On 4 June 2014 13:39, Paul Thornton <[email protected]> wrote: > On 04/06/2014 13:10, Bill Woodcock wrote: > > Personally, I like the analog ones. :-) >> >> http://www.inovasolutions.com/network-clocks/ >> >> -Bill >> > > We have one of the ontime analogue ones here - bonus points for doing NTP > over IPv6 too. >
We prefer to use analogue clocks, preferably a large version of a Ship's Radio Room Clock (the distinctive coloured zones make it clear to see that it's a Zulu clock) and other clocks for local and important overseas time zones, all with 24hr inner-dial markings as well as 1-12. That setup is far more Dr. Strangelove war-room-like than a simple row of digital time clocks and has the advantage that staff under pressure can "count around the dial" for time estimates and planing with far less errors. This requirement really depends how time-critical fixes are but compared to the older digital LED clock they used to use they are far more popular when the shit hits the fan. The date string is displayed on a LED display under each clock, I'm not sure how those date strings are derived because they have been there long before I arrived;. but again, when the pressure is on, visual confirmation of the date in another timezone around the hours of midnight saves the silly errors that you get doing it inside the human brain indrr strain. All of our kit runs on Zulu anyways, but when talking to humans in other zones we use local time backed up by Zulu time for organising maintenance windows - it's better we calculate local for them that rely on them to cock it up. It's not easy to get radio-set clocks that are large and clear at sensible prices (they are usually "contact us with your requirements" bullshit), so we've had to have clock faces printed up at a local printers and a clocksmith change the drive mechanism for something more robust for the large hands, or carefully lighten longer hands to reduce the strain. The clocks self adjust, but going up-and-down the hill puts a fair bit of strain on the drivetrain. Finding good large mechanisms is hard, because the mechanism needs to have fast-advance controls (designed for clocks that are mounted high and inaccessible places with remote setting buttons) -- sent via Gmail web interface, so please excuse my gross neglect of Netiquette
