Trak 6460 Multiple Time Scale Generator


The 6460 is a wonderful time display; one of the few that is capable of displaying more than one time scale. After entering the fixed offsets among the scales the 6460 can display time as either UTC, TAI, MJD, or GPS. Commands can be entered via the front keypad or sent over GPIB. Below is a photo of a Trak 6490 micro stepper driving a Trak 6460 multiple time scale display.


Keypad / GPIB commands

Time Display Commands
Command Syntax Description
1C 1C <enter> Display UTC
2C 2C <enter> Display TAI
3C 3C <enter> Display MJD
4C 4C <enter> Display Omega
5C 5C <enter> Display Sidereal
6C 6C <enter> Display GPS
Time Set Commands
Command Syntax Description
0A 0Ayymmdd <enter> Set UTC date
1A 1Ahhmmss <enter> Set UTC time
Time Scale Offset Commands
Command Syntax Description
2B 2Bss <enter> Set UTC-TAI offset (seconds)
4B 4Bss <enter> Set Omega offset (seconds)
6B 6Bss <enter> Set GPS offset (seconds)
 
5B 5Bdddd <enter> Set DUT1 (UT1-UTC) positive offset
8B 8Bdddd <enter> Set DUT1 (UT1-UTC) negative offset
7B 7Bddddd <enter> Set local sidereal offset (positive)
9B 9Bddddd <enter> Set local sidereal offset (negative)
1 PPS Synchronization Commands
Command Syntax Description
4A 4Addddddd <enter> Advance 1 PPS by ddd ddd.d us
5A 5Addddddd <enter> Retard 1 PPS by ddd ddd.d us
8A 8A <enter> Arm external sync
Other Commands
Command Syntax Description
2A 2Adddddd <enter> Insert leap second in ddd ddd seconds
3A 3A <enter> Insert leap second immediately
9A 9A <enter> Lock input
  pppp <enter> Unlock input (password)

Sample display formats

UTC mode shows MJD (Modified Julian Day), day of year, hours:minutes:seconds.


  TAI mode shows hours:minutes:seconds only.


MJD mode shows MJD and fractional MJD, hours:minutes:seconds.


Omega mode (now obsolete) shows MJD, day of year, hours:minutes:seconds.


SID mode (sidereal time) is not implemented on Trak 6460 or 6460A.


GPS mode shows day of year, week number (less 1000), day of week, total seconds (ss ss ss) since start of week (0h Sunday).


Notes


See also Live TAI, UTC, GPS clocks.
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