We just had two TM1000 TimeMachine brand GPS NTP servers lose
clock sync at the same time, in two different cities (LA and
Santa Barbara). The outage lasted about five minutes, during
which the NTP servers were responding, but with time that was
1900 seconds out of sync. The devices showed satellite lock on 8
birds (not all the same ones). I've never seen this behavior
before with years of NTP clock experience.
It could be that these inexpensive NTP servers aren't very
selective about bogus inputs, as I would have expected them to
lose synch in the event of a GPS signal failure. Instead they
produced garbage. Our PRTG NTP monitor logged the problem this
way:
Sensor SNTP (SNTP) ***
Device 10.2.10.90-TimeMachine NTP server (10.2.10.90)
New Status at 5/10/2024 12:49:52 PM (Pacific Standard Time):
Down
Last Message:
The target server did not return a valid time. To resolve this
issue, use a packet analyzing tool and do a trace of the NTP
packets to check if all fields are correctly populated. (code:
PE085)
"Multiple CMEs erupted associated with flare activity from Region
3664 on 07-09 May. These CMEs are expected to merge with potential
arrival expected by early May 11 on the UTC day.”
(Low but distinct possibility of effects to radio and
transmission systems)
FYI,
/John
John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers