[time-nuts] Affordable PoE 6-digit time displays?

[Larry Sampas]

For that price (the ND-4), you can get a new NTP-synced PoE-powered clock:
http://www.brgprecision.com/products/synchronized_clocks/poeclocks.php

I built a time display with a Raspberry Pi, an Adafruit GPS, and a
Fundamental Logic USB7 serial LED display, but the numbers didn't flip
elegantly or at precisely consistent intervals, even after installing the
RT kernel mods for RaspPi. (That was also before they included the PPS in
the default RaspPi kernel.) I've been curious about trying again with an
SPI display and would be curious about what part numbers for SPI-driven LED
units had been successful.

I have an Inova LED PoE/NTP clock from eBay, next to a LaCrosse UltrAtomic
analog clock. Watching those two stay synced is better than most TV
programming these days.

LS

On Fri, Jun 15, 2018 at 12:37 PM, Warren Kumari <warren at kumari.net> wrote:

> A while back I purchased a Symmetricom ND4 clock on eBay -- it was lasted
> as "Not Working / for parts only", and it turns out that was true -- the
> processor board had issues. I wasted much time trying to fix it, and then
> simply removed it -- I'm now using a Raspberry Pi Zero to drive the display
> part (over the SPI bus). It runs NTPD, and so is more than accurate for a
> wall clock.
>
> Total cost was less than $100 (if you ignore the money wasted on trying to
> revive the old board :-) )
> Some details here:
> https://github.com/wkumari/symmetricom-nd4-python/blob/master/symmetricom_
> raspberrypi_clock.py
>
> An example ND-4 on eBay
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Symmetricom-ND-4-820-1444-
> Digital-Clock-Time-Display-90-264v-ac/302748531081?hash=item467d37f989:g:
> GEUAAOSwpHpbBqm4
> -- this one is new, if you wait a while you should be able to find a dead
> one...
>
> W
>
> On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 9:16 PM David Andersen <dave.andersen at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I'd hoped that ebay or aliexpress would yield a bounty given how
> seemingly
> > simple these are, but I'm drawing a blank (and finding a lot of $300+ new
> > options).  Anyone have a favorite source for either flat wall-mount or
> > rackmount displays that will pull from an NTP/SNTP/whatever server?
> >
> > (if wall-mount, PoE is optimal).  Used good.  Cheap good.  Looks good
> next
> > to my random collection of antiquated time measurement gear provides
> > amusement value but isn't really critical. :-)
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> >   -Dave
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> I don't think the execution is relevant when it was obviously a bad idea in
> the first place.
> This is like putting rabid weasels in your pants, and later expressing
> regret at having chosen those particular rabid weasels and that pair of
> pants.
>    ---maf
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