One second per second is harder than it sounds

Re:One second per second is harder than it sounds by ChuckMcM on Tuesday July 22, 2014 @01:33PM (#8070331)

So FWIW my beagle bone is a "GPS NTP server" and it was built out of the following:

1) BeagleBone $55 (http://www.adafruit.com/product/1876)

2) Proto cape $10 (http://www.adafruit.com/products/572)

3) Power supply $8 (http://www.adafruit.com/products/276)

4) Enclosure $7 (http://www.makershed.com/products/beaglebone-black-enclosure)

5) GPS board $40 w/ PPS (http://www.adafruit.com/products/746)

6) Ext Antenna ($13) (http://www.adafruit.com/products/960)

7) SMA to Antenna ($4) (http://www.adafruit.com/products/851)

So what $137 + tax and shipping, and the Robert Nelson Ubuntu pack with Openntpd running on it. The trick though in data centers is always getting visibility to GPS satellites. I wonder when the data center guys will figure the can add a 'cross connect' to the GPS on the roof for $75/month or something :-)

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Re:One second per second is harder than it sounds by rdtsc on Tuesday July 22, 2014 @03:02PM (#8070938)

That is pretty neat. I got my Beaglebone but haven't quite figured out what I am going to do with it. A GPS time server is a neat idea.

The price sounds about right. But, you also used your expertise, time and labor. Then add an enclosure box, documentation, support line, CE+FCC certifications and it can quickly get up there in price.

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Re:One second per second is harder than it sounds by ChuckMcM on Tuesday July 22, 2014 @03:37PM (#8071136)

Oh absolutely, I completely get why folks sell them for $600 each. (They were $25,000 each at one time which I found to be rather extortionate). I used to run ntpd on my home server to keep the machines in my house synced until the reflection attack using it came out and folks were dragging down my cheezy home net using it to attack others. Now I only run ntp inside the firewall :-)

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