PrecisionCLOCK Help

Local Values

This box shows the Local Time(date and time) and the time zone.
The Local Time is calculated from your System Time and the time zone settings of Microsoft Windows.
This is the same time as shown on the right side of your taskbar.
The display format of date and time can be changed in Preferences/Date-Time-Format.
Please notice that the received time is not equal to Local Time.

System Values

In this box System Time is displayed. System Time is based on UTC (GMT+0) time zone.
That means that there is no summer time offset. Most Microsoft Windows time functions are based on the System Time.
Please note that the time you see on the right side of your taskbar is not the System Time.
This is your Local Time, which you have chosen during Windows installation.
The displayed format of date and time can be changed in Preferences/Date-Time-Format.

Receive Values

The box 'Receive Values' displays the last time received. If the clock has not received a valid time yet,
then the 3 fields are empty.
In the first field you will find information on daylight saving.
The acrynom 'UTC' means that the clock received originally UTC winter time.
The letters 'BST' (= British Summer Time) on the other hand, say that the received time has
an offset of +1 hour to standard UTC.
The second field shows the received time and the third field the received date.
Please note that the PC time will not be synchronised by a valid received time, if it has a bigger difference than allowed!

Serial Port and Application Mode

The upper field informs you about the connection to the time receiver. It contains information on errors (serial port is not chosen yet, no accessible port available) or displays the actual COM port number.
Make sure that the Precision CLOCK is connected to the port which is chosen in the Preferences.
In the lower field you can check the current Application Mode. For Application Mode there are 2 settings possible. The regular mode is 'Permanently active'.
Then the driver will run until you close the program. The other mode is called 'Close after first synchronisation'.
That means that the driver runs until a valid time has been received and the PC time has been updated.

Signal Quality History

This history is a graphical representation of the Signal Quality. The diagram shows you
the course during the last hour. Each minute with clear signal quality is characterised as a maximum green bar.
A red bar indicates a minute containing bad radio signals due to Disturbance.
The shorter the bar the worse the signal's quality. A well positioned receiver is characterised
by a lot of long bars (see sample display).
This feature is helpful to get an overview about receiver quality in different positions.
The 'Average Quality' is the average of all received time information during the last hour.
The bottom right field shows the number of Signal Errors in the last minute.

Signal Timing

The 'Signal Timing Scale' represents the actual timing of the data received. If the signal reception is not very constant
(the values are received too fast or information is missing), then the bar remains in the red coloured area.
So Signal Timing is a precise indicator for signal quality.
Please make sure that the receiver is placed in a way that the signal timing scale goes to maximum (ok).
Signal Timing State shown beneath the scale is a written evaluation of the graphical display.

Received Pulse

Every second the transmitter sends a pulse. Each pulse has to be classified as logical bit
information (0 or 1) characterised by the pulse length.
An explanation about impulses and an example can be found in Signal Code.
The original received signal and the interpreted length is displayed in these two fields.

Tips for Use

In the box 'Tips For Best Use' you will find a lot of helpful information and hints.
Each constellation of the driver's behaviour and the radio signal characteristics will be considered.
In the list of hints you can find further information about various scenarios.