Maintain funding for NIST stations WWV and WWVH

The NIST prognosis regarding WWVB has sure come a long way since 2011.

This 2011 article was updated as recently as June 19, 2018.
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2011/10/all-time-all-time-improving-nist-radio

There must be 60 or 70 million devices by now that depend on WWVB

 

NIST noted briefly that the transmitting equipment has "degraded". This means that WWV/VH/VB is still running the same transmitters that were installed in the mid 1960s. The old tube transmitters likely have a LOT of parts that are de facto unobtanium by now. It gets to a point where the cost of upkeep vs the number of users (mainly hams) simply doesn't pencil out. Trump is trying to slash bloat and waste in govt, and this unfortunately is a prime example. Radio controlled clocks have had their day, and only LaCrosse makes them now, and they probably don't sell many. I am seeing a lot of radio clocks showing up in thrift stores now, many of which show battery rot, meaning that they have been stashed away, unused, for years. I will hate to give up my old Atomic Time radio clock that I use to set all my other clocks, but time marches on, and the maintenance of 50 year old transmitters for signals that hardly anybody uses any more is simply not worth it. I will simply find a way to hack together a clock that uses satellite signals. Sorry, I'm not signing.

 

And...a few seconds with Google (ok, DuckDuckGo) and I came across:

w8bh.net/avr/clock.pdf

Yes, you will need a little familiarity with computer coding, but he gives you all the code to use.

Come on, guys, we're HAMS for dogsakes, we were the guys soldering together radios in 1914 with irons that literally had to be heated in the fireplace, then having to build a shed in the backyard because the XYL didn't want that weird stuff in the parlor, then we had to get the power company to install a special, separate power connection to said shed, THEN having to convince the neighbors that we weren't communicating with the Devil and/or Germany with all that weird noise coming from the shed. And now we're whining because President Trump doesn't see a pressing need for a shortwave station that broadcasts a clock to about 60,000 listeners-the only people who use shortwave radio anymore. (Heck, they probably had to explain to him what a shortwave radio is.) Where's your pride?

 

re: "a shortwave station that broadcasts a clock "

Shortsighted. I won't go into details., b/c, WOT. See: https://tf.nist.gov/general/pdf/85.pdf for info. Applicable excerpt below.

ACCURACY AND STABILITY WWV and WWVH are referred to the primary NIST Frequency Standard and related NIST atomic time scales in Boulder, Colorado. The frequencies us transmitted are accurate to about 1 part in 100 billion (1~18~') for frequency and about 0.01 ms for timing. The day-to-day deviations are normally less than 1 part in 1,000 billion (lxlO-*). However, the received accuracy is far less due to various propagation effects. The usable received accuracy is about 1 part in 10 million for frequency (1 x lo-') and about 1 ms for timing.

 

The NIST "Chain of Custody" of frequency and time reference standards all the way down to WWV, WWVB et al:

 

You are wasting your time petitioning the WH they hardly even look at this stuff. Call your Congressman/woman they are the ones who vote to approve the budget.

73,
Lin

 

Nice diagram... where did you find that?

 

Extracted from: https://tf.nist.gov/general/pdf/85.pdf

 

It just occurred to me after reviewing that chart in more detail and reflecting on history, we have lost, in the last few decades, the following easily obtainable frequency and time references:

(1) the 3.58 MHz reference (used to be TV color burst freq)
(2) LORAN-C (discontinued some time ago, although there are thoughts to bring some semblance of this system back _since_ it is terrestrially-based as opposed to space-based)
(3) GOES Satellite Time Code (discontinued some time in the last 10 years IIRC)

The proposal is to now "chop off" the last remaining vestiges of the remaining NIST traceable time *and* frequency reference available to the public 24/7 and 365 and that are obtainable at no cost and not requiring supporting infrastructure like (a) the phone system, (b) space-based GPS NAVSTAR satellite system _or_ (c) "The Internet" or (d) a visit to NIST facilities (and probable payment of a fee PLUS travel expenses). This last step *if* one wants to verify one's in-house Cesium or Rubidium atomic time freq reference. "d" could also be a 'trip' to a local cal lab, but, with payment of fee for 'cal' services and a 'sticker'.

 

I just don't understand all the hubbub. Call 202-762-1401 today, and you’ll hear a pleasant ticking sound followed by the announcement of the exact time, delivered in an old-timey-broadcasting voice.

Set yourself a reminder and call this number at 2:00 AM on Sunday November 4.

 

Can I zero beat my IC-756ProII, or my Motorola S1327A service monitor using that service? Do you know what is meant by "a frequency reference"?

 

Yes. Do you know what humor is?

 

I must have missed the /s tag.

 

My apologies. I forgot to include that tag. And you are right. One of the things I will need to calibrate my K3S will be the WWV frequency references.

 

At the midway point of the petition, they don't even have 10% of the votes needed - which if viewed objectively - provides evidence of the lack of interest/obsolescence of the WWV & WWVH stations.

From a (national) historical perspective, this should be funded by a hybrid of both public and private funds.