{"id":977,"date":"2010-12-14T03:36:55","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T03:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=977"},"modified":"2010-12-14T03:47:48","modified_gmt":"2010-12-14T03:47:48","slug":"at-the-tone-a-history-of-wwv-in-audio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/at-the-tone-a-history-of-wwv-in-audio\/","title":{"rendered":"“At The Tone”–A history of WWV in audio"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

NIST Radio Station WWV Transmitter Building in Fort Collins, Colorado.<\/p><\/div>\n

If shortwave radio has a pulse, it is the constant beat of the WWV and WWVH time stations.<\/p>\n

Some of the first memories I have of hearing shortwave radio are of my father tuning in WWV each Sunday morning (on his RCA 6K3<\/a>), to set his watch. Had this not been my father’s routine, I’m not so sure I would have known what\u00a0 shortwave radio was for many years.<\/p>\n

Indeed, I’m so fond of WWV, that I have to make a modest confession: I often tune it in simply to listen to its predictably reassuring announcements of the time. Somehow it calms and comforts me that all is right on the airwaves.<\/p>\n

Actually, WWV is and has always been much more than simply a time station. It is the most reliable way for us here in North America to check propagation characteristics both by listening to the signal strengths of the transmissions on 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz, but also by the announcements made at specific times throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Lately, WWV has even been announcing test tsunami warnings. It was the search for broadcasts of these warnings that lead me to Myke Dodge Weiskopf’s site, Myke.me<\/a>. (Regular readers of the SWLing Post will be familiar with Myke’s work<\/a>.) When I wrote to thank Myke for the audio, he drew my attention to something irresistible to a WWV disciple like me.<\/p>\n

“At The Tone: A Little History of NIST Radio Stations WWV & WWVH”<\/h3>\n

Myke has meticulously and artfully created a CD audio archive of the WWV and WWVH time stations. A description of the project from its “about<\/a>” section:<\/p>\n

At The Tone<\/em> is the first comprehensive audio survey of NIST Radio Stations WWV and WWVH: two legendary shortwave radio broadcasters whose primary purpose is the dissemination of scientifically precise time and frequency. Comprised of a 74-minute audio CD and a 32-page, full-color booklet, the set represents a huge cross-section of the stations’ “life and times,” including recordings of obsolete formats, original voices and identifications, special announcements, format changes, “leap seconds,” and other aural oddities from 1958 to 2005.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After listening to some of the sample audio from the project, I was hooked: I purchased the CD on Myke’s website<\/a> and have enjoyed hearing the many tracks of audio history from WWV. The accompanying track notes alone provide a very complete history of the these NIST stations, and are the perfect companion to the audio tracks.<\/p>\n

Indeed, I liken this audio journey to learning some untold life experience of a good friend or family member. WWV has been my radio companion all these years, but until I encountered Myke’s archive I had never heard the many voices of the station, leap seconds, experimental formats, etc. It puts the station in perspective, and opens an audio window to the time before<\/em> “Coordinated Universal Time.”<\/p>\n

It may seem foolish to wax enthusiastic about a time station.\u00a0 But before you judge me for my indulgence in this unlikely source of nostalgia, I encourage you to cruise to Myke’s site<\/a>, purchase “At The Tone”<\/a> and see (or rather, hear) for yourself!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If shortwave radio has a pulse, it is the constant beat of the WWV and WWVH time stations. Some of the first memories I have of hearing shortwave radio are of my father tuning in WWV each Sunday morning (on his RCA 6K3), to set his watch. Had this not been my father’s routine, I’m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[129,5],"tags":[342,311,68,343],"class_list":["post-977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-swlers","tag-myke-dodge-weiskopf","tag-myke-weiskopf","tag-wwv","tag-wwv-audio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-fL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15665,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/updated-release-at-the-tone-a-little-history-of-nist-radio-stations-wwv-wwvh\/","url_meta":{"origin":977,"position":0},"title":"Updated release: “At The Tone: A Little History of NIST Radio Stations WWV & WWVH”","author":"Thomas","date":"November 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost five years ago, I wrote about a unique collection of archived recordings called\u00a0At The Tone: A Little History of NIST Radio Stations WWV & WWVH. Producer Myke Dodge Weiskopf\u00a0recently released a new\u00a0and\u00a0expanded edition of At The Tone which\u00a0is now available for purchase and download. Myke describes the update: \"The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AtTheTone","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AtTheTone-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AtTheTone-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AtTheTone-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33771,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/myke-updates-at-the-tone-and-seeks-reader-recordings\/","url_meta":{"origin":977,"position":1},"title":"Myke updates “At The Tone” and seeks recordings","author":"Thomas","date":"August 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/JB-on-Old-Audichron-TCG-e1535366978844.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/JB-on-Old-Audichron-TCG-e1535366978844.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/JB-on-Old-Audichron-TCG-e1535366978844.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5717,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/history-of-wwv-and-the-nist-time-stations\/","url_meta":{"origin":977,"position":2},"title":"History of WWV and the NIST Time Stations","author":"Thomas","date":"February 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Many readers know that I'm a bit of a WWV geek, so you can imagine how happy I was when my buddy, Mike, and the Southgate ARC made me aware of this 152 page history of the NIST time station family. At first glance, this looks to be an\u00a0authoritative\u00a0and thorough\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WWV building in Fort Collins, Colorado (photo courtesy: NIST)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/wwvFtCollinsbuilding-300x195.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9224,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/wwv-experimental-broadcasts-on-25-mhz\/","url_meta":{"origin":977,"position":3},"title":"WWV: experimental broadcasts on 25 MHz","author":"Thomas","date":"April 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Want to catch WWV--the Fort Collins-based time station--on a frequency they haven't used since 1977? The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has sent out a press release stating that, as of April 4, 2014, WWV will resume broadcasting on 25 Mhz for a limited time. Full details follow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WWV format","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/WWVformat-300x227.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10653,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/listening-to-wwv-at-the-source-fort-collins-colorado-usa\/","url_meta":{"origin":977,"position":4},"title":"Listening to WWV at the source: Fort Collins, Colorado, USA","author":"Thomas","date":"August 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"If you haven't already guessed it: yes,\u00a0the mystery broadcast site I posted on Thursday was WWV\/WWVB in Fort Collins, Colorado. Well done, responders!\u00a0 Specifically, the photo shows the southern antennas of WWVB as I departed\u00a0the site on Thursday, August 28, 2014; for those of you who got that detail,\u00a0extra credit\u2013!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MysterySW-site-LT","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/MysterySW-site-LT.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/MysterySW-site-LT.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/MysterySW-site-LT.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/MysterySW-site-LT.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/MysterySW-site-LT.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13946,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/shortwave-radio-recordings-wwv-changes-announcement-format-1971\/","url_meta":{"origin":977,"position":5},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: WWV changes announcement format,1971","author":"Thomas","date":"July 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor,\u00a0Brian D. Smith, recently contacted me;\u00a0I was enthused\u00a0when he described the\u00a0recording he was sharing: This recording captures the last 5 minutes of WWV's old format (giving the time every 5 minutes) and the first 5 minutes of the new format (giving the time every 1 minute),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WWV's transmitter building in Fort Collins, Colorado (2014)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WWV-Main-Building-1024x463.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WWV-Main-Building-1024x463.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WWV-Main-Building-1024x463.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}