Time Sync FT8

Robert P.

Hi everybody, trying to figure out why my time is not the same as UTC time when logging or making contacts. Any Ideas? Thanks

Mike-VA3MW

I would go through this first.

Set the date and time on your Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchlp2996/mac

On your Mac, have the date and time set automatically using a network time server, or manually set the date and time.

73

Craig_KØCF

Are you off by a few seconds, a few minutes or 5 or 6 hours? If either of the first two, you need to synch your computer clock with an internet time standard. The best tool for this is the Meinberg ntp (Google it). It not only synchronizes your clock with UTC, it trims the internal clock so that it keeps perfect time.

If 5 or 6 hours off, you probably do not have your time zone set correctly in the operating system. In Windows, the internal clock is set to UTC, which requires that the time zone be set correctly to display your local time. Virtually all logging or other ham radio software is programmed to read the internal UTC time.

73, Craig KØCF

Robert P.

Ok Craig thanks for the answer but I use my mac computer to automatically sync itself. Is that time wrong?

Craig_KØCF

Unfortunately, I am not that familiar with the Mac OS. You didn't say what the magnitude of your time error is. That makes all the difference in diagnosing the problem.

73, Craig KØCF

Robert P.

Hi Craig, This is the an email I got a few days ago from one of my contacts on FT-8:

Hi Bob,

I noticed while trying to QSO with you today on 40M FT8 that your system time is off by 2.3 seconds, and over the last couple of weeks it's either been really close or way out. While FT8 will work at 2.5 seconds out, you won't be able to QSO with folks more than a couple of hundred ms out in the other direction.

I'd recommend you check your time with https://time.is and use a program like https://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/sw/ntp.htm#ntp_stable(assuming you are using a Windows machine) to keep it within a few dozen milliseconds of realtime.

73, Willie VP5WS

Robert P.

That is how I have it set. Thanks guys for the help!!!! Robert