MSF Outage 11 June NPL Maintenance
The UK’s MSF signal broadcast from Anthorn, Cumbria and utilised by UK NTP server users is be turned off for a four hour period on 11 June for scheduled maintenance. The MSF 60 kHz time and frequency standard will be off between 10.00 and 14:00 BST (9:00 – 13:00 UTC).
Users of NTP time servers that utilise the MSF signal should be aware of the outage but shouldn’t panic. Most network time servers that use the Anthorn system should still function adequately and the lack of a timing signal for four hours should not create any synchronisation problems or clock drift.
However, any testing of time servers that utilise MSF should be conducted before or after the scheduled outage. Further information is available from NPL.
Any network time server users that require ultra-precise precision or are feel temporary loss of this signal could cause repercussions in their time synchronisation should seriously consider utilising the GPS signal as an additional means of receiving a time signal.
GPS is available literally anywhere on the planet (as long as there is a good clear view of the sky) and is never down due to outages.
For further information on GPS NTP server can be found here.
