[time-nuts] Win XP and NIST time

[Chris Albertson]

On Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 10:56 PM, Anthony G. Atkielski
<anthony at atkielski.com> wrote:
> Chris writes:
>
>> For most users I think that is reasonable.   It's just not what one
>> expects to read on  a "Time Nuts" list.  Here we expect to see posting
>> from true nut-cases who want microsecond just because they can do it.
>
> But how can you verify microsecond accuracy on Windows? Even the OS
> only has 10 ms resolution for the system clock.

First off, I was hardly serious.  Making fun of someone for being sane?

But the technical answer to your question about how to measure.
Usually with NTP you'd build a set of at least five computers and each
of the five measures the other four.  You will find a core subset that
track each other very well and then measure the Windows system
relative to the local "consensus time."  Being a true "nut" you'd have
have a few GPS receivers to help establish to local time and also a
core set of NTP servers running BSD or maybe Linux.

The thing to remember about NTP is that it is both a server and a
client. So your Windows system will tell the other NTP system son your
network its idea of the correct time.  Those other systems will report
the jitter and offset of the Windows NTP.

Yes it is a lot of work for nothing.


-- 

Chris Albertson
Redondo Beach, California