware program and Thunderbolt manual.
Besides the information provided by the built-in display, you can also monitor the health and stability of the unit by using a straight through RS-232 cable and the included ‘Lady Heather’ freeware program. Note that as of 7-31-2017, all Trimble Thunderbolts will output an incorrect date. Lady Heather has incorporated a fix to interpret and display the date correctly on a connected computer displaying the data but the front panel display will display everything except the date correctly. Other than that firmware glitch in all Thunderbolts, they all will work as intended. If you don’t have an RS-232 port on your computer you will also need a USB to RS-232 convertor. Use 9600 8 N 1 for the RS-232 port settings.
The screen shot from the Lady Heather software program shows the stability of the 10 Mhz signal (white trace) for 10 hours after turn on. When first powered up it takes several minutes for the unit to find satellites and lock to the signal. The lower right circular graph shows my antenna has a clear view of the sky which helps for good coverage and signal strength.
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