Alec, I seem to perceive that PC clocks have gotten quite a bit better since their early days. What do others think?
Dana On Wed, Sep 29, 2021 at 3:10 PM Alec Teal <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi there, > > I have a question and I cannot think of anyone better to ask, for a > project we need to time some things which are connected to a computer, > using NTP and later using a GPS over bluetooth serial ports, we have > discovered that computer clocks are terrible > > If you remove a linear drift (for example assuming it ticks at 1.00026 > seconds per second) it gets less terrible, and Linux can do this but it > is clear that the computer clock doesn't expose this coefficient to the > OS to let it compensate, it must be found (eg through NTP) - any ideas why? > > > But more concretely, my watch is actually pretty good, it's off by < 3 > seconds and hasn't been set probably this year (I don't tend to bother > with DST stuff, not for any reason just never get round to it) - when I > was growing up and even now wall-clocks are not so terrible that I have > to fix them (or NTP does with computers) very routinely. > > My theory is that super cheap crappy quartz clocks are now used in > things which can be reasonably expected to be online most of the time, > and thus use NTP - my watch cannot (and probably has temperature > correction too? Given the varied temps it is exposed to) any truth to this? > > This is a very open ended question I understand, but if clocks were as > terrible as I've found every computer and thing I've checked recently, > why don't I remember setting wall clocks easily once a week? > > > Alec > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] -- To unsubscribe send > an email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] -- To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.
