Description
Product Description
The board TCR167PCI has been designed to receive and to generate IRIG and AFNOR time codes.
It is used in applications like data aquisition, standalone computer time synchronization (for systems without a network connection or higher accuracy requirements) or as an IRIG converter device.
Receiver: the module provides two input channels for decoding of modulated and unmodulated time codes in IRIG-A/B or AFNOR format. The receiver’s automatic gain control (AGC) allows the reception of modulated IRIG signals within an amplitude range from 600 mVpp to 8 Vpp. In addition, the TCR167PCI provides an optocoupler input for decoding unmodulated codes with TTL- or RS-422 level for example. The board can be delivered with an optical input for unmodulated codes optionally.
The decoded date and time can be read via the PCI/PCI-X bus interface and is also transmitted via the board’s RS-232 port. A buffered real time clock keeps time and date after power down.
Generator: the board TCR167PCI can generate time codes in IRIG-B or AFNOR format. These signals are provided as modulated (3 Vpp/1 Vpp into 50 ohm) and unmodulated (TTL into 50 ohm and RS-422) time codes. An optical output for unmodulated codes is available on request.
The independent configuration of the time code and its offset to UTC of the receiver and the generator allows the use of TCR167PCI for time code conversion applications.
The drivers package for Windows contains a time adjustment service which runs in the background and adjusts the Windows system time continuously and smoothly. A monitor program is also included which lets the user check the status of the device and the time adjustment service, and can be used to modify configurable parameters, if run with administrator rights.
The driver packages for Linux and FreeBSD contain a kernel driver which allows the board to be used as a reference time source for the NTP daemon which is shipped with most Unix-like operating systems. This also turns the computer into an NTP time server which can also provide accurate time to NTP clients on the network. Some command line tools can be used to setup configurable parameters and monitor the status of the board.
For usage of the card on other operating systems please contact Meinberg support: techsupport@meinberg.de.
The device’s serial port is not required for operation but can be used to update the card’s firmware, or provide another computer with the current time via a serial time string. If you are going to use the TCR167PCI in your own applications, please download our SDK which shows how to access the card from within your software.
All drivers and API sample source code can be downloaded free of charges from our website and we are happy to assist you if you face any difficulties in using the Meinberg driver API in your software development process.
