Download Big Ben GPS Time (With GNSS Anti Spoofing Technology), aka the Big Ben Time Server, Windows software, Tested by NPL, Certified with actual test results,Industry approved, that corrects your PC clock using GPS. Big Ben GPS Time reads the serial data coming out of your GPS receiver and decodes the $GPRMC messages to determine the precise UTC time. Works on Windows Vista/7/8/10 with PC with USB / serial ports. Tested by the National Physical Laboratory,Teddington,Middlesex,England, in January 2022. This validated the Big Ben Time Servers accuracy, and reliabilty. Designed in England, to be low cost, and safe for commercial and non commercial use, with Windows XP,7 or 10. Civil,Military,Land, Air & Sea. The Big Ben Time Server is used worldwide, by individuals and companies. We recently upgraded the Big Ben Time Server at Humbly Grove Energy Limited, in Hampshire, England.This has been in service since 2015 on a Windows XP laptop. Now on Windows 10. Humbly Grove Energy Limited are associated with EP UK Investments (EPUKI) a wholly owned subsidiary of Energeticky (EPH), who hold investments in a number of generation assets in the UK, such as Humber Bank and Lynemouth Power Station.

Some made in China GPS USB Ublox receivers, or beitian USB receivers, output NMEA sentences at a slow rate by default,typically 1s, and this leads to a run away drift as mentioned in the NPL test report, and if the computer is slow itself, ie the GPS data received will get delayed in time over time, leads to data being minutes behind actual time, even with a fast baud rate. Buy a decent Intel i7 PC or above, for best results. This was a problem with the NPL laptop and the Beitian USB Marine GPS Receiver BP-572U, which is now replaced with the BP-57U, both being Ublox 7 chips inside. NPL did not realise this, and did not update the Ublox configuration 'Rate' to output quicker than 1 second. You can make it 100mS. Also at the factory, it is set to output many types of NMEA sentences. Thus it takes longer to process the many NMEA sentences from the Beitian USB Marine GPS Receiver BP-572U.They used an office laptop, with only 8GB Ram, an i5.A slow CPU together with slow NMEA sentences, can cause the GPS software to either not detect the GPS USB receiver and or synchronise the PC time at the wrong time. The buffer memory of the USB GPS receiver itself can be holding an out of date time, and if defective an incorrect date.

If you buy a Ublox GPS receiver, make sure you configure it first to send the minimal NMEA sentences.

We recommend purchasing a reputable USB GPS receiver, preferable not a cheap one, something capable of being reliable, and ideally if the budget allows, a Digital Yacht TRI NAV GPS 160 https://digitalyacht.co.uk/product/gps160-usb/

Also, make sure unused bluetouth or USB emulator ports are disabled before plugging in the GPS receiver.

On initial startup of the software, auto detection of NMEA data is pushed out to all available comm ports in order to detect a connected GPS USB receiver.

A typical NMEA sentence looks like this:

$GPGGA,123519,4807.038,N,01131.000,E,1,08,0.9,545.4,M,46.9,M,,*47 $GPGGA – Talker ID "GP" (GPS) and header "GGA" (Global Positioning Fix Data) 123519 – UTC time of fix (12:35:19) 4807.038,N – Latitude 48°07.038' North 01131.000,E – Longitude 11°31.000' East 1 – GPS fix quality (0 = invalid, 1 = GPS fix, 2 = DGPS fix) 08 – Number of satellites in use 0.9 – Horizontal dilution of precision (HDOP) 545.4,M – Altitude in meters above mean sea level 46.9,M – Geoidal separation *47 – Checksum for data integrity Common NMEA Sentence Types GGA (Global Positioning System Fix Data): Provides time, position, fix quality, number of satellites, and altitude aprs.gids.nl aprs.gids.nl . RMC (Recommended Minimum Specific GNSS Data): Includes time, date, position, speed, and course . GLL (Geographic Position – Latitude/Longitude): Reports latitude, longitude, and time . GSA (GNSS DOP and Active Satellites): Gives dilution of precision and active satellites . GSV (Satellites in View): Lists all satellites visible to the receiver with elevation, azimuth, and signal strength . VTG (Track Made Good and Ground Speed): Provides course and speed over ground . ZDA (Time and Date): UTC time and local time zone offset . Parsing and Usage Each sentence is independently parsed by GPS software or microcontrollers. The comma-separated fields make it easy to extract specific data, and the checksum ensures data integrity. NMEA sentences are widely used in navigation, mapping, tracking, and telemetry systems, and understanding them is essential for developers and engineers working with GPS data . By decoding these sentences, applications can determine precise location, speed, heading, and satellite status, enabling accurate navigation and monitoring.

Crazy Mouse Syndrome when connecting to GPS comm port...In the Device Manager window, expand the ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’ section by clicking on the ‘>’ or triangle (‘+’ symbol in Windows XP), as shown. Under ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’, double-click on the USB serial device entry to bring up the Device Properties dialog box. Crazy Mouse Syndrome

BIG BEN TIME SERVER

Big Ben Time Server aka BIGBENGPSTIME released 11th November 2015. The low cost alternative to commercial GPS Timesync systems costing thousands of Dollars, and just as reliable. Designed for international use. We have enquires from major international companies, throughout the UK, USA and China. Only £20 for the software whatever the use, commercial or non-commercial. Petronas who own the Humbly Grove Energy site in Hampshire UK, use BIGBENGPSTIME to provide a reliable precision time reference to the Gas Plant SCADA & PLC control system.... Note: To set your PC time, later versions of Windows require an Administrator Account.This can easily be setup in Windows Control Panel User Accounts.

Time Signal Test Equipment

To prove how accurate the Big Ben Time Server really is..

We purchased a Galleon Systems MSF time receiver.
The results were very pleasing. Precise timing, and the computer stays on time.