Tag Archives: WWVH

Marketplace: “Time may be up for timekeeping radio stations”

Photo taken in 2014 of the sign above WWV’s primary 10 MHz transmitter.

(Source: Marketplace via Richard Cuff)

The Trump administration wants to shut down two shortwave radio stations that broadcast time signals from the nation’s master clock.

The administration’s budget proposal would eliminate nearly $27 million in funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the two stations. WWV, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been transmitting one rock-steady pulse per second for more than 80 years. Its sister station, Hawaii’s WWVH, has been extending the time signal across the Pacific for nearly 70 years. WWV is also the world’s longest continuously-broadcasting radio station. (NIST doesn’t stream the stations online because signals are often delayed as they stream over the internet. But you can hear the stations by calling (303) 499-7111 for WWV or (808) 335-4363 for WWVH . There are also online recordings of the stations’ gentle announcements.)[…]

Click here to read the full story and listen to the program audio.

If you feel strongly about keeping the atomic clock signals on the air, I urge you to contact your local representatives,and sign this White House petition.

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Astronomers organizing to save WWV

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As an amateur astronomer, I knew it was only a matter of time before the astronomical community became involved to save WWV. Specifically, it’s a group of mostly amateur astronomers who observe and record occultations.

What’s an occultation? It’s the term when a solar system object passes in front of, and blocks out a star. Why is this important to observe? Lunar occultations are the easiest to observe (if the star is bright enough, one can do a crude observation with binoculars or even the unaided eye). But there is very valuable science to be had with smaller objects. When a dwarf planet [like Pluto] or an asteroid – passes in front of, and “blinks” out or blocks the light of a star – measurements can be taken that reveal the dwarf planet or asteroid’s size/diameter. We can even determine if an object is round/oval – or maybe cigar-shaped when multiple ground observers record and accurately time how long the star “blinks” (or if the star doesn’t get covered by the asteroid in some locations but does in others). Okay, that is Occultations 101 (if you are interested in learning more, see the link).

Credit: Upcoming occultation – showing the path where the occultation is visible – from IOTA: International Occultation Timing Association

Note 1: In 2017, amateur astronomers using a 3” telescope determined that an asteroid had a moon!I had a 3” telescope, back in the 1970s, when I was a kid!

Credit: Sky and Telescope Magazine & IOTA: the International Occultation Timing Association

Note 2: Multiple occultation observations involving the dwarf planet Pluto (and its next target – a “KBO”) are helping scientists navigate the New Horizons space probe (and to identify hazards) as it speeds through space to its next target – nicknamed Ultima Thule – beyond Pluto (on January 1st, 2019).

Equipment used to record and document these fleeting events (some graze occultations only last fractions of a second) requires – you guessed it – time stamped video devices. Back in the old days before video and other advanced equipment, astronomers would sit a shortwave radio next to the telescope with a tape recorder to audibly capture & record the time signal with the observer noting the start/stop of the event (we’ve come a long way since then – time stamped equipment has advanced this from “approximately” to “exact science”!).

The main point of this blog entry: astronomers have been asked to sign the White House petition to maintain NIST stations funding. Sky & Telescope Magazine, if they haven’t already, will be posting an article with an interview that they conducted with one of the leading occultation observers that includes a link to the petition on their web site.

Let’s hope this momentum continues to build – and that it makes a difference!

Guest Post by Troy Riedel.

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Myke updates “At The Tone” and seeks recordings

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Myke Dodge Weiskopf, who shares the following update and request regarding At The Tone: A Little History of NIST Radio Stations WWV & WWVH (read about it here). Myke writes:

The times have demanded that I kick out a slightly updated version of “At the Tone”, as well as a humble request to your readership. I’ve also shared a long WWVH recording with you for the Archive by special arrangement.

As usual, [At the Tone] is still available in the same old place:

https://shortwavemusic.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-tone-a-little-history-of-nist-radio-stations-wwv-wwvh

The good news is that anyone who purchased it previously can simply re-download the album in their chosen format from their purchase history page on Bandcamp. They will be instantly treated to the new version with all the additional tracks and liner notes.

The changes aren’t major, but rather in the “nice to have” category:

There’s a new second recording of the 1972 WWV station ID, postdating the big format change in 1971.

I’ve replaced the very short WWVH 1990 broadcast sample with a longer recording which I finally got around to cleaning up from the box of reels and cassettes sent to me by the station in 2015. I don’t know the exact date, because it came on an undated handwritten cassette labeled “JB on Old Audichron TCG”, but the broadcast format and announcement indicate it’s from the 1980s sometime up until the digital voice replacement in 1991. I attach a scan of the cassette itself.

I’ve done a better job cleaning up the (also WWVH-sourced) 1992 station ID recording from the original master cassette, so I’ve swapped out that track, although it’s otherwise identical in content.

So, to piggyback on that: my gift to you via Archive.org is the complete unedited 1980s WWVH recording, which runs 23 minutes total. I figured this would be a nice thing to share at this particularly turbulent moment in the station’s history.

The tape was in pretty bad shape when I received it, so while I’ve done the best I can to bring it up to par, there are some audibly wonky things going on from time to time.

Lastly, since WWV and WWVH are so much on people’s minds right now, I’m putting out one more call for recordings.

In particular, I don’t have good quality versions of the terrible 1991-era digital voices — I’d love to have longer or better tapes of those, especially if they include station IDs.

I also lost my recording of the emergency system test announcement in October 2010, not to be confused with the tests conducted in July of that same year!

Beyond those, though, I’d love to hear of any other recordings folks have dug up recently. There’s been some great stuff shared to the Archive already, but I’m always on the hunt for more to add to “At the Tone.” Contributors will be thanked in the liner notes and will be offered unlimited downloads of the set as they see fit to distribute. And if people have really special WWV recordings which they think might be locked away on on an obsolete or unplayable format, they should also get in touch – WWVH themselves entrusted me with transferring their own archival recordings, so I have some good credit in that department.

I can also vouch for Myke as a trusted custodian of any archived NIST time station recordings you may have.

Readers: if you have any WWV or WWVH recordings you’d like to share with Myke, please comment or contact Myke directly via his website.

Myke, I would like to thank you for adding this rare unedited 1980s WWVH recording to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. What a gem–many thanks!

If you would like to purchase and download At the Tone, please click here. As Myke mentioned, if you’ve already purchased At The Tone, simply login and download the updated version for free.

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Interview with Scott Simon of NPR regarding potential time station shutdowns

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My recording booth at Radio-Canada/CBC Québec City

Hi, folks! If you just heard me on NPR’s Weekend Edition regarding the NIST Budget cuts to WWV, WWVH, and WWVB, welcome, and stick around! This is where the SWLing Post (and other projects we work on, such as the Shortwave Archive, the Radio Spectrum Archive, and the non-profit, Ears to Our World) serve up all things shortwave. Here, we discuss both the fun (and importance) of this cool old-school medium that, remarkably enough, still has relevance even in our internet-interconnected world.

And for our regular Post readers: on Thursday afternoon, I had the great pleasure of being interviewed by Scott Simon of NPR via Radio Canada/CBC in Québec City, QC, Canada. More on that to come.

The show (with the SWLing Post bit) aired just this morning. You can click here to listen via NPR’s website, or via the embedded player below:

I feel especially chuffed that NPR would give the topic of WWV some exposure. This piece wasn’t so much a call to action as simply building awareness of what the shutdown of our national pacemaker––in the form of WWVB time station––might mean to the average person who has a self-setting wall clock, or watch (most of us do). (Even at NPR, they’ll be asking, Now, where did we store that stepladder?)

Or what it might mean to the shortwaves themselves, which we in North America may appreciate a source of nostalgia or entertainment––and, yes, handy for keeping time––we have to recognize that there are still pockets of our world, especially in remote, rural, and/or war-torn regions, where shortwave radio is especially vital.

So, something that belongs to all of us––yet another example of a global source of information––may soon be taken away. If you disagree with this proposal, I urge you to contact your local representatives, and sign this White House petition.

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NIST: Official response to closure questions

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WWV building in Fort Collins, Colorado (photo courtesy: NIST)

I’ve just received the following formal response from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding the President’s NIST FY 2019 budget request:

(Source: NIST)

NIST has a long-standing history of providing time and frequency services through our radio stations and we appreciate that many people use these services. NIST’s WWV is the longest continuously-operating radio service in the U.S. At the same time, the proposed NIST budget for FY 2019 required difficult choices about budget priorities.

The President’s full NIST FY 2019 budget request to the Congress is available at the link below, including a brief description of why the shutdown of NIST’s time and frequency radio stations is proposed. The proposal includes shutdown of NIST’s three radio stations, WWV, WWVH, and WWVB, which communicate with consumer clocks, watches, broadcasting systems and other devices. It is important to note that no changes to NIST services have occurred, and if the proposal were to be implemented, public notice would be provided.

http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/FY19CBJ/NIST_and_NTIS_FY2019_President’s_Budget_for_508_comp.pdf. See page NIST-25.

Here is a link to the NIST Budget Table for the FY2019 Presidential Request.

Also, for context, it may be helpful to view links to press releases issued in May and June 2018 by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Committees on Appropriations about the FY2019 budget process.

House

Senate

This response leaves no room for debate: all three NIST radio stations–WWV, WWVH and WWVB–are included in the proposed cuts.

Of course, we’re following this story closely. Bookmark and check the tag WWV for updates.

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Information from the NIST regarding possible closure WWV radio stations

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

Regarding the NIST FY2019 budget which includes a request to shutdown WWV, WWVH, and WWVB, many of you have been asking if there has been an update.

We will keep you posted as this budget moves through the process, but in the meantime I’ll share the feedback and links provided by Gail Porter, Public Relations Director for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Ms. Porter writes:

We are proud of the time and frequency services we provide through our radio stations and understand that these services are important to many people.

As you likely know, the President proposes budgets for executive branch agencies and then the Congress considers that request before determining funding levels for each agency and passing an appropriations law to implement a budget for a given year.

The President’s full NIST FY 2019 budget request to the Congress is available at the link below, including a brief description of why the shutdown of the radio stations is proposed: http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/FY19CBJ/NIST_and_NTIS_FY2019_President’s_Budget_for_508_comp.pdf. see page NIST-25.

[…]The sentence below, which appears on page NIST 25, is the best description we have available to respond to your question.

“To consolidate and focus work on NIST efforts in quantum science, while maintaining essential core capabilities in measurement science research and measurement dissemination NIST will eliminate efforts that have been replaced by newer technologies, measurement science work that lies outside of NIST’s core mission space, and programs that can no longer be supported due to facility deterioration.”

[…]Here is a link to the NIST Budget Table for the FY2019 Presidential Request.

Also, in case these are of interest, here are links to press releases issued in May and June 2018 by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Committees’ on Appropriations about the FY2019 budget process:

House

Senate

Hope this information is helpful.

Many readers have been asking if all NIST stations are included in these cuts–the answer is yes.

If this budget passes as written, WWV, WWVH, and WWVB will all be closed.

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

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

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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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