How can I determine the timestamps of when measurements began?

Modified on Tue, 15 Oct at 12:51 PM

How can I determine the timestamps of when measurements began?

There are two ways to recover the timestamp of when measurements began. The simple way is to read the UTC timestamp, which is when the logger was activated, the RTC counters, and the logging period. Then, based on the sample number, estimate the time of the sample. The time for the first samples will be incredibly accurate assuming the UTC timestamp was accurate. The time estimates will decrease in accuracy for further samples. The second way to recover the timestamps is a bit more complicated but will produce more accurate results. This method involves re-calibrating the time of the samples using the RTC counter and the local time from the reader or computer that is running the application. While this method can only work if the RTC counter is still counting and has a battery, it allows all timestamps to be re-calibrated to within a few seconds of the actual time, thus increasing accuracy.