4 ms·

Laureline: discontinued open hardware/software GPS NTP server

25 points by ashitlerferad 10y ago

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
privong 10y ago
Interesting. I do like that it's open-source hardware. Note that you can build your own, with a raspberry pi and a GPS add-on board that sends a 1 pulse-per-second signal through the GPIO pins. Sample instructions here: http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/Raspberry-Pi-NTP.html http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/Raspberry-Pi-NTP.html And the GPS board can be purchased here: https://store.uputronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_64&product_id=81 https://store.uputronics.com/index.php?route=product/product...
- ryan-c 10y ago
  I built one of these a while back, works very well. Current status: associd=0 status=011b leap_none, sync_pps, 1 event, leap_event, version="ntpd 4.2.7p481@1.2483 Tue Nov 25 05:07:16 UTC 2014 (2)", processor="armv6l", system="Linux/4.1.13+", leap=00, stratum=1, precision=-18, rootdelay=0.000, rootdisp=1.180, refid=kPPS, reftime=db8dafdb.d2b0f5b9 Thu, Sep 22 2016 1:18:19.823, clock=db8dafe8.c014ef24 Thu, Sep 22 2016 1:18:32.750, peer=42535, tc=4, mintc=3, offset=-0.000614, frequency=-44.146, sys_jitter=0.003815, clk_jitter=0.004, clk_wander=0.000 I believe that the jitter values are in milliseconds.
  - voltagex_ 10y ago
    Where does the GPS antenna have to sit? My ISP provides a stratum-3 (?) timeserver, but it'd be nice to put a Pi or two to use.
    - ryan-c 10y ago
      It's just sitting on a windowsill.
- DashRattlesnake 10y ago
  This device has a temperature-compensated oscillator, and I'm guessing you could never match its performance with a cheapo board like a Raspberry Pi.
  - privong 10y ago
    > This device has a temperature-compensated oscillator, and I'm guessing you could never match its performance with a cheapo board like a Raspberry Pi. The 1 PPS timing signal comets from the GPS shield, not the pi. I didn't see any specific info on the crystal the shield has (the website just says "RTC crystal"). So if the shield were modified with a temp-compensated crystal, it should do just as well.
xupybd 10y ago
These are discontinued, is there an alternative that is still active?
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/2rvcp4/anyone_using_a_hardware_ntp_server/ https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/2rvcp4/anyone_usi... EDIT: Also, the Laureline's creator's page for it: https://partiallystapled.com/pages/laureline-gps-ntp-server.html https://partiallystapled.com/pages/laureline-gps-ntp-server....
- fnj 10y ago
  Very expensive rack mounted enterprise equipment exists, and there are also these guys: https://www.css-timemachines.com/product/time-machines-precision-digital-wifi-clock-2-5-x-6-red-digits-black-case/ https://www.css-timemachines.com/product/time-machines-preci... They have anything you need. Simplest is their WiFi clock which just syncs off NTP already on your LAN, but they can set you up with GPS sync too. You can find at least some of their stuff on Amazon if you search.
contingencies 10y ago
Why was it discontinued? Here's my guess. Any GPS receiver module (cheap) + any embedded board (cheap) = same thing. If you use a high powered commodity embedded board (eg. Raspberry Pi 3) then you can get other stuff done with it, too. Therefore, why have a standalone product? Low power consumption is about the only reason I can think of, but people running networks of servers that require a highly accurate local timing source are not generally people who care about minute variations in power consumption.
- cnvogel 10y ago
  A standalone product can have its advantages if it's designed with care to the specific task of timekeeping (which most other PCs or embedded boards aren't). This product (from looking at the schematics) has a true voltage controlled oscillator which allows you to get your local clock to agree consistently within few nanoseconds with the GPS timebase. (UPDATE: It has in Rev. 1.2, not in the latest :-( ). With a realtime OS (for reception of packets), or, much preferable, an Ethernet PHY that allows for hardware timestamping of incoming packets (something like http://www.ti.com/product/DP83640 http://www.ti.com/product/DP83640), you then could transfer this nanosecond precision to other machines on your network. Compared with the ~few microseconds you typically get with traditional NTP on a commodity PC or embedded board. The product linked to on Tindie, as far as I can see, does not have the latter, though.
  - contingencies 10y ago
    If you care that much about accuracy you should take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Time_Protocol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Time_Protocol ... "IEEE 1588 is designed for local systems requiring accuracies beyond those attainable using NTP".

25 points by ashitlerferad 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

privong 10y ago

Interesting. I do like that it's open-source hardware. Note that you can build your own, with a raspberry pi and a GPS add-on board that sends a 1 pulse-per-second signal through the GPIO pins. Sample instructions here: http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/Raspberry-Pi-NTP.html http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/Raspberry-Pi-NTP.html And the GPS board can be purchased here: https://store.uputronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_64&product_id=81 https://store.uputronics.com/index.php?route=product/product...

ryan-c 10y ago
I built one of these a while back, works very well. Current status: associd=0 status=011b leap_none, sync_pps, 1 event, leap_event, version="ntpd 4.2.7p481@1.2483 Tue Nov 25 05:07:16 UTC 2014 (2)", processor="armv6l", system="Linux/4.1.13+", leap=00, stratum=1, precision=-18, rootdelay=0.000, rootdisp=1.180, refid=kPPS, reftime=db8dafdb.d2b0f5b9 Thu, Sep 22 2016 1:18:19.823, clock=db8dafe8.c014ef24 Thu, Sep 22 2016 1:18:32.750, peer=42535, tc=4, mintc=3, offset=-0.000614, frequency=-44.146, sys_jitter=0.003815, clk_jitter=0.004, clk_wander=0.000 I believe that the jitter values are in milliseconds.
- voltagex_ 10y ago
  Where does the GPS antenna have to sit? My ISP provides a stratum-3 (?) timeserver, but it'd be nice to put a Pi or two to use.
  - ryan-c 10y ago
    It's just sitting on a windowsill.
DashRattlesnake 10y ago
This device has a temperature-compensated oscillator, and I'm guessing you could never match its performance with a cheapo board like a Raspberry Pi.
- privong 10y ago
  > This device has a temperature-compensated oscillator, and I'm guessing you could never match its performance with a cheapo board like a Raspberry Pi. The 1 PPS timing signal comets from the GPS shield, not the pi. I didn't see any specific info on the crystal the shield has (the website just says "RTC crystal"). So if the shield were modified with a temp-compensated crystal, it should do just as well.

xupybd 10y ago

These are discontinued, is there an alternative that is still active?

toomuchtodo 10y ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/2rvcp4/anyone_using_a_hardware_ntp_server/ https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/2rvcp4/anyone_usi... EDIT: Also, the Laureline's creator's page for it: https://partiallystapled.com/pages/laureline-gps-ntp-server.html https://partiallystapled.com/pages/laureline-gps-ntp-server....
fnj 10y ago
Very expensive rack mounted enterprise equipment exists, and there are also these guys: https://www.css-timemachines.com/product/time-machines-precision-digital-wifi-clock-2-5-x-6-red-digits-black-case/ https://www.css-timemachines.com/product/time-machines-preci... They have anything you need. Simplest is their WiFi clock which just syncs off NTP already on your LAN, but they can set you up with GPS sync too. You can find at least some of their stuff on Amazon if you search.

contingencies 10y ago

Why was it discontinued? Here's my guess. Any GPS receiver module (cheap) + any embedded board (cheap) = same thing. If you use a high powered commodity embedded board (eg. Raspberry Pi 3) then you can get other stuff done with it, too. Therefore, why have a standalone product? Low power consumption is about the only reason I can think of, but people running networks of servers that require a highly accurate local timing source are not generally people who care about minute variations in power consumption.

cnvogel 10y ago
A standalone product can have its advantages if it's designed with care to the specific task of timekeeping (which most other PCs or embedded boards aren't). This product (from looking at the schematics) has a true voltage controlled oscillator which allows you to get your local clock to agree consistently within few nanoseconds with the GPS timebase. (UPDATE: It has in Rev. 1.2, not in the latest :-( ). With a realtime OS (for reception of packets), or, much preferable, an Ethernet PHY that allows for hardware timestamping of incoming packets (something like http://www.ti.com/product/DP83640 http://www.ti.com/product/DP83640), you then could transfer this nanosecond precision to other machines on your network. Compared with the ~few microseconds you typically get with traditional NTP on a commodity PC or embedded board. The product linked to on Tindie, as far as I can see, does not have the latter, though.
- contingencies 10y ago
  If you care that much about accuracy you should take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Time_Protocol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Time_Protocol ... "IEEE 1588 is designed for local systems requiring accuracies beyond those attainable using NTP".