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Clock loses time

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WO0W

Clock loses time

The clock on my K3 loses time faster than any of the cheap watches I've
used in several years and that is a nuisance, as I would like to use the
clock to lot my QSOs.

Is there any fix for it?

73, WOØW
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valvetbone@netzero.com

Re: Clock loses time

I like to use my K3 clock for logging. I just set it to WWV about once a month, and that seems to keep it close enough.
Art WB8ENE

---------- Original Message ----------
From: WO0W <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] Clock loses time
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2012 11:50:43 -0600

The clock on my K3 loses time faster than any of the cheap watches I've
used in several years and that is a nuisance, as I would like to use the
clock to lot my QSOs.

Is there any fix for it?

73, WOØW
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Calvin Jones

Re: Clock loses time

In reply to this post by WO0W

The clock on my KX3 is fast. Just have to adjust it once a month.

Sent from the iPhone

On Dec 29, 2012, at 10:50 AM, WO0W <[hidden email]> wrote:

> The clock on my K3 loses time faster than any of the cheap watches I've used in several years and that is a nuisance, as I would like to use the clock to lot my QSOs.
>
> Is there any fix for it?
>
> 73, WOØW
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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Richard Fjeld

Re: Clock loses time

In reply to this post by WO0W

Mine is about 2 secs per month. Having come from the 'wind-up' era, this is great.

----- Original Message -----
From: WO0W
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2012 11:50 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Clock loses time

The clock on my K3 loses time faster than any of the cheap watches I've
used in several years and that is a nuisance, as I would like to use the
clock to lot my QSOs.

Is there any fix for it?

73, WOØW
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Matt Zilmer

Re: Clock loses time

There is a lot of variation in the RTC's oscillator's frequency. I
know 4 or 5 K3 owners, and all theirs have different errors. Mine is
slow by about 1 second per day, but one of the guys has his fast by
about 3 seconds per month.

You may be able to parallel a trimmer of 2-4 pF at the capacitor near
the 32 KHz crystal, but this will only help adjust in one direction.

My solution is to periodically sync the PC time with GPS time (about
twice a week), then use the K3 Utility to set the K3's time. Of the
two, the laptop is off by a greater amount. You can also set your PC
to sync with NIST time standards using NTP. On Win XP, this is
limited to once per week, but Win8 may have better granularity in its
options.

73,
matt W6NIA

On Sun, 30 Dec 2012 08:13:36 -0600, you wrote:

>Mine is about 2 secs per month. Having come from the 'wind-up' era, this is great.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: WO0W
> To: [hidden email]
> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2012 11:50 AM
> Subject: [Elecraft] Clock loses time
>
>
> The clock on my K3 loses time faster than any of the cheap watches I've
> used in several years and that is a nuisance, as I would like to use the
> clock to lot my QSOs.
>
> Is there any fix for it?
>
> 73, WOØW
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>______________________________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list
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>Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
>This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Don Wilhelm-4

Re: Clock loses time

There is a neat application that runs on XP (I don't know about others)
called Atomic Clock Sync that will allow you to sync with the NIST time
standards either automatically at whatever interval you want or sync
manually. Google and you will find it.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 12/30/2012 10:19 AM, Matt Zilmer wrote:
> My solution is to periodically sync the PC time with GPS time (about
> twice a week), then use the K3 Utility to set the K3's time. Of the
> two, the laptop is off by a greater amount. You can also set your PC
> to sync with NIST time standards using NTP. On Win XP, this is
> limited to once per week, but Win8 may have better granularity in its
> options.
>
>

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Andrew Moore-3

Re: Clock loses time

In reply to this post by Matt Zilmer

Seems like the K3 clock drift could be corrected automatically with a small
software application - assuming the K3 is connected to a PC, just let the
app launch at boot time and have it periodically send the PC's time to the
K3, without any user interaction. Most modern OS should have the option to
keep their clocks in sync with network time, which should be good enough.
No need to do it manually ever 2 weeks, or 6 months, or whatever.

--Andrew, NV1B
..
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daleputnam

Re: Clock loses time

In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4

Win7 syncs with the NIST clock too.

Have a great day,

--... ...--
Dale - WC7S in Wy

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ab2tc

Re: Clock loses time

In reply to this post by Matt Zilmer

Hi,

To sync the PC to atomic time using NTP, get hold of Meinberg NTP client, install it and your PC is continuously with 10ms of atomic time. It's free and runs as a service (or daemon). I have had mine for years on all computers I use. Link:

http://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/sw/ntp.htm

AB2TC - Knut

Matt Zilmer wrote

There is a lot of variation in the RTC's oscillator's frequency. I
know 4 or 5 K3 owners, and all theirs have different errors. Mine is
slow by about 1 second per day, but one of the guys has his fast by
about 3 seconds per month.

You may be able to parallel a trimmer of 2-4 pF at the capacitor near
the 32 KHz crystal, but this will only help adjust in one direction.

My solution is to periodically sync the PC time with GPS time (about
twice a week), then use the K3 Utility to set the K3's time. Of the
two, the laptop is off by a greater amount. You can also set your PC
to sync with NIST time standards using NTP. On Win XP, this is
limited to once per week, but Win8 may have better granularity in its
options.

73,
matt W6NIA
<snip>

Jeff Herr

Re: Clock loses time

In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4

Time sync with NIST is built into all versions of Windows, has been for
years.
XP used SNTP and later systems use NTP.
NTP is very sophisticated.

Can a macro be used to set the KX3 clock ?

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Phil Kane-2

Re: Clock loses time

In reply to this post by Richard Fjeld

On 12/30/2012 6:13 AM, Richard Fjeld wrote:

> Mine is about 2 secs per month. Having come from the 'wind-up' era, this is great.

I can live with 2 sec/month as long as it is easily correctable.

The old "railroad" standard dating from the 19th and 20th centuries was
one second per day (30 seconds per month) for "approved" mechanical
watches. This was changed years ago to require a timepiece that "keeps
accurate time" as operating crew members preferred "quartz"
wrist-watches rather than "approved" (i.e. expensive) pocket watches. I
had a Hamilton "railroad" pocket-watch from the last production run that
had terrible quality control and it kept worse time than my Seiko
wrist-watch. The only people who lost out on that deal were the
watchmaker/jewelers who were on the "Watch Inspector" list to certify
the "approved" watches on a regular basis.

Now we're in the 21st century. What I would love for my office/hamshack
is a stand-alone box with large (4" or so) digital readout to the second
that would be pluggable to my router and auto-update every xxxx hours
from the Naval Observatory or NIST time server. I tried both the
WWVB-based "atomic" clocks sold by MFJ and RadShack but the WWVB signal
here is not adequate to keep those clocks in sync and their "native"
accuracy was abysmal.

I can dream as I rebuild my office and unpack my K2 from storage...... <G>

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
Elecraft K2/100 s/n 5402

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon
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Phil Kane-2

Re: Clock loses time

In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4

On 12/30/2012 8:16 AM, Don Wilhelm wrote:

> There is a neat application that runs on XP (I don't know about others)
> called Atomic Clock Sync that will allow you to sync with the NIST time
> standards either automatically at whatever interval you want or sync
> manually. Google and you will find it.

AboutTime from <www.arachnoid.com/abouttime>. It's still available and
it's "careware" i.e. "that means no money, now or ever. You just have to
care" per the above website.

It serves both as a time sync program and a time server. It claims 50
ms. accuracy. I used it for many years and I will go back to it when I
abandon the XP "included" feature and re-establish the time server on my
LAN.

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
Elecraft K2/100 s/n 5402

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon
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