On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:29:58 GMT, Dale Parfitt wrote:

"Frnak McKenney" wrote in message
m...
--snip--
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:17:39 -0400, Bill M wrote:
Frnak McKenney wrote:
I'd like to listen in on NIST's 60kHz time broadcasts on WWVB
"directly", but I like building things, and besides, I'm too chea...
er, "thrifty" to go out and buy a VLF-specific receiver.

May be a moot point if you're just doing this for the heckuvit but
there's nothing to listen to per se at WWVB since the time is encoded
with pulse width modulation, ie no voice.

I'm hoping that what I build will at least give me some idea of
the WWVB signal strength. I started out being curious about the
various "Atomic clocks" and thought about building a dedicated
60kHz WWVB receiver, but one of the problems one runs into with
an idea like that is that "debugging" can be exremely frustrating
without some piece of equipment that can offer a "second opinion".

For $14 you can buy a decent converter- and put it on a decent receiver.
http://jacksonharbor.home.att.net/lfconv.htm

WWVB may be strong, but you may never know with your idea, - not knowing
your converted receiver's sensitivity, immunity to overload, images and the
ability to have a decent antenna.

Dale,

Thanks for the pointer. I apparently overlooked this one. Now all I
have to do is find "a decent receiver". grin!

Actually, it's a good excuse to fire up the old Heathkit Mohican
shortwave set (with SIX -- count 'em! SIX transistors!) my father
and I built some years back as a brithday gift for my mother. I
replaced the power supply electrolytics a few years ago so I could
hear static and background hiss over the hum (yes, it was that bad
grin!), but the insides could use a good dusting as well. Tighten
up the dial cord. That sort of thing.

And $14 vs. several hours with a 'scope and a signal generator
trying to tune my "hacked" RF and LO sections sounds like a good
choice.

Thanks.


Frank
--
Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder,
spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human
spirit. -- e e cummings
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)