Controller not keeping accurate time

[skezzer]

I have noticed the time on the controller keep losing time. it is syncronised with time.google.com i get the time and save then after about a day the time displayed is over a minute slow. if a get time again it updates and stays correct but gradually starts losing time again.
any else had this isssue??

[schbrownie]

Are you powering down your controller between shows/days?  Is it losing time while the power is off?

[JonD]

It is not uncommon for some devices to lose a minute or so a day if manually updated.  Is time.google.com set as the NTP server?  If NTP is configured it should be updating every 15 minutes or so. 

[skezzer]

schbrownie yes i power down between shows is when it loses time. 

Yes Jon D time.google.com is set as the time server. if i manually click get time it corrects itself. Just one of those things i suppose.

I wanted to schedule a countdown to midnight but will just make sure i've updated the time before it kicks in.
Cheers   

[Rusackas]

I started a thread before I saw this one. Mine is losing a couple hours a day... new battery, controller remains connected to stable power and internet connection.... I just have to update the time every day or my show starts late.

[JonD]

Time.google.com is a DNS name that must be looked up.  You must define working DNS servers on the Falcon in order for it to be able to resolve the name into an IP address.  Also, the F16v4 needs to have internet access enabled on the settings tab for NTP to work.  It will appear under the NTP server settings.  Unchecked it will not update the time. 

[JonD]

I started a thread before I saw this one. Mine is losing a couple hours a day... new battery, controller remains connected to stable power and internet connection.... I just have to update the time every day or my show starts late.

A couple of hours even?  Time is updated to UTC/GMT England time and then adjusted per time zone.   Is it possible your timezone is not set correctly?  If the NTP server setting is pointing to a time server with bad time, it could be updating incorrectly as well. 

Assuming you do not have an NTP server configured and you just have a bad clock, I don't have any suggestions for you.  I would reach out to Falcon support.  You could add a NTP server to the settings page, and the controller would then automatically update itself every few minutes, which would most likely resolve the issue.

[breese]

I started a thread before I saw this one. Mine is losing a couple hours a day... new battery, controller remains connected to stable power and internet connection.... I just have to update the time every day or my show starts late.

A couple of hours even?  Time is updated to UTC/GMT England time and then adjusted per time zone.  Is it possible your timezone is not set correctly?  If the NTP server setting is pointing to a time server with bad time, it could be updating incorrectly as well. 

Assuming you do not have an NTP server configured and you just have a bad clock, I don't have any suggests for you.  I would reach out to Falcon support.  You could add a NTP server to the settings page, and the controller would then automatically update itself every few minutes, which would most likely resolve the issue.

I have been fighting the exact same issue on my F16V4...
All my other devices (on network) do not have the issue.
Here is One of the threads others and I talked about it.
https://falconchristmas.com/forum/index.php?topic=15311.msg127327#msg127327

[JonD]

Both my F16v4s are keeping perfect time.  Internet access box is enabled,  NTP server setting is pointing to IP address of FPP.  Life is good.  Firmware version 20.  Daylight savings box does not appear to adjust time per date, but just adds an hour to the time zone adjustment.   My controllers are always left on,

It does seem like NTP service by default will not update if the time is off by a large amount.  Possibly if you are powering off the F16v4, and time is off by a large amount when it is powered back on, the time will not update?  Seems like there is a parameter on servers to force it to update regardless for this reason.  Maybe the Falcon does not have the additional parameter set and will not update because of the large time difference.  As an experiment, you might adjust the time 5-10 minutes slow/fast manually, and then see if the Falcon updates from the NTP server when there is not a large difference.  If it is not updating then, I would be looking at some sort of firewall/filtering going on.

[jnealand]

I'm confused here.  I have multiple controllers and never look at the time.  The only box I need good time on is the one playing the schedule.  It tells all the others what and WHEN to run and it is connected to the internet.

[Rusackas]

I started a thread before I saw this one. Mine is losing a couple hours a day... new battery, controller remains connected to stable power and internet connection.... I just have to update the time every day or my show starts late.

A couple of hours even?  Time is updated to UTC/GMT England time and then adjusted per time zone.  Is it possible your timezone is not set correctly?  If the NTP server setting is pointing to a time server with bad time, it could be updating incorrectly as well. 

Assuming you do not have an NTP server configured and you just have a bad clock, I don't have any suggestions for you.  I would reach out to Falcon support.  You could add a NTP server to the settings page, and the controller would then automatically update itself every few minutes, which would most likely resolve the issue.

All great suggestions above. Thanks! I did verify that yes, the timeserver ip is correctly entered and responds to pings and lookups. Time zone is set correctly. clock was 45 min behind.... Hmmm. Maybe I have a hardware issue... 

[Rusackas]

I'm confused here.  I have multiple controllers and never look at the time.  The only box I need good time on is the one playing the schedule.  It tells all the others what and WHEN to run and it is connected to the internet.

You are correct, the only device that needs correct time is whatever is playing the show. In my case I am using the F16V4 to play the show.

[Rick]

I am also having the same problem with F16V4 clock not keeping accurate time.  My display is 1 mile away in a park and I would like to use the "Player" mode with the "on board" scheduler.  Controller is plugged in 24/7 but clock looses about 35-45 minutes/day. Battery is good, no internet connection to get time update.  Have been having to reset clock each day so show will start on time.  Solution that I have gone to a "continuous looped" show and controlled with an outside timer.  Not ideal as I would like to run different shows on different days.  Will address with David Pitt after holiday rush.

[rossg10]

SAME exact issue.  Its losing minutes every hour.  I was almost 30 minutes behind the actual time 12 hours after resetting the controller to see if that fixed it.

[rossg10]

Time.google.com is a DNS name that must be looked up.  You must define working DNS servers on the Falcon in order for it to be able to resolve the name into an IP address.  Also, the F16v4 needs to have internet access enabled on the settings tab for NTP to work.  It will appear under the NTP server settings.  Unchecked it will not update the time. 

I have all that on mine and I'm still losing time. Have any other possible solutions?