Know Thy Time
When you start a contest make sure you know when it really begins and have an accurate clock handy.
These days there is little excuse to not know what time it is to the second… at least inside your ham shack.
Synchronize your computer to the world using one of the many NTP products out there. NTP is the defacto standard Internet time sync system and you should be using it.
My favorite NTP client software for Windows is Tardis HC Mingham-Smith, Ltd.
Yes this is named after Dr. Who’s machine. They also have a program which can sync your system to local NTP broadcasts called K9. Dr. Who again. You might find this broadcast on a well run local network, but most of you probably have cable modems or less so you will want the Tardis client. It can install as a service if you like and will sync regular to Internet time servers as needed and available.
Well worth the free expense.
