A TCXO replacement for the 10544A

 

 





Repairing my HP 5342A microwave frequency counter I salvaged its rather nice HP 10544A OCXO, which is to be integrated into a DIY GPS disciplined oscillator which should become my lab frequency standard.
As I don't like test equipment without working internal reference, I was thinking about designing a replacement board compatible with the HP 10544A module.
As I still had some IQD LFTVXO009912 10MHz 0.5ppm TCXO spares from a previous project, I started the Eagle layout program and designed a PCB for this job.
Looking through different service manuals for the 10544A, I spotted a difference: there seem to be versions supporting electronic tuning on pins 6 (GND) and 7(EFT:electronic fine tuning) while other versions show pin 7 as not connected. As I couldn't find any specification on the tuning voltage range, I omitted this feature on my board and went for a 10 gang pot for fine adjustment.
Below two screenshots from two different service manuals for the 10544A:

 

To avoid draft from the instrument's fan affecting the stability of the TCXO, I've added a 3D-printed protective cover on top of the oscillator itself (the grey box on the pcb).
You can download the eagle and gerber files here. It's a two layer board on standard 1.6mm FR4 material. For better contact and reliability I ordered it with ENIG option (gold plating). The board should work with a multitude of oscillators as many of them use the same package and pinout, maybe you have to replace the 1117-3.3 with a matching 5 Volt regulator if required by your TCXO module.

   

The TCXO is available at Farnell with order number 1100747, here you can download the datasheet.




... and this is what it looks like when the board is installed in my HP 5342A microwave frequency counter:








(c) DJ9KW, 07/2025

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