diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ee07d2f..e5f3935 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
 # find_package(<dependency> REQUIRED)
 find_package(rclcpp REQUIRED)
 find_package(rclcpp_components REQUIRED)
+find_package(rclpy REQUIRED)
 find_package(sensor_msgs REQUIRED)
 
 find_package(Poco REQUIRED COMPONENTS Foundation)
@@ -54,6 +55,10 @@ install(DIRECTORY launch
   DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME}
 )
 
+install(PROGRAMS scripts/timereference_fake.py
+  DESTINATION lib/${PROJECT_NAME}
+)
+
 if(BUILD_TESTING)
   find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
   # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
diff --git a/package.xml b/package.xml
index c8d4b0d..a59c98b 100644
--- a/package.xml
+++ b/package.xml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
   <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>
 
   <depend>rclcpp</depend>
+  <depend>rclpy</depend>
   <depend>rclcpp_components</depend>
   <depend>sensor_msgs</depend>
   <depend>libpoco-dev</depend>
diff --git a/scripts/timereference_fake.py b/scripts/timereference_fake.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c186fa4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/timereference_fake.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import rclpy
+from rclpy.node import Node
+from sensor_msgs.msg import TimeReference
+import time
+
+
+class FakeTimePublisher(Node):
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__("fake_time_publisher")
+
+        # Publisher to publish the fake time
+        self.publisher_ = self.create_publisher(TimeReference, "fake_time", 10)
+        self.declare_parameter("init_offset_time", 60.0)
+
+        # Initialize start time
+        self.current_time = (
+            time.time() + self.get_parameter("init_offset_time").value
+        )
+
+        # Timer to call the publish_time method every second
+        self.timer = self.create_timer(1.0, self.publish_time)
+
+    def publish_time(self):
+        # Increment the current time by 1 second
+        self.current_time += 1
+
+        # Convert the current time to a human-readable format
+        readable_time = time.strftime(
+            "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", time.localtime(self.current_time)
+        )
+
+        # Create a message and publish it
+        msg = TimeReference()
+        msg.header.stamp = self.get_clock().now().to_msg()
+        msg.source = "fake_time_publisher"
+        msg.time_ref.sec = int(self.current_time)
+        msg.time_ref.nanosec = int((self.current_time - int(self.current_time)) * 1e9)
+        self.publisher_.publish(msg)
+
+        # Log the published time
+        self.get_logger().info('Publishing: "%s"' % msg)
+
+
+def main(args=None):
+    rclpy.init(args=args)
+
+    # Create the node and spin it to keep it alive
+    fake_time_publisher = FakeTimePublisher()
+
+    try:
+        rclpy.spin(fake_time_publisher)
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        pass
+    finally:
+        # Shutdown the ROS 2 node gracefully
+        fake_time_publisher.destroy_node()
+        rclpy.shutdown()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/src/NtpdShmDriver.cpp b/src/NtpdShmDriver.cpp
index 0259ecc..3107363 100644
--- a/src/NtpdShmDriver.cpp
+++ b/src/NtpdShmDriver.cpp
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ void NtpdShmDriver::time_ref_cb(const sensor_msgs::msg::TimeReference::SharedPtr
    * date -d @1234567890: Sat Feb 14 02:31:30 MSK 2009
    */
   const rclcpp::Time magic_date(1234567890ULL, 0);
-  if (fixup_date_.as_bool() && clock->now() < magic_date) {
+  if (fixup_date_.as_bool() && clock->now().seconds() < magic_date.seconds()) {
     rclcpp::Time time_ref_(time_ref);
     set_system_time(time_ref_.seconds());
   }