Tag Archives: WWV Closure

Lennart’s WWVH 5 MHz QSL and a quick NIST update

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lennart Weirell, who writes:

I saw the recent posting of a QSL card from WWV. Here is my QSL card from WWVH,
Hawaii 5 MHz from 2006 [above].

Thanks for sharing this excellent QSL, Lennart!

Update on shutdown of WWV, WWVH and WWVB

At WWVH Hawaii from left to right: Dean Takamatsu, Dean Okayama, Director Copan, Adela Mae Ochinang and Chris Fujita.
Credit: D. Okayama/NIST

Post Readers: please keep in mind that the NIST 2019 Presidential Budget request includes a desired reduction of, “$6.3 million supporting fundamental measurement dissemination, including the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii.“

This would equate to the closure of WWV, WWVH and WWVB.

Unless enough people protest this budget proposal, these sites will be closed.

If you value these services, I would encourage you to contact your local representatives, and sign this White House petition.

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White House petition to maintain NIST funding of WWV time stations

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Kelly, who shares the following:

I recently read your article concerning the proposed shutdown of the NIST stations WWV/WWVH.

To that end, I have gone ahead and created a Whitehouse petition to see if this decision can be reversed:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/maintain-funding-nist-stations-wwv-wwvh

Would there be any way you could perhaps post the link to this so that fellow members of the SWLing Post could sign it? I believe the more folks we have sign the better chance we have of maintaining the radio stations we have all come to rely upon.

Thanks, Tom, for launching this petition–I had planned to do so this morning and am thankful you beat me to it.

SWLing Post readers: please take a moment to sign this petition. It requires only a few seconds to complete and you need only to submit your name and email address. This is an official petition instrument of the White House and, as such, can actually lead to a response and potential review. Please spread the word throughout your radio communities!

Click here to sign.

Please spread the word!

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NIST FY2019 budget includes request to shutdown WWV, WWVH, and WWVB

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WWV Time Code Generator – photo taken at WWV in 2014

Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post readers who have pointed out the NIST 2019 Presidential Budget request which has now been posted online and includes a desired reduction of:

“$6.3 million supporting fundamental measurement dissemination, including the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii“

WWV’s transmitter building in Fort Collins, Colorado (2014)

I’ve always considered WWV and WWVH to be the heartbeat of the shortwaves here in North America–a constant, timely companion and brilliant gauge of HF propagation. Indeed, on a personal note, WWV was actually the first station I ever remember hearing on shortwave.

I assumed both stations would be some of the last to go silent on the shortwaves.

No doubt, I find this budget request very disappointing. Let’s hope, somehow, this does not come to fruition. We will certainly post any/all updates here on the SWLing Post. Follow the tag: NIST

UPDATE: I’ve received a number of questions about Fort Collins-based station WWVB and if it would also be included in the closures. As the budget states, it includes: “the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii.” At the budget’s current iteration, this implies all NIST radios stations including WWVB.

I’ve pointed out WWV and WWVH in particular as they’re the shortwave time stations of the NIST. WWVB, on the other hand, provides a continuous 60 kHz carrier wave that, among other things, is used by self-setting “atomic” clocks used by consumers and industry.

I’ve amended the title of this article to reflect WWVB’s inclusion in the budget cuts.

Click here to read about my visit to WWV Fort Collins in 2014.

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