Synchronising your network to a Conrad DCF77 receiver

I'm still experimenting with the hardware! Image of DCF77 receiver

Receiver info

Schematic diagrams (PDF); Temic T4224 datasheet (PDF)

Alignment

Start up Google earth. Type: '50° 0′ 56″ N, 9° 0′ 39″ E' <Enter>. You should now be able to see the 'DCF77' transmission towers.
Now zoom out until you have the position of your receiver on the edge of your screen. Draw a imaginary line on your screen from DCF77 to your receiver.
The ferrite rod should be in a horizontal plane and perpendicular to this line.

Alternatively, you can do the same with Google maps or a simular system

Alignment isn't critical. It works ± 45°. The rod doesn't receive anything from the side, so it's best to point it to a probable interference source; 


                           Transmitter



                               ===
Interference          ===============  Rod
source                         ===

Interface

PinSignal
1GND
2Power
3+ Data
4- Data

The receiver runs on 1.2 ... 15 Volt and consumes ca 3 mA.
3 and 4 are open collector outputs (max 30 V, 1 mA) with opposite polarity; 


Pin 3:

    +-+       +-+    open
    | |       | |
 ---+ +-------+ +--- closed (GND)

Pin 4:

 ---+ +-------+ +--- open
    | |       | |
    +-+       +-+    closed (GND)

   >   < 0.1 or 0.2 seconds

    <--------> 1 or 2 seconds

Powered from USB

One way of using this receiver, is to power it from a USB port; 

 2 Ø--*--< + 5 V from USB (Red)
      |
      |
     +++
     | | 6k8
     | |
     +++
      |
      |
 3 Ø--*--> To RXD of RS232 port

 1 Ø--*--> To GND of RS232 port
      |
      +--< GND of USB (Black)

      +--- RS232 Shield
      |
      +--- USB Shield
It's probably a good idea to filter the power a bit (not tested); 

         +-----+
 2 Ø--*--+ 220 +--*--< + 5 V from USB (Red)
      |  +-----+  |
      |           |
      |+         +++
    --+-- 10 µF  | | 6k8
    --+-- 16 V   | |
      |-  Tant.  +++
      |           |
      |           |
 3 Ø--------------*--> To RXD of RS232 port
      |
 1 Ø--*--------------> To GND of RS232 port
      |
      +--------------< GND of USB (Black)

                  +--- RS232 Shield
                  |
                  +--- USB Shield
You could add a LED (not tested); 

         +-----+
 2 Ø--*--+ 220 +--*-------*-----< + 5 V from USB (Red)
      |  +-----+  |       |
      |           |       |
      |+         +++      |
    --+-- 10 µF  | | 6k8  |
    --+-- 16 V   | |      |
      |-  Tant.  +++      |
      |           |   |  /  c
      |           | b |/
      |           *---|    BC548B
      |           |   |\
      |           |   |  \| e
      |           |      -|
      |           |      +++
      |           |      | | 1k
      |           |      | |
      |           |      +++
      |           |       |
      |           |       |
      |           |     --+--
      |           |      \|/  --> LED
      |           |     --+--
      |           |       |
      |           |       |
 3 Ø--------------*-------------> To RXD of RS232 port
      |                   |
 1 Ø--*-------------------*-----> To GND of RS232 port
                          |
                          +-----< GND of USB (Black)

                          +------ RS232 Shield
                          |
                          +------ USB Shield
Any low power low frequent general purpose NPN transistor can be used instead of the BC 548 B.

TransistorVce max
BC 54680 V
BC 54750 V
BC 54830 V

Suffixhfe
A250
B300
C500

Powered from RS232

The current is just a few mA, so the receiver can also be powered from the serial port. The setup below is designed for a long cable; 

 RS232

 9  25   Pins connector

                 3 x 1N4148

                 |\|
 4  20   DTR )---+-+---+
                 |/|   |
                       |
                       |
                 |\|   |
 7   4   RTS )---+-+---*----> + 10 V (less with load applied)
                 |/|   | +
                     --+-- Electrolytic capacitor, 10 µF / 16 V Tantalium
                     --+-- 
                       | -
 5   7   GND )---------*----> GND
                       | +
                     --+-- Electrolytic capacitor, 10 µF / 16 V Tantalium
                     --+-- 
                 |/|   | -
 3   2   TXD )---+-+---*----> - 10 V (less with load applied)
                 |\|



 2   3   RXD )--------------< RXD



         SH  ---------------> SH
DTR and RTS provide the positive supply voltage. TXD the negative. The rectifier circuit fits in a 25 pin RS232 plug.
A 4 wire shielded cable runs between this power supply and the level converter below; 

                +-----+
 2 Ø--*------*--+ 220 +--*------*------*------------------*--< + 10 V      
      |      |  +-----+  |      |      |                  |
      |      |+          |      |      |                  |
    --+--  --+--        +++     |      |                --+-- 100 nF
    --+--  --+--        | |2k2  |      |                --+--
      | 100  |- 100     | |     |      |                  |
      | nF   |  µF      +++     |      |                  |
      |      |  16 V     |  | |/       |                  |
      |      |           |  |/ - BC    |                  |
      |      |           *--|    558   |                  |
      |      |           |  |\   B     |                  |
      |      |           |  |  \       |                  |
      |      |           |      |  |  /                   |
      |      |           |      |  |/                     |
      |      |           |      *--|    BC548B            |
      |      |           |      |  |\                     |
      |      |           |      |  |  \|                  |
      |      |           |      |     -|                  |
      |      |  +-----+  |      |      |         +-----+  |
 4 Ø------------+ 15k +--+      |      *------*--+ 470 +-----> RXD
      |      |  +-----+         |      |      |  +-----+  |
      |      |                  |      |      |           |
      |      |                  |  | |/      +++          |
      |      |                  |  |/ - BC   | | 2k2      |
      |      |                  *--|    558  | |          |
      |      |                  |  |\   B    +++          |
      |      |                  |  |  \       |           |
      |      |                 +++     |      |           |
      |      |                 | |22k  |    --+--         |
      |      |                 | |     |     \|/  -->     |
      |      |                 +++     |    --+-- LED     |
      |      |                  |      |      |           |
      |      |                  |      |      |           |
 1 Ø--*------*--------------------------------*-----------*--< GND
                                |      |                  |
                                |      |                  |
                                |      |                --+-- 100 nF
                                |      |                --+--
                                |      |                  |
                                |      |                  |
                                +------*------------------*--< - 10 V
This circuit consumes ca 1.5 mA (plus the current supplied to the receiver). It drives ca 6 V into a RS232 tester. The LED is optional (not tested yet). BC 558 B is the PNP complement of the BC 548 B.

TransistorVce max
BC 55680 V
BC 55750 V
BC 55830 V

Interference

Possible sources of interference;
FrequencyHarmonic
38.75 kHz2
25.833 kHz3
19.375 kHz4
15.5 kHz5

TV has a horizontal deflection frequency of 15.625 (EU) or 15.750 (US) kHz. The 5th harmonic is 78.125 (EU) or 78.750 (US) kHz, which is close to the DCF's 77.5 kHz. Other possible sources are CRT computer displays.
My receiver doesn't care much about my VGA monitor or my TV. It can't stand my VT420 though (which ironically is used as a clock; it mimics a 7-segment display by means of reverse video spaces). The VT420 has a horizontal deflection frequency of ca 38.5 kHz (which is rather high). The 2nd harmonic (77 kHz) is rather close to 77.5 kHz. Hence the need for a long cable.

NTPD

The entry for a refclock in ntp.conf is; 

server 127.127.Type.Unit_Number
In this case you need the Generic Reference Driver mode 5

Add the following to ntp.conf; 


# Conrad DCF77
server 127.127.8.0 mode 5
fudge 127.127.8.0 time1 0.220 refid DCF77
You may need to change the time1 value.

The GENERIC driver wants a symlink in /dev/ telling it which is the source of the time. EG ttyS2; 


refclock-0 -> ttyS2
created a file '77-local.rules' in '/etc/udev/rules.d/' for this purpose. It contains the following line; 

KERNEL=="ttyS2" SYMLINK+="refclock-0"
Replace 'ttyS2' with the tty you use.

Misc

I had trouble using this with a multi serial card. Running it on a standard RS232 port works fine. I suspect the motherboard (it's a bit dodgy).

I added low latency to the setserial config; 


/dev/ttyS0 uart 16550A port 0x03f8 irq 4 baud_base 115200 spd_normal skip_test low_latency
/dev/ttyS1 uart 16550A port 0x02f8 irq 3 baud_base 115200 spd_normal skip_test low_latency