Most Compatible Time Sync Software for WSJT-X

Tim - W4TME · July 2017

There are IMHO, significant differences between NTP and SNTP, the latter being a brute force method for clock correction. I prefer NTP which utilizes a drift file to reduce the time it takes to achieve a stable and accurate time. Also, NTP does incremental clock corrections so that the timescale is effectively continuous and without discontinuities. Once set, the PC clock usually never deviates by more than 128ms.

SNTP, on the other hand, does brute force corrections, that can result in abrupt time steps that lead to discontinuous time. By disregarding drift values and using simplified ways of system clock adjustment methods (often simple time stepping), SNTP achieves only a low-quality time synchronization when compared with a full NTP implementation.

Meinberg is based on the well-vetted NTP daemon and is updated regularly. If you have a choice, NTP is the preferred one. Use a time sync program that uses NTP rather than SNTP.

Ria · July 2017

There was one case where Meinberg simply refused to start and run (it was a friend's old XP system) and I just installed D4 instead. So D4 works, it's a good fallback but my preference is the NTP distribution from Meinberg.

Ria

Ria · July 2017

Been using it since 2008 or so. I started using it because I wanted to be able to log contest QSOs right down to the last second, and I figured that my defense against allegations of "rubber clocking" would be that my computer is sync'ed with NTP. I do not rubber clock (it's cheating) but I do try to maximize the time I have for the contest.

Ria · July 2017

I remember Steve mentioning it in a past post somewhere... I would buy a GPSDO just for that.

Ria

Jim KJ7S · July 2017

FWIW, I decided to give theFT8 mode a shot and, as with the other modes (jt9/65) I usually get good copy and once you learn a few of the little quirks with the operation of those modes, it's a lot of fun if you have the time to just exchange basic signal reports. I rather enjoyed the basic automatic nature of the program on the whole but it was fun to watch FT8 do it's work with nothing more than a double click on the call you want an exchange with. The usual default in n out DAX lines worked fine and I don't use any other than the default computer Time Sync.Kind of unusual from central Utah I was able to hit a German station right of the bat with nothing more than the Flex 6300 rig power and a rotatable dipole at 30'

WG5D · July 2017

Just a quick comment regarding NTP. I recently built a stratum 1 NTP server using a Raspberry Pi (3) and a $32 GPS module with PPS capability. It is pretty easy to build and nice to have a solid local time source for less than $100

I will be glad to share the image with anyone that is interested.

Phil - WG5D

delorean2447 · July 2017

Hi Phil,
I'd be interested. Today, I just got a RasPi2 going with WSJT-x. Would I be able to integrate the GPS solution into what I have, or should I consider upgrading to the RasPi3? Thanks!

Wayne / AG1A

NX6D Dave · July 2017

How long does it take for the system to sync up and for the NTS daemon to accept the GPS input and start outputting time sync data to its clients? I'm asking this because I took a look at the daemon wondering about using WWV and found that it might take hours before it was satisfied it had a good lock.

I'm also assuming that the Pi doesn't have a real time clock board, so it has no idea what time it is when it cold starts.

WG5D · July 2017

I have not tried it on a Pi 2, but it would probably work fine. Regarding the sync question, I leave mine on all the time, so it always has the correct time. The GPS unit does have a RTC with battery backup - but it does not come with a battery. On a reboot, it syncs up in a matter of seconds. I even have mine running in the ntp.org pool