[ntp:questions] almost decided which new PPS GPS to buy
David Lord
snews at lordynet.org
Sun Mar 4 22:51:01 UTC 2012
Ron Frazier (NTP) wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Some of you know from my prior threads that I've been debating what GPS
> to buy to upgrade from my USB based BU-353. I think I've just about
> nailed it down, based on a number of conflicting factors.
>
> I'm getting + / - 6 ms accuracy now with the BU-353. My goals for the
> new device are: 1 ms if using USB-serial interface, and 100 us if using
> a real serial interface. One problem with the BU-353, is that it's
> average offset from the internet servers seems to wander around up to 60
> ms or so. When that happens, NTPD sometimes marks my GPS as a
> falseticker. ESR, the guy mentioned in another thread who wants to
> connect GPS to 100 routers, called this "wobble", and said it's related
> to the SIRF chipset. I haven't done any other research to confirm that.
There is sawtooth error when you get to the nanosecond level
and some timing GPS can output a correction factor for this.
I suspect you mean the uncertainty in timing of the NMEA
outputs.
I have added a couple of extra parameters to my ntp.conf
/etc/ntp.conf:
#######
# mindist allows sources with large offsets
tos mindist 0.3
# mode 18 for the Sure
server 127.127.20.2 mode 18 prefer
# time2 to give offset around zero
fudge 127.127.20.2 time2 0.410 refid GPSb
server 127.127.22.2
fudge 127.127.22.2 flag2 0 flag3 1 refid PPSb
#######
With both ntp-4.2.6p3 and p5 I found that PPS had an "x"
flag rather than "o" when I used minpoll and maxpoll
although PPS was conditioning the clock and PPS offset
was around 0 usec.
David
>
> I'm pretty sure I'm going with the Sure board (pun intended) for the
> following reasons:
>
> A) Low cost for a NEW product.
>
> B) Antenna and USB cable included.
>
> C) No need to add connectors to the board, or a power supply if powered
> by USB.
>
> D) Good timing performance.
>
> E) High sensitivity for potential indoor operation.
>
> F) David Taylor's excellent tutorial on setup:
> http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/Sure-GPS.htm
>
> From my reading, it appears that I need to add the following to the
> Sure Electronics package of parts:
>
> 1) DB-9 Male - DB-9 Female serial cable
>
> 2) Motherboard header - DB-9 port adapter
>
> 3) Plastic box for mounting. Misc hardware like screws, standoffs, etc.
>
> (David T. or others, I don't suppose you can suggest any specific part
> numbers for those hardware items from Radio Shack [do you have those in
> the UK], Mouser, or DigiKey. Just thought I'd ask.)
>
> My plan of attack is as follows, although the sequence may vary:
>
> A) Get the unit working "at all", using USB NMEA data only. I would
> hope to see performance equal to my BU-353.
>
> B) Get the unit working with NMEA data from the RS-232 port, going
> through a Trendnet TU-S9 USB - Serial converter, based on the Prolific
> chipset. Performance should, again, be similar to the BU-353 (which
> also uses the Prolific chipset internally).
>
> C) Get the unit working with NMEA data from the RS-232 port, going to a
> real serial port. I have to tinker with the motherboard on another
> computer to do that.
>
> D) Get the unit working with NMEA + PPS, with data from the RS-232 port,
> going through the TU-S9, which claims to pass all the handshaking
> signals. I'll have to do the mods that David recommends on the board
> for this. Hopefully, the same procedure will still work on the recent
> boards. This is where I'm hoping to get + / - 1 ms performance.
>
> E) Get the unit working with NMEA + PPS, with data from the RS-232 port,
> going to a real serial port on the other computer.
>
> This should be an interesting adventure, hopefully ending with a time
> server running at 100 us accuracy or better.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
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