NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

This comes from the latest RadioWorld NewsBytes:

================================================== ================================

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is considering
setting up a U.S. East Coast low-frequency radio station broadcasting
NIST time in binary code format to complement the present NIST 60 kHz,
WWVB broadcast.

"The proposed new East Coast broadcast will operate with the same time
code format as the present WWVB signal, however at a different carrier
frequency, potentially at 40 kHz," John Lowe, the WWVB station
manager, told RW.

Eight years ago, the power of the WWVB broadcast out of Colorado was
increased from 13 kW to 50 kW and has since been increased to 70 kW,
he said; but "even at this power level there are locations on the East
Coast that have difficulty consistently receiving the time code."

Some advocates say an East Coast broadcast would make the time code
easier to receive, increase sales of radio-controlled clocks and spur
development of radio-controlled timing devices in appliances and other
consumer products. Lowe is seeking comments about the possibility and
asks that readers write to him. His e-mail address is
.

================================================== ================================

I think this would be very welcome though it would do nothing for
those radio-controlled clocks already out there. I also wish that all
newly-designed shortwave radios would feature a radio-controlled clock
that could show two time zones - the local one and UTC.

Best,

Joe

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

On Jan 18, 8:12*am, Joe Analssandrini
wrote:
This comes from the latest RadioWorld NewsBytes:

=========================================*=======

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is considering
setting up a U.S. East Coast low-frequency radio station broadcasting
NIST time in binary code format to complement the present NIST 60 kHz,
WWVB broadcast.

"The proposed new East Coast broadcast will operate with the same time
code format as the present WWVB signal, however at a different carrier
frequency, potentially at 40 kHz," John Lowe, the WWVB station
manager, told RW.

Eight years ago, the power of the WWVB broadcast out of Colorado was
increased from 13 kW to 50 kW and has since been increased to 70 kW,
he said; but "even at this power level there are locations on the East
Coast that have difficulty consistently receiving the time code."

Some advocates say an East Coast broadcast would make the time code
easier to receive, increase sales of radio-controlled clocks and spur
development of radio-controlled timing devices in appliances and other
consumer products. Lowe is seeking comments about the possibility and
asks that readers write to him. His e-mail address is
.

================================================== =========================*=======

I think this would be very welcome though it would do nothing for
those radio-controlled clocks already out there. I also wish that all
newly-designed shortwave radios would feature a radio-controlled clock
that could show two time zones - the local one and UTC.

Best,

Joe

JA,

Why not simply add another 50KW Transmitter and a Directional
Antenna pointed at the North East / New England Region at the
present WWVB Transmission Site ?

Or pay half of the cost for Canada set-up a WWVB type Boardcast
Transmitter on their side of the Border somewhere near Ottawa.
It would serve their geographic needs and our East Coast needs too

~ RHF

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

Joe Analssandrini wrote:
This comes from the latest RadioWorld NewsBytes:

================================================== ================================

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is considering
setting up a U.S. East Coast low-frequency radio station broadcasting
NIST time in binary code format to complement the present NIST 60 kHz,
WWVB broadcast.

"The proposed new East Coast broadcast will operate with the same time
code format as the present WWVB signal, however at a different carrier
frequency, potentially at 40 kHz," John Lowe, the WWVB station
manager, told RW.

Eight years ago, the power of the WWVB broadcast out of Colorado was
increased from 13 kW to 50 kW and has since been increased to 70 kW,
he said; but "even at this power level there are locations on the East
Coast that have difficulty consistently receiving the time code."

Some advocates say an East Coast broadcast would make the time code
easier to receive, increase sales of radio-controlled clocks and spur
development of radio-controlled timing devices in appliances and other
consumer products. Lowe is seeking comments about the possibility and
asks that readers write to him. His e-mail address is
.

================================================== ================================

I think this would be very welcome though it would do nothing for
those radio-controlled clocks already out there. I also wish that all
newly-designed shortwave radios would feature a radio-controlled clock
that could show two time zones - the local one and UTC.

Best,

Joe

They could put the new station on 60 kHz as well. If they can't get
them adequately synchronized they could alternate every 30 minutes or
whatever. This would avoid everyone having to buy new watches. Any
commercial entity who really needs accurate time switched over to GPS a
decade ago.

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

1960 Physco movie is on the Chiller channel now.Bite Me!
cuhulin

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

On Jan 19, 5:35*am, David wrote:
Joe Analssandrini wrote:
This comes from the latest RadioWorld NewsBytes:

================================================== =========================*=======

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is considering
setting up a U.S. East Coast low-frequency radio station broadcasting
NIST time in binary code format to complement the present NIST 60 kHz,
WWVB broadcast.

"The proposed new East Coast broadcast will operate with the same time
code format as the present WWVB signal, however at a different carrier
frequency, potentially at 40 kHz," John Lowe, the WWVB station
manager, told RW.

Eight years ago, the power of the WWVB broadcast out of Colorado was
increased from 13 kW to 50 kW and has since been increased to 70 kW,
he said; but "even at this power level there are locations on the East
Coast that have difficulty consistently receiving the time code."

Some advocates say an East Coast broadcast would make the time code
easier to receive, increase sales of radio-controlled clocks and spur
development of radio-controlled timing devices in appliances and other
consumer products. Lowe is seeking comments about the possibility and
asks that readers write to him. His e-mail address is
.

================================================== =========================*=======

I think this would be very welcome though it would do nothing for
those radio-controlled clocks already out there. I also wish that all
newly-designed shortwave radios would feature a radio-controlled clock
that could show two time zones - the local one and UTC.

Best,

Joe

They could put the new station on 60 kHz as well. *If they can't get
them adequately synchronized they could alternate every 30 minutes or
whatever. *This would avoid everyone having to buy new watches. *Any
commercial entity who really needs accurate time switched over to GPS a
decade ago.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

David,

Yeah - There must be some way of 'expanding' the WWVB Broadcast
System without requiring a Major Upgrade / Replacement of the basic
Receivers for the newer service.

~ RHF

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

RHF wrote:
Yeah - There must be some way of 'expanding' the WWVB Broadcast
System without requiring a Major Upgrade / Replacement of the basic
Receivers for the newer service.

I wonder if there really is demand for it. Being outside of the U.S., I
can't say for sure, but I thought that GPS location was required in cell
phones sold there (not here).

If that's the case, it would be likley that cheap GPS clocks could be
made, and they are not affected by the noise commonly produced by many
modern electrical/electronic devices.

For the home and many businesses, a WiFi or ethernet clock synchronized
using NTP (Network Time Protocol) would be preferable as more and more
people have broadband Internet connections which are on all the time.

Another option would be to insert time signals in cell phone control
channels, if they are not already there. Cell phone receivers are
cheap, would not require a service contract as they would never
transmit anything, immune to most RFI, and cell phone service covers
almost all of the U.S. and most other countries.

IMHO it's a case of trying to extend a service that is rarely
used (how many people actually have radio synchronized clocks?)
and can be easily replaced with much newer and better technologies.

I understand that this would require the few people that want
synchronized clocks that have not gone to GPS or NTP already
to buy new ones, but isn't that the way things are done these
days?

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...
RHF wrote:
Yeah - There must be some way of 'expanding' the WWVB Broadcast
System without requiring a Major Upgrade / Replacement of the basic
Receivers for the newer service.

I wonder if there really is demand for it. Being outside of the U.S., I
can't say for sure, but I thought that GPS location was required in cell
phones sold there (not here).

If that's the case, it would be likley that cheap GPS clocks could be
made, and they are not affected by the noise commonly produced by many
modern electrical/electronic devices.


You do realize that GPS does not work inside most buildings?

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

I wonder if there really is demand for it. Being outside of the U.S., I
can't say for sure, but I thought that GPS location was required in cell
phones sold there (not here).

I think cell phones are normally located through the cell tower network, not
through GPS. I could be mistaken.

If that's the case, it would be likley that cheap GPS clocks could be
made, and they are not affected by the noise commonly produced by many
modern electrical/electronic devices.


You do realize that GPS does not work inside most buildings?

In fact the main selling point of longwave is that it goes through
everything (even underground), isn't it?

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
RHF wrote:
Yeah - There must be some way of 'expanding' the WWVB Broadcast
System without requiring a Major Upgrade / Replacement of the basic
Receivers for the newer service.

I wonder if there really is demand for it. Being outside of the U.S., I
can't say for sure, but I thought that GPS location was required in cell
phones sold there (not here).

If that's the case, it would be likley that cheap GPS clocks could be
made, and they are not affected by the noise commonly produced by many
modern electrical/electronic devices.

For the home and many businesses, a WiFi or ethernet clock synchronized
using NTP (Network Time Protocol) would be preferable as more and more
people have broadband Internet connections which are on all the time.

Another option would be to insert time signals in cell phone control
channels, if they are not already there. Cell phone receivers are
cheap, would not require a service contract as they would never
transmit anything, immune to most RFI, and cell phone service covers
almost all of the U.S. and most other countries.

IMHO it's a case of trying to extend a service that is rarely
used (how many people actually have radio synchronized clocks?)
and can be easily replaced with much newer and better technologies.

I understand that this would require the few people that want
synchronized clocks that have not gone to GPS or NTP already
to buy new ones, but isn't that the way things are done these
days?

Geoff.


I have about 6 of them. They run for a couple years on a single AA
battery. No wires.

NIST Considers East Coast WWVB Broadcast
 

"mc" wrote in message
. ..
I wonder if there really is demand for it. Being outside of the U.S., I
can't say for sure, but I thought that GPS location was required in cell
phones sold there (not here).

I think cell phones are normally located through the cell tower network,
not through GPS. I could be mistaken.

If that's the case, it would be likley that cheap GPS clocks could be
made, and they are not affected by the noise commonly produced by many
modern electrical/electronic devices.


You do realize that GPS does not work inside most buildings?

In fact the main selling point of longwave is that it goes through
everything (even underground), isn't it?


Absolutely. GPS only works in a clear area with good view to most of the
sky (it's even a little less accurate if you're driving through a steep
sided canyon).