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Reviews For: Leo Bodnar Electronics GPSDO Precision Frequency Reference

Category: Tools & Test Equipment for the amateur radio work bench

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Review Summary For : Leo Bodnar Electronics GPSDO Precision Frequency Reference
Reviews: 15MSRP: 250
Description:
GPSDO Disciplined Oscillator Precision Frequency
Reference, 450 Hz to 800 MHz GPS Locked, Low-Jitter Clock
by Leo Bodnar Electronics distributed by Airspy.US
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.airspy.us
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15155
K5JAZ Rating: 2016-10-12
Great reference for Flex 6500 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Purchased this GPSDO with accessory antenna from Force 12. There was a wait of several weeks before the unit was delivered due to great demand after the QST article. My ham shack is in a portable building with a metal roof, which was great to hold the antenna with its magnetic base. Installation of the GPSDO was quick and simple, requiring only 13.8v station power, connecting the antenna, and connecting one output to my Flex 6500 external reference connector. After warming up the 6500 for a couple of hours, I executed the calibration routine against WWV at 15Mhz, which indicated a frequency difference of 0 Hz (it was ~ 760Hz). One note of caution: the GPDSO must be ON before the 6500 is booted; otherwise it will not recognize the GPDSO. Flex Radio Systems sells a GPDSO for the Flex 6xxx line that mounts inside the case and is tightly integrated with the radio. There are probably many reasons to purchase the Flex product, but after springing for the 6500 and the Maestro, I did not have a lot of money left for a GPDSO. The Flex version is twice the price of the Force 12 product, which greatly influenced my purchasing decision. I do not regret my decision, as the Force 12 product has performed flawlessly.
W6PC Rating: 2016-10-12
Cost effective, excellent performer Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased this unit to replace a failing rubidium shop frequency reference.

Have found this unit has slightly better phase noise and jitter performance than specified by the advertising. It is certainly superior and exceeds what I need in shop setting.

I am using the unit in it's stock configuration with an active antenna supplied by Force12. It has been in operation for 5+ months and I have had no issues.

If you require a good standard at a reasonable price, give this one a try.

Looks like a winner for Bill and the crew at Force12.
K3DCW Rating: 2016-10-12
Outstanding Value Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I recently purchased my second GPSDO from Leo and am extremely happy with the product.

While seemingly a simple device, this GPSDO is quite flexible. Once the output level is setup, and the device is connected to a GPS antenna (provided), it syncs very quickly and provides two GPS-disciplined 10MHz outputs. The software is very simple and installs nothing onto your system. Firmware updates are available although mine came with the latest version already installed.

The GPSDO support power over USB: you can leave it connected to your PC in order to keep the device powered (over USB), or you can use an external USB power source (like an iPhone or similar charging block). If you'd rather use a wall wart or even your station's power supply, the GPSDO supports external power (5-15vdc) as well through a standard input plug.

Oh, and did I mention the shipping? It shipped on Monday from the UK, arrived on Tuesday before noon here in Maryland. Outstanding!

If you want to discipline your rig using a GPS 10MHz reference, I can't think of a better way to go; doubly so if you have two rigs since this GPSDO provides two outputs for the price of one!
K6BRN Rating: 2016-10-11
Just works - What more can you ask? Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I Purchased the GPSDO Precision Frequency Reference GPS Locked Low-Jitter Clock and optional active GPS antenna months ago for use as a primary reference to calibrate and test a significant collection of signal sources, counters, computing oscilloscopes, a spectrum analyzer and other test equipment.

A significant burden that comes with all test equipment is that it needs periodic calibration - and the Bodnar GPSDO was selected as a primary frequency calibration source because it's a cost-effective, easy to use, reliable product that locks to a known good frequency source the U.S. Government maintains for me. Really nice of Uncle Sam to do that!

I also used the GPSDO as a phase-locked reference when re-tuning some older VHF/UHF equipment that had drifted in frequency over the years. The radios proved to be spot-on afterwards.

In the default 10 MHz dual-output reference mode, it was simple to use, reliable, accurate and had plenty of drive. I did not bother to reprogram the outputs (yet).

What I like MOST about the reference is:

1. Locks on to the GPS signal very quickly, even in marginal conditions (shaded by two buildings). Easy to use, stable and ready to go in a couple of minutes

2. Provides not one but two (buffered reference outputs - that are individually programmable (within limits) for drive and frequency. I find having TWO buffered outputs very useful when checking equipment.

3. Really is Atomic-Clock accurate and repeatable, with low jitter and plenty of drive.

In summary: Easy to use, reasonably priced and consistently works (well).

Brian - K6BRN

K4TB Rating: 2016-10-11
Precise and Easy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
For a long time I've wondered which of my several radios to believe, if any, when I compared their frequency settings while listening to signals on the bands. There's always WWV to compare with but that doesn't help in the VHF, UHF and higher frequencies. I decided I really wanted a high stability frequency reference like a Cesium or Rubidium clock or GPS referenced oscillator. I was also planning to add several pieces of test equipment to my home lab, such as a frequency counter and spectrum analyzer, which definitely can use an external reference standard for best results. However all such references until now were cost prohibited in my situation.

I saw the QST review on the Leo Bodnar GPSDO frequency reference and knew that unit would be the answer to my needs. I was not disappointed. The little box works quite well and only takes a minute or two set up and program. I bought the small GPS antenna with it and placed that on a file cabinet near a window and found that the GPSDO would lock to the satellites and start emitting the reference frequency(ies) within just a minute or two. I found I could program 10.0 MHz for one port and another frequency, like 46.0 MHz for the other port, and with a very small antenna on the second port I could copy harmonics up to at least 1.38 GHZ or more. That has been extremely useful in checking some of my radios. I also used the 10.0 MHz output as a reference for my new frequency counter and it apparently is dead on, at least as best as I can tell without having an even better frequency standard! I certainly have as good of accuracy with the Leo Bodnar GPSDO as I will ever need.

My only nit is that the programming instructions could be a bit better, but I was able to quickly learn how to set up the unit nevertheless. A little more explanation on what goes on with the LEDs would be desirable. Also, I note that the output from the GPSDO is more square wave than sine wave, which probably doesn't matter much, but just to be sure my test equipment would be happy I added in-line a miniature 10.7 MHz passband filter I found on eBay for about $10, and that converted the signal to a nice sine wave.

This certainly is a nice and affordable tool to add to your station if you need to insure high accuracy for you transmitters, receivers and test equipment in your shack.