# High request rates from Nixie Clocks(?)

**URL:** <https://community.ntppool.org/t/high-request-rates-from-nixie-clocks/3338>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [April 8, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://community.ntppool.org/t/high-request-rates-from-nixie-clocks/3338 "2024-04-08T20:14:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![stevesommars](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.ntppool.org/stevesommars/32/2075_2.png) [@stevesommars](https://community.ntppool.org/u/stevesommars)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://community.ntppool.org/t/high-request-rates-from-nixie-clocks/3338/1 "2024-04-08T20:14:35Z")

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Hobbyists have used [Nixie tubes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixie_tube) in clock projects for several years. Some of these projects use the NTP protocol to set clock time. One sometimes sees the NTP request’s reference ID set to 1N14; this may [indicate](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/udp-ntp-clients/95868) that the client is a Nixie clock.

A few Nixie clocks are polling at 50-90 requests/second, many time the normal rate. Has anyone else noticed such behavior?

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**Author:** ![mlichvar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e79b87/32.png) [@mlichvar](https://community.ntppool.org/u/mlichvar)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 8:02am UTC](https://community.ntppool.org/t/high-request-rates-from-nixie-clocks/3338/2 "2024-04-09T08:02:19Z")

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It seems this reference ID is used by the official arduino NTP client library and there already is a request to increase the default poll interval of 60 seconds. The interval is configurable in milliseconds, but there is no enforced minimum, so in theory it could do 1000 requests per second.

> <https://github.com/arduino-libraries/NTPClient/issues/123>
>
> The \[default update time of 60 seconds\](https://github.com/arduino-libraries/NTP…Client/blob/master/NTPClient.h#L21) violates the terms of service of the pool.ntp.org project.
> Especially the following section:
> \*\*4. End-User agrees that he or she will not:
> (b) Request time from the Services more than once every thirty (30) minutes (ideally at even longer intervals), if using SNTP.\*\*
> For reference: https://www.pool.ntp.org/tos.html
> 
> Everybody participating from such a free service should at least respect the terms of service when using it.
> Please adjust your default update time to something like 24 hours or even more.
> Many users will blindly use the default value without the need of updating it once a day at all. If they have a real need they should set it on their own to something more applicable.