Time Server

AndyRH

I have been asked to locate a device to be our corporate time server. We want a device that preferably does not require an exterior antenna and that can be rack mounted. We do not want a build your own, such as a Pi and GPS receiver. The device must work in the US, Europe and Asia.

For internal reasons we do not want to get time from the internet.

johnpoz

@AndyRH we have used these in corp setups before

https://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/products/ntp-time-server.htm

dennypage

@AndyRH said in Time Server:

We want a device that preferably does not require an exterior antenna and that can be rack mounted. We do not want a build your own, such as a Pi and GPS receiver. The device must work in the US, Europe and Asia.

You are going to need an external antenna.

There are a number of devices that will work world-wide. FWIW, my favorites are the LeoNTP units, which are quite good and relatively in-expensive.

The current model, the LeoNTP LBE-1200, is usually within 100ns, with a standard deviation of <25ns. Very stable. It isn't large enough to require rack mounting, however there is a rack mount kit available for it. They are PoE or USB powered, so worldwide operation is not an issue.

AndyRH

The no antenna part is a hope or a dream. It would make installation easier.
Have you tried using it with the antenna inside a building? I checked the GPS quality on my phone it is better than I expected. I am sure the phone's antenna is not of good quality.

dennypage

@AndyRH said in Time Server:

Have you tried using it with the antenna inside a building?

Yes. The puck antennas generally work okay depending on construction and surrounding buildings, but you'll have to test each location. A roof mounted antenna is highly preferable if you can, especially in dense urban areas.

Edit: Btw, a big advantage of a PoE unit is that you can position it closer to good reception.

AndyRH

@dennypage PoE is definitely on our feature list.

Alyssaett

This post is deleted!

regexaurus

@AndyRH I'm curious how this went / is going and what you ended up going with?
If you're still looking, the Masterclock NTP100-OSC might be a good option. It doesn't require an exterior antenna and an optional rack mount kit is available. It's time source is an internal battery-backed RTC with TCXO (temperature-compensated internal oscillator), accurate within ± 1 minute/year. You manually input the time during initial setup, and you could periodically manually adjust the time. For decreased drift, an optional OCXO (oven-controlled crystal oscillator) is available, improving accuracy to within ± 250ms/year.

AndyRH

@regexaurus We made a recommendation, but management has not made a choice to buy are stick with the current inconsistent method.

https://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=120&products_id=365