According to my AZ congresswoman who is on the House sub-committee for Science and Technology, the funding for NIST's WWV and WWVH operations will continue thru FY-2019. 73, Allen--W7GIF
Incidentally, for those of you who may be unaware of how WWV landed on the FY-2019 chopping block: The newly-appointed director of NIST (Walter Copan) submitted NIST's FY-2019 budget proposal which shut down/eliminated all WWV operations. The supporting narrative (impact statement) accompanying the proposal stated that shutting down WWV operations would ONLY eliminate the time-updating service used by "clocks", which is the service provided by WWVB. The supporting narrative made NO MENTION of (omitted entirely) the radio transmission/broadcasting of precision frequencies used by the entire worldwide telecommunications community, NOR the radio transmission/broadcasting of hazardous weather warnings for sea-farers. One shouldn't expect federal budget/funding decision-makers to make sound decisions regarding funding or de-funding...when de-funding impact data is bogus...when accurate, factual impact information is withheld or concealed. 73, Allen--W7GIF
Mike, To my knowledge, the funding extends only thru GFY2019. It's anybody's guess what happens beyond that...especially if de-funding proposals escape watchful, vigilant eyes. 73, Allen
Stupid is as stupid does. Amazing - for the cost of what, a congressional junket to some place no one cares about? they might shut WWV down. Ridiculous Dave W7UUU
Yeah the costs are minuscule in the grand scheme of things. I'm surprised anyone is even bothering to put it under the microscope in the first place. There's really no savings to be had by shutting it down. Look somewhere else for wasteful spending because it's truly not going to be found at WWV.
According to someone very close to my congresswoman who interceded (on our behalf) in the proposed elimination of all WWV operations, that action really "kicked up some dust" in DC. Funding for the WWV operation is $6.3 million in a total budget of greater than $6 TRILLION....that's 0.0001% (one ten-thousandth of a percent) of the total federal budget. The elimination of all WWV operations was proposed by the Director of NIST, Walter Copan. The supporting documentation for the proposed cutback concealed the real, complete scope of services provided by the WWV operations, and therefore concealed the real impact of eliminating the WWV operations. For what it's worth, I contacted Walter Copan's office, and registered my unhappiness with how his office had mis-represented the impact of eliminating WWV in his statement accompanying/supporting his budget cutback proposal submitted to congress. Here's the specific info regarding the NIST proposal to shutdown WWV operations: http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/FY19CBJ/NIST_and_NTIS_FY2019_President's_Budget_for_508_comp.pdf Please be so good as to go to NIST page 25 of this budget proposal, where you will find explicit language specifying discontinuation of WWV services (which includes WWV, WWVH, and WWVB). WWVB is the service which heretofore has provided the 60KHz radio signal that updates time-keeping devices like the so-called "atomic" clocks, watches, etc. The impact statement on p.25 of the referenced proposal states that the ONLY impact of eliminating WWV operations would be the loss of the WWVB time-updating function (60KHz radio signal) used by so-called atomic clocks. My suggestion: Register your dissatisfaction with the tactics of mis-representation and concealment of facts in this matter with the Director of NIST: Walter Copan..... AND, with your congressional representatives. 73, Allen
This is good news. We have a little breathing room to start eliciting comments from the countless users of the service...and to put some pressure on.
Eric, You're right. I'm afraid that the pressure has to be demanding competence, ethics, honesty, and accountability of un-elected government appointees who possess the power and influence to scuttle essential services such as the WWV operations. In light of that, perhaps the pressure needs to be applied to the elected APPOINTERs of the un-elected appointees...AND insure that congressional members are aware of the critical, essential nature of services such as those of WWV. Walter Copan is a chemical engineer who's history and claims-to-fame are in the fields of clean diesel and "green energy"...NOT telecommunications. 'nuf said? Congressional members responsible for budgeting may be (understandably) ignorant of the criticality or value of such services, leaving them vulnerable to mis-information such as that proffered in the NIST budget proposal. Those of us who are familiar with the telecommunication realm have a responsibility to "educate" budget-controlling congressional members (who may not be telecommunications savvy), if we want to preserve services we see as critical or essential. Write your congressional members. Educate them...so they won't be easily "hornswoggled" by those with (perhaps) ulterior motives or agendas. 73, Allen
