Real Time Clock (RTC)

Resets Itself

Why Does This Happen?

If the Real-Time Clock (RTC) in your SmartSampler resets unexpectedly, the most common reason is a low coin cell battery. This battery maintains the RTC when the main power is disconnected, ensuring accurate timekeeping across power cycles.

Solution

Replace the coin cell battery to restore backup power for the RTC, allowing the time to continue running correctly even when the device is powered off or disconnected.

Update via Transmitter

To verify that time updates via a connected transmitter are working correctly, follow these steps:

1. Set a Test Time:
   Manually set the SmartSampler to a “wrong” time to ensure you can observe the update.
2. Adjust the Offset:
   • Navigate to Basic Settings and temporarily change the applied time offset.
   • Apply the new offset.
3. Synchronice the Time so the offest will be applied
4. Revert the Offset:
   • Restore the original time offset.
5. Power Cycle the Device:
   • Disconnect the main power (USB can remain connected).
   • Wait for at least 3 seconds.
   • Reconnect the power.
6. Verify the Update:
   • Use the Serial Monitor –> Cellular to observe the time sync. You should see messages like after it connected to the network:
     • 2025/05/08 02:56:12, update RTC
     • Set time to: 25/05/08,10:56:13+08 ignoring the offset from network
     • 2025/05/08 08:56:13, Time was off for more than 10 seconds, it has been set from cellular to: 2025/05/08 08:56:13
     • 2025/05/08 08:56:13, time was off for more than 10 minutes (this would restart the system if it is running already)
7. Handling Network Limitations:
   • If the transmitter cannot obtain the time from the network, you may see:
     • 2025/05/08 08:27:38, update RTC
     • Cellular time is not set, skipping setting time

Note: Not all network providers support automatic time updates. If this message appears consistently, it might indicate that the network lacks this feature.