The output level of my GPSDO is 13 dBm into 50 Ohms or 1V RMS @ 10 MHz. GPSDOs usually have some kind of pedigree along with them that explains the accuracy over time. Terms like Allan deviation pop up. A GPSDO's output can also be TTL to square things up & provide plenty of harmonics in case something higher than 10 MHz is desired. I doubt that I ever checked the accuracy of a xtal calibrator. Well, maybe, but it was along time ago with the xtal calibrator in one of my Drake rcvrs. For a counter? Am I wrong that it would be pretty easy to pick up the 10 MHz signal off the GPSDO I described? Cable or radiated? No. It is not free. Also, all GPSDOs are not equal and I am thinking about the long term stability and purity. But, for what you mention it might not be a "thing"? I think it pretty clear that there is a definite new marketing opportunity for GPSDOs and ought to push the cost down.
How about trimming some of the fat out of the bloated military? We already have a military that is larger, more expensive and more powerful than the next 10 countries combined, including Russia and China. Yet there are calls from the current administration to spend more money to "rebuild" our military. What exactly needs rebuilding? Do we really need armed presence in every corner of the globe? Remember what President Eisenhower (SK) said about the MIC (military-industrial complex)? And then there is the other MIC (medical-industrial complex)... That $6.3 million to run the NIST stations for an entire fiscal year amounts to about 30 seconds of total federal spending. What about that useless military parade that was OK to cost more than $10 million, but was eventually axed when they figured out that the real cost was going to be more like $90 million?
K4KYV, I believed it when I saw President Eisenhower's film, and I believe it now: In the eyes of some (and they don't even have to be hawks!), there will never be enough equipment or enough boots on the ground for our military. It must grow until it is absolutely unbeatable (which, BTW, I think is asking too much of reality). A little dose of common sense would come in handy here. The military is not "my enemy"; far from it. I spent 7 years in the Army and 8 more in the Navy (SP6, Army; LN1, Navy). The problem here is that I don't believe the entire planet has to be in thrall to us because of our bigger, better, and more numerous guns pointed at their heads. Sorry, that's just not a good thing for us or for the rest of the world. Said plainly, I think $700+ billion is quite a bit over the top. Doing some reading over the past few days, I've discovered a bunch of things the NIST stations do for this country in addition to setting the time on my bedside clock. Looking down the list--and the explanations of what was being done--I had no problem at all with any of them. I think there are services provided without which some other program would have to pick up the slack, likely costing the taxpayers a lot more money. Why is it that the present Administration seems hell-bent to destroy everything useful that wasn't created by its own personnel? I just don't get that (except in Bizarro World).
It's a natural part of the disintegration of empire. The Roman army and its successors went through similar experiences as the undivided Roman era came to an end.
I’ll admit to not reading every single post over the several threads on this topic, but I’ve read a lot of them, and I still haven’t seen any list of customers for WWV services. I opined earlier that there is likely a valid reason to keep it going as a backup service, but I haven’t seen much on that topic either. I’m just as nostalgic as the next guy, use WWV as a standard on occasion, and find something comforting about hearing its signal, a sign of a scientific civilization I suppose. But I can’t justify in my own mind keeping it going for those reasons, let alone convince others to pay for it. So if there are customers besides hams, please post information about their uses.
To be fair, such people/groups, if they exist, would likely have no reason to post in an AR forum. It would be nice if amateurs who work in those fields could post how they use them, but so far, the only use I have seen posted is for people who use WWV(H) to align HF receiver LOs. Given that one of the last users of the HF spectrum (albeit in a mostly backup role) is the military, it wouldn't surprise me if the military signals officers notice the planned stand-down of WWV, and have some quiet behind-the-scenes meetings to arrange for WWV to keep going for a few years until they can remove any mention of it from their operator procedures. "National security," etc. If there are primary users of WWV's service, I suspect it is them, and not for primary time services, but as one of the last HF beacons in the US... that, and maybe as an OTA frequency reference for HF radio work, similar to how hams use it. Admittedly, this is all conjecture. Your point about a lack of objection to the shutdown to these services is well put.
Hopefully, what we are seeing in the ham radio forums is only the tip of an iceberg, as other services that depend on the time/frequency standard are discussing the issue on their own forums and in their own boardrooms. There may be behind-the-scenes lobbying efforts by others besides hams and other radio enthusiasts.
I'll miss WWV. Flex isn't even using WWV anymore. Flex Radio optional built-in GPS Disciplined Oscillator (GPSDO). The GPSDO plug in module provides a precision 10 MHz reference for external precision frequency control. Frequency stability is 1 x 10-8 within 5 minutes at 25° C and 5 x 10-12 over 24 hours with GPS lock. Rear panel SMA connections are provided for the GPS antenna input and 10 MHz reference output. http://cart.flexradio.com/FLEX-6400650066006700-GPSDO-Upgrade_p_989.html
Ok, then pick any one of a half dozen other unnecessary or unimportant proposed changes in the budget. But to shut down a time-honored time sync broadcast that millions of devices rely upon for this crap?
Ok. Since we've (the U.S. have) been quibbling over this subject since Reagan was in the white house and still nothing's been done, how about an "across the board" cut in our national budget? Every federal agency takes an XX% cut in their budget. Doesn't matter what you cut. Just cut something. I don't care any more. No more quibbling. Cut enough to start making this number drop (instead of continuing to increase): usdebtclock.org Once that number starts to go down, we can start retiring the debt. Once we start retiring debt, then the amount of interest we are paying on this debt will start to go down: https://www.thebalance.com/interest-on-the-national-debt-4119024 That's $310 BILLION that we can start spending on things like NIST's constitutionally enumerated duties instead of paying it out to our debtors and getting nothing in return. Or is that idea too radical, crazy, short-sited and simple-minded? (By the way, thanks KX4O for the link.)
I wonder if we could use their antenna & amps before they take them down. WWV DxPedition Had an old loran station here locally, man that would have been nice to tune up on 160m!
I can’t believe something like this could happen... so many things use the time signals from WWV, WWVB, and WWVH. This is wring and we must do something to stop it.
