Maintain funding for NIST stations WWV and WWVH

Petition - Maintain funding for NIST stations WWV and WWVH

A petition has been set up, however it needs 96,344 signatures by September 15, 2018 to get a response from the White House.

"NIST station WWV and sister stations are among the oldest radio stations in the United States, having been in continuous operation since May 1920. The station has transmitted the official US Time for nearly 100 years, and is an instrumental part in the telecommunications field, ranging from broadcasting to scientific research and education.

Additionally, these stations transmit marine storm warnings from the National Weather Service, GPS satellite health reports, and specific information concerning current solar activity, and radio propagation conditions. These broadcasts are an essential resource to the worldwide communications industry.

This petition requests continued funding of these stations be maintained into the 21st century and beyond to ensure future operations."
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/maintain-funding-nist-stations-wwv-wwvh

• Our thanks to Mike Terry for the above information

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/august/maintain-funding- for-nist-stations-wwv-and-wwvh.htm

 

Note, there are two petitions on the site (slightly differing); so, you probably should sign both.

 

I would suggest posting links to both of them here. I have distributed one link to two local ham clubs, but it would be nice if someone can post both here.

 

Getting the word out about this is good because in the one month window allowed, this petition needs something more than 3,000 signatures per day on average to get a response from the White House. Right now on day #6 the average is holding at roughly 1,000 signatures per day. At that rate it won't be enough. This needs more momentum.

I don't expect the White House to save WWV and WWVH, but it can't hurt to let them know we care about this. Contacting your elected representatives will have more of an impact.

 

This is the other petition that I know about. It has not yet attracted as much attention as the first petition linked to above.
The Proposed Shutdown of NIST's WWV and WWVH Radio Stations

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/proposed-shutdown-nists-wwv-and-wwvh-radio-stations

 

I have been listening to WWV & WWVH since the 1960s ! How the hell are we going to keep our La Crosse clocks on time with CHU Canada ? 73 Phil KI6PMD..

 

Excerpt from the 1973 NIST Technical Report document:

WWV'S FUTURE
Will WWV survive another 50 years? Who knows? "The National Bureau of Standards is currently engaged in perfecting alternate forms of dissemination which might make standard shortwave broadcasts obsolete." says James A. Barnes. Barnes is Chief of the NBS Time and Frequency Division. Until alternate methods are perfected. John Stanley. WWV's Chief Engineer, and his dedicated crew at the Fort Collins site will continue the service which has survived 50 years of wars, depressions, moves, and fire. ​

If WWV survives another 1657 days, to 6 March 2023, it can celebrate its 100 year anniversary.

At the tone... only 4 years, 6 months, 12 days, 8 hours, 11 minutes, 21 seconds to go... Universal Coordinated Time... BEEP. Tick. Tock.

WWV began regularly schedule broadcasts of time and frequency on 6 March 1923.

 

I've been listening to WWV for almost 50 years. However, the technology is out of date and the info is available at many places. I can't see the government justifying the expenditures any more so I can't do the petition. Gotta pick your battles.

 

Signed.

 

Doesnt other sources come from WWV or VB? So if they go how will the other sources get it

 

Not to be "political", but,... a trip or two to Mar-a-Lago would probably fund the "NIST stations WWV & sister stations for several years. We're talking about an almost 100 year-old important piece of American MF/HF radio History here. When will (functional) American historical sites stop being erased from our innovative historical past ??

"NIST station WWV and sister stations are among the oldest radio stations in the United States, having been in continuous operation since May 1920. The station has transmitted the official US Time for nearly 100 years, and is an instrumental/International part in the telecommunications field, ranging from broadcasting to scientific research and education."

It's HISTORY folks,... we can't just dismiss all of it with a "signature" on a whim !!!

It should continue to operate as a National Historic Site with private donations and some government subsidies. (land)

I signed...

 

Has anyone noticed that the only communities concerned are the ham radio and swl communities. The rest of the world relies on either satellite signals or an internet connection for time synchronization. This may be an era that has run its course. Another story to tell my future grand babies.

 

re: "Has anyone noticed that the only communities concerned are the ham radio and swl communities."

I wonder if publications like Urgent Communications (2-way radio and esp. first responder oriented) have heard from their bench 2-way techs or are considering polling those small 2-way radio shops located way out in the boonies ... I used to (and still do) calibrate my old Motorola S1327A service monitor using WWV ...

Added: I had, at one time, an old HP 524B frequency counter with a VHF plig-in. This is a vacuum tube frequency counter, and had a ten inch fan in the back that moved a large quantity of air through the chassis ... it radiated a very strong amount of 10 MHz energy and so to calibrate it all that was required was a receiver nearby tuned to 10 MHz!

Early HP freq counters: http://hpmemoryproject.org/wa_pages/wall_a_page_11.htm
YouTube tour of same:

 

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/proposed-shutdown-nists-wwv-and-wwvh-radio-stations

 

Then you should sell off your ham equipment because that's out of date. Theres the Internet and cell phone, no one needs radio to communicate.

Its not a battle to sign the petition except in case of laziness or selfishness.