The most accurate Raspberry Pi atomic clock IN THE WORLD!

Will the fabric of space-time be split if I plug this highly-accurate Rubidium-oscillator-backed Time card into the Raspberry Pi?
Probably not, but we'll test the driver on the Pi, probably recompile a kernel or two, and learn about Linux PTP networking and GNSS-based timekeeping along the way!
Mentioned in this video (some links are affiliate links):
- Linux recompile shirt: redshirtjeff.com/listing/linu...
- GitHub issue for CM4 PTP support: github.com/raspberrypi/linux/...
- PCI x1 to x16 adapter: amzn.to/32oz9ou
- Time Card on the Pi PCIe Database: pipci.jeffgeerling.com/cards_...
- TechTechPotato video on Time Card: • Democratizing Time: Ha...
- LTT video on Time Card: • Why is this PCIe Card ...
- Technology Connections turn signal video: • Why it's not possible ...
Support me on Patreon: / geerlingguy
Sponsor me on GitHub: github.com/sponsors/geerlingguy
Merch: redshirtjeff.com
#RaspberryPi #TimeCard #OpenComputeProject
Contents:
00:00 - Meet the Time Card
01:16 - Who needs a nanosecond?
03:49 - Board tour
05:18 - Plugging it in
05:56 - Time Card driver
07:12 - PTP on the Pi
09:30 - There will be more...
10:44 - Outtro and outtakes

[@deefdragon]

The technology connections quip.... take your darn like. seriously tho, I cant wait for a video showing off two computers with the EXACT same time using that hardware standard

[@rhekman]

To demonstrate PTP across multiple computers, through the magic of buying two of them.

[@vincentguttmann2231]

@@rhekman And through the magic of buying three of them, I have an already taken apart one right here!

[@ethans4783]

stole my comment! I'm super excited to see what this card can do for us in the mass market

[@arjdroid]

A Technology Connections Connection?

[@user-ir2fu4cx6p]

What's about connections latency,

[@rougenaxela]

1:13 Okay, I just have to call this out. The "> 200,000x more accurate!" card here implying that a higher frequency makes it more accurate (or that these two frequencies even related to each other in a meaningful way) is **highly** misleading, straight up wrong even. Higher frequency does not mean better, not in the slightest. You can have a 1THz oscillator that is absolute garbage at keeping time. What matters for an oscillator is it's tolerance, stability, and phase noise. In this case since the oscillator is GPS-steered, tolerance matters slightly less, but stability and phase noise are still critical, and this is what something like a rubidium oscillator excels at, but it has nothing to do with how high a frequency it is, it has to do with how stable that frequency is, how little it shifts due to both environmental conditions and random fluctuations. Now, there are technical reasons related to phase-locked loops (which is used to get a different frequency out) why an underlying frequency standard should be reasonably high frequency, but that's not what sets quartz and rubidium oscillators apart from eachother, you can get quartz crystals tuned for the GHz region. What sets it apart is that a rubidium oscillator depends on atomic scale properties of electron energy levels in individual rubidium atoms which are relatively fundamental and unchanging, rather than depending on the relatively 'macroscopic' properties of a chunk of quartz crystal as a whole which depend on physical dimensions and environmental conditions.

[@JeffGeerling]

This is true. Indeed in running the numbers after I had recorded my script, I realized the accuracy of the rubidium clock is actually more like 300,000x better than oven-controlled quartz-which shows the ~200,000x difference in frequency isn't the reason for the better accuracy. But in these videos, I can't splice in anything or even add annotations. So I'll just hit the heart on this comment, leave this reply, and hope that people see it :P

[@vincentguttmann2231]

Since you seem to know a thing or two about oscillators, you might be able to answer a question I've been having ever since I heard of this project (and the price for the rubidium clock): What is the main cause of drift in quartz clocks? Is it temperature? Or manufacturing tolerance?

[@tuppyglossop222]

@@JeffGeerling Don’t worry Jeff, I saw it...

[@771racing]

@@vincentguttmann2231 Typically temp is the primary offender. An old school method of improving an NTP server's perf was to purposely insulate it a bit to force the temp up, as holding an elevated temp stably is slightly easier than a consistent cool temp. Or you could move up to an ovenized quartz oscillator, which as the name implies does the same thing for just the oscillator itself.

[@vincentguttmann2231]

@@771racing Hmm. Now I'm thinking of how to make a PCB sandwich for a quartz oscillator and temperature sensor. It won't be as stable as a properly ovenized quartz at like 70 °C, but with no big fluctuations it should be better than a room temp quartz.

[@keithmiller9665]

You compile the Linux kernel so often it would be interesting for a video of how to do it. Just a suggestion.

[@abyagowi7]

I second it. Jeff, I think it would be great to have a video about it.

[@inventalone4339]

Yes please,sir do a video on this.

[@Anthony-rp9rg]

@Keith Miller He must have already made the video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXS1q6GdbLGmh6s

[@SebastianScholle]

i'm onboard for that video!

[@208Concepts]

Compiling the straight kernel isn't too bad... Cross compiling for different arches is where it gets fun 🤣

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

An atomic clock? It's everything I've ever wanted! It will finally ensure I am on time for work. I always end up 1 ns late. Got written up for it too!

[@BenCos2018]

lmao

[@famitory]

love when open source projects like this come out, not because of the projects themselves, but because it makes the appliances they replace drop in price on the used market. finally, an evertz msc5700 for my very own home

[@jrlx86]

Quite. Pretty sure the timecard that Jeff has is something developed by Facebook engineers. It's open source but to buy it built is around $1k used from memory. Of course, I don't have my own atomic clock so I don't remember when I read this info, if ever. - EDIT: Just watched the video, good to know I'm part of this universe and not a parallel one.

[@abyagowi7]

@@jrlx86 I am working with several vendors to make the card (just the card with the atomic clock, SOM and GNSS) for about $200. Then you can put the parts based on need. Stay tuned

[@perwestermark8920]

I manage quite fine with just a uBlox. Given that it listens on 4 different satellite networks, it would take a GNSS jammer or a broken antenna for me to lose track of satellites. And the ubx protocol will happily show the confidence error of the emitted time, while the 1-second pulse avoids the latency from sending out the time data over a serial interface. This is the pulse that would be used for IEEE 1588.

[@mikeiver]

Why not just bur a card from a decommissioned cellular site. They are already aged and easy to interface to. They have a really good GPS receiver built in for clock sync and usually a TCXO or a OCXO. The one I have also has a pair of outputs, a 2Hz and a 10MHz. Interface is via RS232. Frequency stability without a GPS lock nudging the XO is better than one cellular frame in 24 hours. Best part is that they are dirt cheap. Far less than $100.00 when I bought mine.

[@Wordsnwood]

You're making me nostalgic, Jeff. Setting up NTP / XNTP on our network was my first duty wayyyy back when I got my first job as a sysadmin. Stratum 3 or maybe 2 was about as close as I got, though. Everybody needs accurate time, but they don't realize it. Also +1 for the Technology Connections comment. Very meta.

[@mattparker9726]

this card is doing the rounds for sure, just watched LTTs vod in it.

[@leonn3k]

Jeff and Raspberry Pi were the first things I thought of when I watched that video.

[@ccflan]

I guess that jeff speaks more technically in details more than ltt, i love when he include kernels compile sin hus talks

[@careytschritter1108]

Please don’t let Red shirt Jeff near the atomic elements. We would risk too much to the North American continent.

[@JeffGeerling]

I got a call from the EPA yesterday... they said something about a superfund?

[@zombie_pigdragon]

@@JeffGeerling Hey, that sounds like a good thing! You can get Red Shirt some toys of his own, with that kind of funds!

[@JeffGeerling]

@@zombie_pigdragon Oh, so that's how it works! Let me go tell Red Shirt Jeff he's good to go!

[@steveswartz1875]

Sorry to say Rb has two common isotopes neither of which is particularly dangerous. A typical Rubidium cell in a miniature clock probably les than a milligram of the stuff anyway. The pure metal is quite reactive, more than sodium, or potassium .

[@muddyexport5639]

Good job. As usual, rewarding new vid notification. Always interesting, topical, and "in the end -- funny". Thanks! Keep on keeping on.

[@richardkicklighter8280]

Jeff, you never fail to amaze me. I'll be looking for more on this. Great subject.

[@ur1friend437]

Your humor and great work is, in my opinion, the best “family friendly tech channel”. I am eternally grateful for all your great work. I will keep sending you, and love ones, endless great wishes and blessings.🙏🏻

[@MarcusPHagen]

Once again, Jeff, you provide a thought-provoking video which has me spending even more time reading through the debates & information in the comments. I'm grateful for the level of engagement that you have with your viewers, as well as as the way in which you accept corrections when additional information is presented by others. Yours is one of my favorite channels, providing both information & humor. I wish you a long & successful run.

[@JeffGeerling]

Thank you!

[@IamYuto]

It's always nice to see you giving a shoutout to small content creators like Linus.

[@JeffGeerling]

Gotta help promote those smaller channels! :D

[@jockinafrock]

I work as a tech support field engineer for a major telecoms provider. Our entire network is synchronised to 3 Caesium clocks, cross referenced to each other and with GNSS receivers. We distribute this sync to our customers, most of whom have no idea of the ramifications. However we have one customer who are halfway through migrating their entire platform from TDM (i.e. E1 2Mbps circuits), to Ethernet. Because of the mixed technologies, their services are critically sensitive to clock jitter, and we are spending a fortune in analysing, adapting and managing their circuits to reduce these issues. I have been using Symmetricom Rubidium / GNSS test equipment as reference clocks to monitor their circuits, and the tolerance levels are so miniscule. Great video.

[@CaioVinicius-nc3cy]

Very nice Jeff, as always. Thanks for the video.

[@eesachariwala2145]

Thank u sm I rlly need this video, I’m working on an amateur global radio interferometer and I needed a way to integrate the atomic clock mechanism for data recording… ur a lifesaver

[@niklasxl]

When i saw Linus and Ians viodes i was think if it was possible to run it on the raspi and i am happy to see that you did :D looking forward to more videos about time :D

[@ImprovisedExpletiveDevice]

That's pretty cool. I just picked up an HP5065A, an old school Rubidium frequency standard. Lot of cool things you can do with a super accurate clock.

[@ed.puckett]

Another typically informative video! Thank you!

[@stefandriesner5026]

Already gave you a like, but the Pirates! reference earned it all by itself.

[@Itsdirtnaptime]

I love the Technology Connections reference. It is great when people reference other channels, especially when they aren't in the same category of films.

[@JeffGeerling]

We are all in the category of "trying to satisfy our insatiable curiosities" :)

[@Itsdirtnaptime]

@@JeffGeerling that is true but uh. You are on raspberry pi's and he was on a 6 part lantern series. 🤣 So I am still sticking to different categories. But as for the passion brought into your specific areas, I agree that is the same category. You both do create unique and very intriguing videos.

[@JeffGeerling]

@@Itsdirtnaptime Well now, he hasn't yet done a 6-part series on powering Raspberry Pis off the heat generated by portable lanterns, has he? Sounds like it's time for a collab! :D

[@Itsdirtnaptime]

@@JeffGeerling that would be great. He can comes up with the fuel and wick types and the concept of how to control the fuel being supplied. You do the technical side to control numerous lanterns across different states that turn on exactly at the same time and control fuel delivery. Good way to put that $700 clock chip to work. 😂🤣😂🤣 Internet lanterns. 😳😳 old meets new. Would that be considered a Technological Connection?

[@TechTechPotato]

11:08 Loved it!

So this is the third video I watch about this time card, yet you've added a ton of new info which I was not aware of. Like how Linux identifies the card, or that PTP requires hardware support on the network interface to work. I got a bit more excited about the possibilities this card offers. I was stuck in my head thinking on the database level only, that you can organize transactions in such way that you can essentially use optimistic locking all the time and non of them will collide. As a developer I thought "yeah, that's cool", but it's the more practical use cases which opened up my eyes. I'm really looking forward for the next video in this topic :) Also, I was thinking the other day about making a GPS based NTP time server on my network from a Pi, because "I can"(tm). GPS radios are not that expensive now. That could also be a good intro video to network time services. Shame on me, I never had the urge to look up how even NTP synchronization work, and PTP was completly unknown to me before this card. But it's an interesting topic.

Thanks for the heart Jeff by the way. But one of the typos was getting on my nerves and editing a "hearted" comment makes YT remove the heart. Well.. I'm now heartless :D

[@vincei4252]

The Rubidium unit on the card generates a 10MHz TTL clock. I have working Symmetricom Rubidium clocks that were bought a fraction of the $700 for the Microsemi unit so I think I'll go head and build one of these and connect it up to my existing 10Mhz TTL reference. Thanks for sharing, Jeff. Oh, and this is the best coverage of this device I've seen to date.

[@deefdragon]

it managed to strike the good middle ground complexity wise. Ian was for to indepth, while linus was basically a quick summary and the obligatory pointless "play games with it"

[@JeffGeerling]

Linus definitely has the monopoly on 'sexy video shots of the card' though. I'd kill to have more than 12' sq ft for my entire media production and test bench setup :D

[@dave_dennis]

Vince, I didn’t follow exactly. Does the card have a 10 MHz TTL output on one of the SMA connectors?

[@vincei4252]

@@dave_dennis Hi, that I'm not sure - I need to look at the full circuit diagram in Altiium, however, the rubidium clock source that is soldered to the board has a 10Mhz TTL clock output. What I meant is that rather than fork over $700 I can jury-rig a connector and cable from my larger rubidium sources (also made by symmetricom, now Microsemi?) and solder the cable to the clock-in on the pcie card. The source they use also has rs232 which mine does too but it'd lay bets that whatever is exchanged over that serial interface is the same protocol. I remember being able to open a putty rs232 session to my rubidium and query the device for status, etc.

[@JeffGeerling]

@@dave_dennis According to the specs, it has "1PPS / 10MHz SMA output" & "1PPS / 10MHz SMA input" - see github.com/opencomputeproject/Time-Appliance-Project/tree/master/Time-Card#interfaces I haven't dug into it yet, but it looks like those interfaces go through the FPGA, and are not *directly* attached to the Rb source.

[@mitchellmnr]

The puns are timeless :/

[@royk7712]

Stop, get some help

[@mitchellmnr]

@@royk7712 You cannot stop time ...

[@CristianConsonni]

@Mitchell R BA DUM TISS, sir

[@comicsansgreenkirby]

* sighs in exasperation *

[@ezzeldin101]

Dude your videos are REALLY... REALLYYYY awesome

[@seangraves3509]

Wow there I thought having just got my RPi4 being an NTP server was great a time piece ... I do hope that card does not glow in the dark ;-) Nice video Jeff 👍

[@trelauney]

I was waiting for this. And KZbin waited a day more to show it to me.

[@BrianBoniMakes]

Another bleeding edge RPi episode. I'm interested in following where this goes.

[@dangeist2899]

Nice video on the Rb + PTP + CM4 setup. Looking forward to support for the HW timestamp in Broadcom chipset. Although it's not as a sexy as the "atomic clock" rubidium setup, it might be nice to do a quick build on the CM4 with a normal GPS HAT +quartz RTC setup. It could still give you microsecond-level accuracy and with chrony's partial hardware timestamping support would be a quite capable NTP/PTP source for slightly lower accuracy requirements (like homelans :) )

[@jakenkid]

It was so damn pleasing to get a TC blinker reference!!! You don't even know! 😁😁😁

[@johngangemi1361]

Accurate time is also important in electrical power networks and telecommunications. Great video.

[@thecorley]

When I got to my first submarine, we used 2 cesium clocks to provide reference signals to most of the equipment. The Cesium clocks weighed about 75 to 100 pounds and we had to take them to get calibrated every 6 months. They had a battery backup that lasted about 20 minutes, so we had to get them to the shop quick. On my last submarine we used a rubidium clock. Smaller and cheaper is better. We could sync it up with GPS ever few days to make sure it stayed accurate.

[@avejst]

Great video 👍

[@matuzaato]

This piece of hardware is sooo cool!

[@TrollingAround]

Jeff, you could make a video about drying a towel and I'd watch it, probably to the end, and then click 'like' - please don't! Please keep the fascinating content coming. :D

[@ghostdog0424]

3:30 Many time standards (at least in my grandfather's collection) are 2-3U rack mount chassis, with about a quarter to a third of that space being the cesium beam tube in its high-vacuum housing and oven. The size difference is truly dramatic.

[@DanDrown]

Thank you for the video, I'm excited to see what you can do with this hardware. I have a few responses to your video: - The rubidium clock's accuracy is not based on it running at a higher frequency than quartz, but rather a more stable frequency. Temperature changes cause quartz crystals to change frequency more dramatically than rubidium - The 32khz crystal runs the real time clock (RTC), which can keep time between reboots. The RTC is typically ignored on the pi because it does not have a battery backup for the RTC, so the program fake-hwclock is used instead. The main system time comes from a counter in the CPU on the pi (driver is named "arch_sys_counter") which is driven at 54MHz - NTP can use hardware timestamping as well, and can reach microsecond to hundreds of nanosecond levels of sync in proper conditions

[@JeffGeerling]

I shall consider myself educated! To be honest, prior to this project I've only worked with NTP and only really cared about millisecond-level resolution. Though that darned Chicago server has made me more interested in better holdover accuracy.

[@DanDrown]

@@JeffGeerling due to denial of service attacks, it's been popular by service providers to block or rate limit UDP in general or NTP in specific. This could be what happened to your Chicago server. I know Linode is blocking IPv4 NTP outbound, but IPv6 is allowed.

[@JeffGeerling]

@@DanDrown That could very well be the problem.

[@charlesgantz5865]

Also, as I recall, while the rubidium clock frequency is very stable, its phase noise isn't very good. Crystal oscillators, on the other hand, have frequencies that aren't very stable but have very good phase noise characteristics. That is why the rubidium clock is used, through a phase lock loop or some other mechanism, to maintain the crystal frequency. Then the crystal output will be highly stable in frequency as well as have excellent phase noise.

[@vlademir32]

Great Scott!

[@JeffGeerling]

Another excellent KZbin channel. Go subscribe to him too! :D

[@vincentguttmann2231]

0:05 I love the sound of cicadas. Here in Germany we don't have them, and they always remind me of our holidays in Croatia. Although the Croatian cicadas sound a lot different to yours, interestingly.

[@thomasruwart1722]

Mee too😁 I have a memory of laying in my crib when I was about 2 or 3 years old, looking at a nice blue sky and the big tree outside the open window right next to my crib. I remember feeling a gentle breeze blowing in thru the window, and hearing the cicadas "wind" up and down. Hearing cicadas always relaxes me and triggers that calm memory from more than 60 years ago.

[@thompsant]

From a personal perspective, having a potential open source PTP clock as a grandmaster for 2110 is very exciting. On the other hand, I work for a company that used to provide a Raspberry Pi as a hardware solution for a broadcast product and well... it was not received very well by sales staff or customers, which I think is kind of a bummer. I'd love to run into these when commissioning broadcast facilities.

[@blacktrooper100]

This is so AWESOME I want to build my own stratum-1 server now. 🤩🤩🤩

[@Codeaholic1]

Jeff, Im curious what the issues are that prevent you from using NTP on your Chicago server?

[@DETERNET]

My job is working for one of the manufacturers that makes SMPTE 2110 gear, PTP is very important for doing uncompressed video over IP. It’s a neat field to be in.

[@abyagowi7]

Let us discuss this in more detail.

[@briceperdue7587]

I've watched a handful of your videos. This is the one that really got me. Our fiber build is running ethernet frames and keeping a very good clock is a new thing i've had to even think about. Very good stuff very boring topic like NTP and DNS no one really cares until it doesn't.

[@KirilMiloshev]

Nice video! There is a good option with GPSDO Gps disciplined oscilator. You can get one for about 100 bucks and hook it to the raspberry. It has several nanoseconds drift.

[@Openspeedtest]

I was waiting for Atomic Pi

[@JeffGeerling]

A _truly_ Atomic Pi ;)

[@rhekman]

@@JeffGeerling and here I thought you couldn't trust atoms. Since they make up everything. ... I'll see myself out.

[@MrMftech]

Thanks for your clever explanation...clocking is everything in Digital :-)!

[@porm1930]

Good stuff you create, both professional and entertaining. I am planning to build a small server at home with some 10-20 Pi. How do you do and which Pi to chose? Is Kubernetes something to use? Which board is the best? Do you think you can do a video about this?

[@haroldbridges515]

I wish I needed one of these.

[@datachu]

Lol, love the tech connections reference. And the bad puns.

[@JeffGeerling]

I see you too are a person of culture!

[@mauisam1]

I liked your outatime joke and the shaun the sheep clip.

[@nathanieldoyle4972]

Random question, where does one acquire the new time card? Had a quick google but didn't find anything

[@ghostdog0424]

My grandpa helped pioneer CSACs! I have one of his 10mhz frequency standards and it's rock solid. He still fools with cesium beam tubes using a raspberry pi for logging the data

[@ghostdog0424]

i'm going to send this video to him, will post a response with his reaction

[@hikaru-live]

There is a Dallas DS3231 chip that packs a DTCXO. It is a lot less precise than atomic clock, but much better than a regular crystal, and much cheaper too. I have a Pi NTP server project that uses GPS for time base, a DS3231 for local timekeeping, and a STM32F030 as the governor of DS3231.

[@BienestarMutuo]

Yes, your idea is the right solution. millisecond precision at low cost is a very good solution for many time problems. You can please share your project, or sell your device, i and many will buy it.

[@hikaru-live]

@@BienestarMutuo It was available on my Tindie page but I currently have no manufacturing facility available to make them.

[@ordepcaetano]

Congratulations on the video. How do you know how many gps satellites can it sync to? Synching via ptp is one job, creating a non blocking switching fabric via multicast is another job. Would the rpi cm4 handle it?

[@vmsysprog]

Timing is everything.

[@JoesPalace]

Thanks!

Oh yes, it's about time!

[@IMBlakeley]

My last job we used the GPS receiver on a small outdoor radio to let it run as a mini GM clock, the proper big Grand Masters were so pricey there was quite a bit of customer interest. I'd bet they'd be even more interested in a Pi solution.

[@briangoldberg4439]

wow man. this is a very pun-heavy video. good job

[@JeffGeerling]

I had a few more to add, but I ran out of time :(

[@creesch]

Interesting video :) Small bit of feedback on editing, you are putting text near the bottom of the video which disapears quickly which is normally fine as you can pauze vidoes. However due to the position of the text the youtube video controls cover it when the video is pauzed.

[@JeffGeerling]

Gah, I have to try to remember that. I wish KZbin would let you hide the controls while paused.

[@highendcustomdesigncaraudi1777]

Thank god keept all this material in side the earth .

[@mitnoxin]

I used to use a similar system for calibrating the A2D in seismographs. It would output a square wave at a series of fixed frequencies. It was a lot bigger than your card there.

[@artemartemov1242]

Please explain to me how to get 1pps with a frequency of 1hz taking into account the time update. Raspberry doesn't allow this. Using a python script I get a stable pulse, but it doesn't have synchronization like pps

[@jwillisbarrie]

Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf and clear explanation.

[@AustinSteingrube]

On the industrial manufacturing side, there are exceptionally few things that need more than 1/10 sec precision. The things that DO need to be coordinated are not done over a network, but rather point-to-point discrete signals. It is far faster to look for a rising edge of a 24V signal over 20m than it is to wait for network traffic to propagate to the devices. The PLC’s that run and connect things are themselves very slow compared to a netbook, so any PTP precision would go straight out of the window.

[@borbetomagus]

Thanks for this project! Just wondering: Are you overstating the accuracy of the the SA.31m? Datasheets for the Microsemi SA.31m, SA.33m and SA.35m (along with the SA.45s) imply they all have an accuracy of '±5.0E-11 accuracy at shipment', while Microsemi vendor Sparkfun says: 'That puts the SA.35m Miniature Atomic Clock in the picosecond category of eight seconds per 31,689 years. Said differently, the MAC loses a second every 4,000 years or so.' Then again, I may not understand the long-term accuracy.

[@LimitedWard]

If every self-driving car had one of these atomic clock modules in them, they could communicate with each other to warn about the position and speed of potential obstacles with a high degree of accuracy. They could also use it to coordinate traffic and reduce congestion.

[@phillee2814]

You only need precision to a few milliseconds for that though, and if the cars cross synchronised in an NTP peer group, you could have µS precision easily - and with GPS practically universal in cars anyway (but most lack PPS, which would be a simple fix), each car could be stratum 1 PPS peered to all the others around it also at stratum 1, so the worst that could happen on the loss of GPS, Galileo, BeiDou, IRNSS, QZSS and GLONASS signals simultaneously is that the whole group could drift by a few µS. One car with a faulty GPS would just drop to stratum 2 automatically, as that is built into NTP already. That just means it gets its time from the other cars around it, with very little loss of precision (offset due to distance [a nS is about 30cm] is built-in). Galileo gives horizontal

[@ConnorisseurYT]

You definitely don't need an atomic clock to do that

[@user-ub2do3bt5h]

To actually sync the clock in a data centre over the network you need a support from network devices. You mentioned that the card does not have the support yet but it is only software. Well many networking devices also do not have hardware timestaming. This is actually a heavy topic if you want to dive into it. For 5G application for example the accurate time is used so multiple base stations can send data over to a handset at the same time. There are multiple options to distribute time over the network the first one is via Synchronous Ethernet links and the second one is EEE 1588v2 PTP Boundary Clock. Many if the telecom providers use the second option as the hardware is cheaper. Same as on your cards the vendors like Broadcom created ASICs with support for hardware timestamping.

[@jmr]

That's just a little more accurate then what I personally need right now but maybe I'll need something like that next week.

[@JeffGeerling]

Once you start running HFT in your homelab... 😂

[@funskaterfriedberg579]

Hi Jeff, in our Mainframe we use a STP (sysplex timer Protocol) that Provider an Atomic Signal also. STP is a mix of the Hardware and the Software of the operating Systems. It is doing s nandshake, so that very Mashine measures the runtime of the Signal and corrects automatically the time to be correct. Do normal Servers are Build in the Same way)? Because, if not, Evelyn Server will run with different timestamps again.

[@FolixOrision]

Nice call out to the synchronized blinkers

[@johnnystoka6625]

Can this unit be made to work on the Atomic Pi . I was interested in using this as a server for my Audiophile setup to stream to my DAC and was hoping to dramatically reduce jitter doing this .

[@rougenaxela]

2:43 I see you there corner text that is a critical factor in the story

[@JeffGeerling]

Maybe I am insane.

[@ShadowFandub]

Jeff i have a little question, now with windows 11 arm, maybe works the drivers for graphics cards on cm4?

[@JeffGeerling]

No, the drivers would still have similar issues as the ones on the Linux side; AMDs own engineers are still slowly trying to take a look at the problems (and we have few clues besides 64-bit memory errors so far).

[@lolerskates876]

Could you use this for accurate laser distance measuring? Could this make a really accurate field GPS (sub millimeter accuaracy)?

[@FennecTECH]

Ah yes. Technology connections. I love his stuff.

[@doitaljosh]

Wow, so if the PHY hardware on the CM4 supports hardware IEEE1588 timestamping, would real-time protocols like AVB work when software support is enabled? That would make the CM4 much more useful in automotive and AV applications.

[@n2kra]

Installed a 1 Rack unit GPS NTP at Bell Labs/Telcordia. Need to have the antenna run to the roof. Hmm would the ham station have been easier? Would it have been allowed on the corporate LAN?

[@romanticroman11]

Jeff Girling , you 've won a prize ! Pick it up at the address of the island of Seychelles .

[@captain_ironbutt]

Did raspiOS pick the correct time source right away after using the newer kernel? I remember having to tweak some settings after slapping a (non-atomic) RTC module on my old raspi 1 that kept drifting

[@JeffGeerling]

Still working on the software side now. I will hopefully have more answers on setting up the internal clock source in next video on the Time Card!

[@DerekMurawsky]

This is so cool...

[@SebastianScholle]

the field of metrology uses highly stable and calibrated measuring equipment. this device promises a more widespread adoption of such science, which i think is a very exclusive club at the moment. Having this card run on a PI really makes this field in science more accessible to a larger demographic therefore helping further the research and opening up more opportunities.

[@abelgerli]

There's also another option. When the atomic clocks send their signal on local positions on eart you can do differential GPS with centimeter accuracy. Would may be a genius projects out of the ordinary.

[@jensschroder8214]

I built a GPS syconized Nixie clock with the Arduino, but the TV signal via satellite is too late. How do i fix this? It would be good if the Raspberry Pi 4 B had a built-in RTC like the Rock PI has. But Rock PI is the only one who knows November 31st.

[@maximusboscus]

I think synchronized motion in the industrial automation does not normally uses PTP as is. If Profinet is used in IRT mode (isochronous real time), delays are within the nanosecond. PTP is included in a wrapper protocol called PTCP (Precision Transparent Clock Protocol) and besides allowing you to synch the clocks, it can calculate the delays in the switches and cabling. For this to work, special hardware is required at both ends as well as for the switching equipment. The next best thing in Profinet RT (real time) with which you can get down to the microseconds. You can use normal hardware for that, even through Wifi. Oh and fun fact, both of these modes skip completely layers 3, 4 and 5 of the OSI layer, so basically from the Ethernet layer you go directly to the layers 6-7. No need for IPs.

[@willfancher9775]

Did you try one of your NIC expansions cards using the ASHATA PCIe switch to drive both the NIC and the time card?

[@JeffGeerling]

Not yet! That's up on my todo list.

[@betterlifeexe4378]

10:04 an open source, simplified time synchronization platform could be made more secure and cross-platform. If adopted as part of a standard for communicating info between smart cars, we might see automatic safety features get a lot better. particularly in traffic streams where several smart cars can respond to each other predictively. Autonomous and maybe semi-autonomous caravanning also becomes more practical.

[@danielriossuarez]

Hi Jeff, loved the video, watching you is always interesting but I was thinking… what about your vid for Wifi 6 access point on the AX200? Thank you!

[@JeffGeerling]

Still working on that (now with AX210). Note that it seems Intel's drivers don't allow it to work in AP mode so I've been testing some other chips too.

[@almeiras1984]

@@JeffGeerling Too bad! I had hoped to create a full GPON router with my PCIe switch. Maybe there is some other interesting 6E card for hostapd? Maybe one with MIMO 2x2 (I looked closely at the AX2?0 and the shielding says MAIN and AUX, so just one Tx antenna)

[@TheHobbyShopFilms]

Do you have any suggestion on a IP security camera system? My night OWL system has 2 broken cameras out of 4. I have cat 6 available for the cameras. Thanks for any info.

[@JeffGeerling]

So... this is something I've been long-term testing. Haven't made any conclusions yet, though, and don't want to until I'm comfortable recommending anything. Not that happy with anything I've tried that's not crazy expensive :(

[@superfishman3243]

I wonder if would help with my Minecraft server lag somehow. 🤔 Though really I have looking for the best hardware to run a Minecraft server and I still don't know if it's a cpu thing, a ram thing, and ssd read speed thing, or an iops ssd thing. Web searching only shows me expensive multi use servers but never one purpose built, except the linus tech tips one which did not go into detail.

[@johnkunze5362]

We use an array of AC's all around the world interlinked for NASA, correlated to our telescopes to determine the wobble of the earth. The timekeeper is Dr. Phillip Arctender(really...birthname). A polar shift potential is high. Loss of Antarctic ice is prime factor. Nice to know we have it on a pi.,jpk

[@theoriginalrecycler]

Key use for this is transactional analysis, stock trading etc… minutes give 60 transaction windows per hour, seconds give 3600 transaction windows per hour. The rubidium source allows more time slots per hour, hence more transactions per hour executed. I won’t list assumptions etc.. you get the idea.

[@RyanVasquez6089]

Nice location!!!!! That's castlewood!

[@JeffGeerling]

I presume you've ridden the biking trails there-it's one of the best views of the Meramec in St. Louis!

[@DarkRider1768]

Two questions; Can we get a link to documentation for the project with the Time Card built into the Compute Module carrier? And have they partnered with anyone to distribute these? To the latter, their Git repo seems to take the "git gud at soldering, scrub" stance. Hoping that won't always be the case.

[@ndupontnet]

Rubidium in a DAC, right in my alley :)

[@chris-tal]

It's also used in the test & measurement industry when one has to distribute the same 1PPS ,10Mhz sync and PTP time domain over a dozen hundred meters with as minimal drift as possible. Mostly for making time sensitive measurements in sync across distant data aquisition points of a distributed system. Symmetricom is a well established and known name on the market. Ofcourse this card will bring a more affordable solution to smaller companies and even individuals. Hurrah Time Appliance Project!

[@autohmae]

I wonder what the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) project uses.

[@chris-tal]

That's a good question. It's way larger than to sync inside a factory building's several business units which manufactures and tests high-freq radio equipment. On that large scale (across bordering countries) I guess it's the same GPS+Rb per receiving station. Combined with singlemode fiber on shorter distances just like the CERN white rabbit network. Plus some magic code that handles exceptions and maybe even mapreduces large chunks of data. You can easily find some articles on the net about both projects if you're very interested. It's a deep hole. Just "follow the white rabbit"! :)

[@artemartemov1242]

​@@chris-talPlease explain to me how to get 1pps with a frequency of 1hz taking into account the time update. Raspberry doesn't allow this. Using a python script I get a stable pulse, but it doesn't have synchronization like pps

[@benverdel3073]

In Europe we have DCF77. A cesium based signal from the hart of Germany with a range of about 100 miles or 1500 km. It the reference for all of Europe. Trains, postoffices etc. You can get receivers for home use as well.

[@JeffGeerling]

The US has WWVB, which does a similar thing-once you know your relative distance to it, you can get pretty accurate time from the radio signal, too!

[@c1ph3rpunk]

Yup. We’re so good here in Chicago we’re ahead of you.