in case I or someone wanted/needed it to loop at a known or controllable frequency.
You don't need to know and you don't need to do this. If you think you need to do this you are tackling the problem incorrectly.
So, I asked a co-worker to look at Blink
There is your problem you co-worker knows nothing of this environment and is giving you rubbish advice.
Someone else then jumped in and said "make it print out a MAP file,
Two rubbish co workers.
I await yet another attempt by some patient person
This is rather like asking a car mechanic to explain the vapour pressure profile in your carburettor because one day you might want to put a gallon of gas in the tank.
It seems to me you are asking a complex question that people have done their best to explain but you are not able to understand the answer because you don't know what is relevant to what situation.
Sorry if this sounds like a flame but I am called Grumpy