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The Sapling Company, Inc.
670 Louis Drive
Warminster, PA 18974
USA
P. (+1) 215.322.6063
F. (+1) 215.322.8498
www.sapling-inc.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to the clock if a power failure occurs?
If a power failure occurs, the display will shut off but the clock will continue to keep time with its internal
quartz oscillator. This oscillator will continue to run on a tiny battery backup for about ten years. In this
mode, it may drift from synchronized time by a few seconds for each year that the clock is without power.
Once power is restored to the clock, the display will turn on and display the time on the quartz oscillator. It
will correct this to accurate, synchronized time once a signal from a master clock is received.
What happens to the clock if contact with the time data source is lost?
The digital clock will rely on an internal quartz oscillator for keeping the time until time data is received.
The clock will drift by a few seconds each year while in this mode, and will need to be readjusted manually.
For 24V clocks, what happens if voltage on the power line drops from 24V to lower voltage?
The clock will still function, and will maintain the same level of brightness. However, the current
consumption will increase proportionally to the decrease in voltage. Very low voltage will cause the display
to turn off.
Will the wireless messaging system cause interference with other wireless devices?
The messaging system uses 2.4GHz frequency-hopping technology, which allows the device transmitters to
avoid interfering with other devices operating on those frequencies.
Do I gain any advantages by having more than one transceiver on a locally-powered wireless
clock system?
Additional transceivers are only useful if you must mount a message display beyond the range of all
other wireless clocks/displays. If all the clocks in the system are in range of each other, then there are no
additional benefits from having more than one primary transceiver.
When I power my clock, it seems to be running a test instead of showing the time. What is
it doing?
Immediately after power up the message display will run an LED display test to allow the user to confirm
that each segment of the display is functioning properly.
If I add traditional (7-segment) wireless digital clocks to a system of Message Display clocks,
what will they do when inputs are activated?
When inputs are activated, traditional digital clocks will display the input number until the reset input
(Input 16) is triggered.
How long does it take for a message display to receive a signal?
If everything is installed correctly and the transponder is open, the clock should get the first signal within
five minutes. Once the clock has been synchronized, it will attempt to acquire a time signal once every
minute.
Once the clock has been synchronized, messages sent by the master clock and input box will appear on a
wireless message display within a few seconds. The message will appear on displays closer to the master
clock first, and will propagate to other master clocks over the next few seconds.
Whether or not a clock actually receives a signal is dependent on the settings of devices between the
master clock and any other given clock. For instance, a receiver on a locally-powered message display that
uses a battery-powered analog clock on economy mode as a signal source will only receive time data when
the signal source transmits it—once every four hours—even though the receiver on the message display
listens for a signal once every minute.
