[time-nuts] Re: Telstra outage: Possible GPS-related 1024 week rollover.

[Bob kb8tq]

Hi

The real answer here is that the box being used was *way* past the end of its useful life. It 
was not designed to run this long. There is a *lot* of hardware out there that falls into this
category, not just timing gear. Ignore that and you *will* get problems ….  A cell site still running
2G hardware from 2005 would have many issues today. They *do* get upgraded. 

Bob

> On Jul 13, 2026, at 2:33 PM, Steven Sommars via time-nuts <time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:
> 
> More technical users can add N x 1024 weeks when needed.  I'd bet that many
> time-nuts only need PPS,
> and that GPS WNRO is not interesting.
> 
> Why not create replaceable "expiration date" stickers for the front of GPS
> time servers?
> Units supporting SNMP could also send an alarm as that date approaches.
> 
> I have older GPS units that have already rolled-over, and have no idea when
> my current units with join them.
> That's why I asked about inexpensive GPS simulators.
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jul 13, 2026 at 8:48 AM Bob kb8tq via time-nuts <
> time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hi
>> 
>> On a many devices, the “roll over” changes with each firmware update. They
>> set things to roll over
>> 1024 weeks from the start of writing that update. Typically this is not
>> documented very well.
>> 
>> More modern gear ( = built in the last decade) often has the issue
>> addressed in one of several ways.
>> The idea is that they will not roll over if used as the manufacturer
>> expects.
>> 
>> Bob
>> 
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