[time-nuts] Anybody have experience with TimeMachines TM1000AGPS Time Server

[Rick Thomas]

Rick wrote:
>>> Signal Strength: Satellite 1: 32 dB, Satellite 2: 31 dB, Satellite 3: 30 dB
> 


Bob replied:
>> On a normal GPS based gizmo, you should be seeing 6 to 8 satellites just about all the time. Carrier to noise ratios typically are in the > 40 db range. You seem to be “antenna challenged”. 
>> 
>> If you are in the northern hemisphere, a view to the north is not of much use. The prime viewing area is all south of you based on the way the sat orbits are set up. 


Rick answered:
> I have a south-facing window I can try.  I’ll move it there and see if the db report gets better.

So from the South facing window, I get:
    Satellite 1: 42 dB, Satellite 2: 38 dB, Satellite 3: 38 dB

Which seems to be an improvement.

Next will be a skylight window — above most of the nearby treetops with a pretty clear 360 degree view of the sky, but still the low ridge to the West obstructing the Western horizon.

Final test will be out-of-doors on the garage roof.

One more observation:  This unit seems to spend up to 5-10 minutes after power-on reporting time that’s exactly 1.000 second off from UTC.  It eventually gets properly synced but it takes a while.  I’m planning to leave it plugged into my UPS, so I don’t have to deal with that issue for short power outages.

I’ll report more info as I learn more to report.

Rick