ELK-M1XEP Installation Manual
Page 13
How the M1XEP DDNS updates work:
Every few minutes, the M1XEP “checks in” with the DDNS provider to find out what its public IP address is. When
the M1XEP detects that the public IP address has changed, it logs in to the provider’s website and sends a message
containing its new IP address. Most providers will delete a free account if it is not updated every month or two. To
prevent this, the M1XEP will “force” an update every thirty days even if its public IP address hasn’t changed. If you
enabled email notification of updates, you will be notified when this occurs. Most providers consider it an abuse of
their service to force an update too often, but they will allow forced updates every thirty days.
5. In addition to notifying you of update errors, you may also want to know when a successful update occurs.
Check the last box to enable this.
6. SEND the setup to the control, then click the Test button to test that the M1XEP can contact the DDNS
provider. The test does not perform an actual update, as the provider would consider that an abuse of their
service. Instead, it simply checks that it can connect to the provider.
7. Time Server (optional)
The M1XEP can connect daily to a Time Server on the Internet to synchronize the M1’s or EZ8’s clock.
This feature
is only available on M1XEPs with firmware version 1.2.12 or later.
This keeps the control’s clock to within a second
of universal standard time. To enable this feature, click the Time Server tab on the M1XEP Setup window in ElkRP. If
you don’t already have or know of a time server to use, click the link provided or go to
http://www.ntp.org/s2
to find a
time server. Please observe the following rules while doing this:
1. Choose only a “Stratum-2” server. They are intended for public use. “Stratum-1” servers are reserved for
use by governments, large institutions, and stratum-2 servers. Synchronizing to a stratum-2 server will be
accurate to within a few milliseconds – more than enough for the M1/EZ8.
2. Select a time server that is geographically close to you. Doing so will ensure that no one server is over taxed
with requests.
3. If the server you choose lists any restrictions, please observe them. Some restrict use to certain
organizations. Others may simply want to be notified by email if you use them.
4. If using the list on the NTP.org website, be aware that the servers are listed by country first, then state or
province. Don’t mistake a country abbreviation for a state abbreviation.
Enter the URL or IP address of the server in the first box. Select a time of day for the updates. Updates will be per-
formed daily at this time. Select an “off-the-hour” time such as 2:18 AM rather than 2:00 AM. This will reduce the like-
lyhood of a Rule being triggered twice. If the M1/EZ8 is programmed with a Rule that is triggered at 2:00 AM, it may
be triggered twice if the time update caused the control to reset its clock back a few seconds before 2:00 AM. If you
want to be notified via email when errors occur updating the time, check the check box, and enter your email address
on the Dynamic DNS tab (see Dynamic DNS Setup on page 12). You must also fill in the necessary information on
the Email tab (see Email Notification Setup on page 9). Local time zone information is filled in automatically from the
Sunrise/Sunset settings in ElkRP’s Automation menu. If you change it there, you will need to SEND the M1XEP setup
to the control afterward. SEND the setup to the control, then click the Test button to verify it works.
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