Quick Start Instructions 2
Stanford Research Systems FS752 GNSS Time and Frequency Reference
Antennas Offered by SRS
SRS offers two antenna solutions, an indoor antenna and an outdoor antenna. The indoor
antenna includes the antenna and 23 feet of RG58 cable to connect the antenna directly
to the FS752. The outdoor solution includes the antenna, 75 feet of low loss cable, and a
complete solution for protecting the equipment from lightning strikes. The outdoor kit is
described in detail below.
Active Antenna Required
The antennas provided by SRS are active antennas. An active antenna is required with
the FS752 to ensure sufficient signal is available at the receiver input. The FS752
supplies 5 VDC to the antenna cable to power the active antenna. Active antennas
typically have more gain and improved signal detection capability over passive antennas.
They also help to overcome the signal loss introduced by long antenna cables and,
therefore, are necessary.
Antenna Warning LED
The orange LED on the front panel labeled ANTENNA warns if the FS752 detects that
the antenna input is either an open or short circuit. It typically goes off when the antenna
is properly connected to the FS752.
The state of the LED, however, is based solely on the DC current draw on the antenna
cable, not on measured signal levels. If the current draw is less than 5 mA, the FS752
will warn of an open circuit. If the current draw is greater than 75 mA, the FS752 will
warn of a short circuit. The total current draw for the antenna is limited to 300 mA.
Please note that the performance of the FS752 is not impacted at all if the power draw of
your antenna falls outside this range, The FS752’s GPS receiver will continuously
search for GPS satellites regardless of the current draw on the antenna. The warning
LED is merely meant to be a helpful diagnostic to consider when troubleshooting a lack
of signal for the most common installations.
Antenna Delay Correction
The FS752’s estimate of UTC is based on when the receiver detects the signal, not when
the signal arrives at the antenna. If a long cable is needed to connect the antenna to the
FS752, this delay can be significant. The typical delay for most BNC cables is 1.5417 ns
per foot. Thus, for a 30 ft cable, the delay would be 1.5417×30 = 46.25 ns. If
uncorrected, the FS752’s estimate of UTC would be 46.25 ns later than a properly
calibrated unit. See section Configuration for details on how to incorporate this
correction into the instrument operation.