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Site and Transmitter evaluation procedure

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Before completing any troubleshooting on an XR Transmitter, it's recommended to complete the procedure below. Also, learn about the Transmitter Broadcasting Frequency and Clock Signal Search Frequency, and when use to a Transmitter’s Diagnostic Error Codes.

Procedure

Completing the steps allow you to observe and log the current state of the system clocks and Transmitter(s).

  1. Record all issues reported from the system clocks.

    • Are all the clocks involved or just some clocks?

    • If just some clocks, where are they installed and how many? Smaller quantities could be clock issues and not Transmitter related.

  2. Once it's determined to check a Transmitter, look it over and take notes of the information below.

    • Is the red LED flashing on front display of the Transmitter?

    • Write down all information displayed on the Transmitter front display, including the time displayed. It's recommended to take a photo of the front display.

    • GPS time source: is the GPS communication symbol connection symbol.png displayed in the upper right hand corner of the Transmitter's front display? When the symbol is displayed, this indicates the Transmitter and GPS Receiver are communicating. If the symbol is not displayed, complete steps in Red LED flashing and Transmitter GPS communication symbol is not displayed on front display.

    • NTP time source: is the NTP communication symbol S.png displayed in the upper right hand corner of Transmitter's front display? When the symbol is displayed, this indicates the Transmitter is communicating with its NTP time source. If the symbol is not displayed, complete steps in Red LED flashing and Transmitter has no S symbol with NTP Time Source.

Transmitter transmit (broadcast) schedule

Once a Transmitter has received its time from either a GPS Receiver or NTP time source or a main Transmitter, it sets its internal clock. It then wirelessly broadcasts its received time over a 72MHz radio frequency to the system clocks. As a result, time devices are precisely synchronized to each other and all time, schedules, and events are kept current.

  • 1 Watt Transmitter with an internal antenna: Transmits (broadcasts) a time signal continuously, 24 hours a day.

  • 1, 5, or 30 Watt Transmitters with an external antenna: Transmits (broadcasts) a time signal 24 hours a day ONLY between the 39th to the 6th minute of each hour, and changes to a standby mode and does NOT transmit a time signal during the 7th to the 38th minute of each hour

Clock signal search schedule

Clocks receive a time signal wirelessly from a system Transmitter determined by its schedule, which is specific to the clock type.

Analog Clock signal search frequency:

At six pre-scheduled times a day, at 2:01 AM/PM, 6:01 AM/PM, and 10:01 AM/PM clock time (not the actual time of the day), a clock's receiver turns on to search for a Transmitter signal to receive a time update, starting with the previously stored channel number. If a signal is not received from the first channel, the clock scans all channels to search for a signal.

Digital Clock/Timer signal search frequency: every 10 minutes on the 5's (5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55 minutes) of the hour, a clock's receiver turns on to search for a Transmitter signal to receive a time update.

Transmitter diagnostic error codes

XR Transmitters are able to diagnose some issues, but when troubleshooting these units, it's important to clear up preliminary issues first before exploring the Diagnostic Error Codes. For additional information on the Transmitter display, see topic Overview of Front Display (section 7) - XR Series Transmitter.

As a first step in troubleshooting, perform all procedures provided in the troubleshooting topics to resolve any issues. Once issues are resolved, then review the Diagnostic Error Codes, clear all errors, and determine if the Transmitter logs any new error codes. If new error codes, refer to the related Error Code troubleshooting topics.

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