How accurate is the XBee timer?

XBee & XBee Gateway XBee - DigiMesh
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1

I am using an remote XBee S1 Digimesh to take ADC readings every 10 seconds, then send it to a sleep coordinator which then logs the data
( Wake Time = 0x7D0 = 2000ms
Sleep Time = 0x320 = 800 * 10ms = 8000ms
Wake Host = 0x64 = 100ms )

Every 10 seconds the XBee would print out the ADC value and timestamp, then go back to sleep and repeat. I left the XBee to log data over night and started a separate stopwatch to see the accuracy of the XBee clock.

When I returned to see the data, the timestamp of the XBee was 2 minutes slower than the external stop watch after 18 hours of data logging.

2 minute difference for every 18 hours of data logging reduces down to .11s difference for every 1 minute of data logging.

Iā€™m trying to log data for several weeks at a time so this delay will cause a huge error.

Where is this delay coming from: The XBee or the microntroller?
How can I compensate for this delay?
Will this delay be reduced if I take a sample every hour vs every 10 seconds?
Does the Wake Host value have anything to do with the delay?

2

I suspect this is coming form your processor and not the radio. Yes it is not the most accurate in the world but it is far more accurate than what you are seeing. I would have expected it to be less than 200ms off over a few days.

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