Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

Acc to http://www.dxinfocentre.com/time.htm , I should be able to
pick up time signals at at least SOME of those shortwave frequencies.

Since 2002, they have become harder & harder to pick up. Are they
being replaced by the internet??

My receiving equipment? Don't laugh: old-school boomboxes, which all
had SW1 & 2 bands on them covering from 2.5kHz up to 22 - 25kHz.
Don't say it's my boomboxes, because I still get plenty of BBC, VOA,
other broadcasts in every language imaginable, and enough religion
that I need never step near a church(!). The only thing missing:
those beepin' time signals.

Any clues where the signals have gone?

-ChrisCoaster

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

On Jul 19, 3:08*pm, ChrisCoaster wrote:
Acc to *http://www.dxinfocentre.com/time.htm, I should be able to
pick up time signals at at least SOME of those shortwave frequencies.

Since 2002, they have become harder & harder to pick up. *Are they
being replaced by the internet??

My receiving equipment? Don't laugh: old-school boomboxes, which all
had SW1 & 2 bands on them covering from 2.5kHz up to 22 - 25kHz.
Don't say it's my boomboxes, because I still get plenty of BBC, VOA,
other broadcasts in every language imaginable, and enough religion
that I need never step near a church(!). *The only thing missing:
those beepin' time signals.

Any clues where the signals have gone?

-ChrisCoaster


Sorry, but it is the boomboxes that you're using. WWV doesn't have
nearly the signal strength of those stations you mentioned. Factor in
time of day and overall conditions, you may get a signal every now and
then but certainly not on a regular basis.

I also had a big Aiwa boombox back in the 80's and while I also got
the BBC and VOA with it, that was all I got with it.

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

On Jul 19, 3:31*pm, wrote:
On Jul 19, 3:08*pm, ChrisCoaster wrote:





Acc to *http://www.dxinfocentre.com/time.htm, I should be able to
pick up time signals at at least SOME of those shortwave frequencies.

Since 2002, they have become harder & harder to pick up. *Are they
being replaced by the internet??

My receiving equipment? Don't laugh: old-school boomboxes, which all
had SW1 & 2 bands on them covering from 2.5kHz up to 22 - 25kHz.
Don't say it's my boomboxes, because I still get plenty of BBC, VOA,
other broadcasts in every language imaginable, and enough religion
that I need never step near a church(!). *The only thing missing:
those beepin' time signals.

Any clues where the signals have gone?

-ChrisCoaster

Sorry, but it is the boomboxes that you're using. *WWV doesn't have
nearly the signal strength of those stations you mentioned. *Factor in
time of day and overall conditions, you may get a signal every now and
then but certainly not on a regular basis.

I also had a big Aiwa boombox back in the 80's and while I also got
the BBC and VOA with it, that was all I got with it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
_____________________
Well, I actually do pick up a LOT on them - just can't name every
program that I turn the dial past, so only the obvious come to mind
here. Sometimes the material I get is so bunched together I need to
use the fine-tune knob on those boxes that have it, just to pick out
all the stations ontop of each other.

That still doesn't explain the very conspicuous absence of those time
signals.

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

ChrisCoaster wrote:

Acc to http://www.dxinfocentre.com/time.htm , I should be able to
pick up time signals at at least SOME of those shortwave frequencies.

Since 2002, they have become harder & harder to pick up. Are they
being replaced by the internet??

Many of the time signals of years past are long gone, though the list you
cited seems to be fairly up to date.

I was very interested in time signal stations in years past and believe I have
27-28 of them QSL'd (veried, for those in Glendale).

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Drake R7, R8, R8A and R8B
70' and 200' wires

239 countries heard and 224 QSL'd (veried for those in Glendale) using the
NASWA Country List.

And, as always, don't let your children attend the Sullivan College of
Technology & Design.

They've hired at least one dufus who once claimed to have a PhD, and who
knows, there may be more dufi there.

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

On Jul 19, 3:56*pm, dxAce wrote:
ChrisCoaster wrote:
Acc to *http://www.dxinfocentre.com/time.htm, I should be able to
pick up time signals at at least SOME of those shortwave frequencies.

Since 2002, they have become harder & harder to pick up. *Are they
being replaced by the internet??

Many of the time signals of years past are long gone, though the list you
cited seems to be fairly up to date.

I was very interested in time signal stations in years past and believe I have
27-28 of them QSL'd (veried, for those in Glendale).

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Drake R7, R8, R8A and R8B
70' and 200' wires

239 countries heard and 224 QSL'd (veried for those in Glendale) using the
NASWA Country List.

And, as always, don't let your children attend the Sullivan College of
Technology & Design.

They've hired at least one dufus who once claimed to have a PhD, and who
knows, there may be more dufi there.
__________________

I was just curious, because when I set all my watches to within a
second of the time off the shortwave, its amusing at work and at
peoples houses to see just how all over the place the time is set!
Even WABC 770 in NY, consistently when a news caster(Charles McCord,
Bruce Anderson, or Jen Nitosso) states the time it's at least
30seconds behind the time on my watch! What radio station is more
than 10 sec off, let alone over half a minute?

Some folks I understand they set their watches 5 minutes fast, to
"keep ahead" of things, but come on.

I prefer to get these signals off shortwave than off the internet(up
to 1/10th second delay) or phone(1/20th second delay), and can't
believe of all the services the government is cutting in times of
economic crisis they cut time signals!!

-CC

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

ChrisCoaster wrote:
On Jul 19, 3:56 pm, dxAce wrote:
ChrisCoaster wrote:
Acc to http://www.dxinfocentre.com/time.htm, I should be able to
pick up time signals at at least SOME of those shortwave frequencies.
Since 2002, they have become harder & harder to pick up. Are they
being replaced by the internet??
Many of the time signals of years past are long gone, though the list you
cited seems to be fairly up to date.

I was very interested in time signal stations in years past and believe I have
27-28 of them QSL'd (veried, for those in Glendale).

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Drake R7, R8, R8A and R8B
70' and 200' wires

239 countries heard and 224 QSL'd (veried for those in Glendale) using the
NASWA Country List.

And, as always, don't let your children attend the Sullivan College of
Technology & Design.

They've hired at least one dufus who once claimed to have a PhD, and who
knows, there may be more dufi there.
__________________

I was just curious, because when I set all my watches to within a
second of the time off the shortwave, its amusing at work and at
peoples houses to see just how all over the place the time is set!
Even WABC 770 in NY, consistently when a news caster(Charles McCord,
Bruce Anderson, or Jen Nitosso) states the time it's at least
30seconds behind the time on my watch! What radio station is more
than 10 sec off, let alone over half a minute?

Some folks I understand they set their watches 5 minutes fast, to
"keep ahead" of things, but come on.

I prefer to get these signals off shortwave than off the internet(up
to 1/10th second delay) or phone(1/20th second delay), and can't
believe of all the services the government is cutting in times of
economic crisis they cut time signals!!

-CC

WWV on 10 MHz is pretty reliable in the daytime. 5 MHz at night. It
might be scratchy but it's still there.

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

dave wrote:

WWV on 10 MHz is pretty reliable in the daytime. 5 MHz at night. It
might be scratchy but it's still there.


Scratchy? I'm not surprised. The 60 rpm vinyl record is getting pretty
worn. The drunks at the time station starting the needle wherever they
want also does not help.

" Hey Fred..ya gots to hear this...shwell stuff. I really got the hots
for that Hawaiian wench"...as he jams it into the groove as only a drunk
can.





mike

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For solutions which may work for you, please check:
http://improve-usenet.org/

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

On Jul 19, 12:08*pm, ChrisCoaster wrote:
Acc to *http://www.dxinfocentre.com/time.htm, I should be able to
pick up time signals at at least SOME of those shortwave frequencies.

Since 2002, they have become harder & harder to pick up. *Are they
being replaced by the internet??

My receiving equipment? Don't laugh: old-school boomboxes, which all
had SW1 & 2 bands on them covering from 2.5kHz up to 22 - 25kHz.
Don't say it's my boomboxes, because I still get plenty of BBC, VOA,
other broadcasts in every language imaginable, and enough religion
that I need never step near a church(!). *The only thing missing:
those beepin' time signals.

Any clues where the signals have gone?

-ChrisCoaster

CC,

On the East Coast of the USA you should
get the WWV Times Signals on 5, 10 and
15 MHz at 10 KW various times of the Day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWV_(radio_station)

Middle of the Night : 5 MHz [5,000 kHz]
Mid-Day : 15 MHz [15,000 kHz]
Mornings & Evening : 10 MHz [10,000 kHz]

The 2.5 and 20 MHz signals at 2.5 KW may
not be as easily heard.

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

Chris,

You didn't mention what equipment you were using however any of the
garden-variety Wal-Mart type
consumer short waves generally has abysmal calibration and frequently cannot
be depended upon to "hear" the whole band pursuant to its frequency display.
Also there are new shortwave bands that continuous coverage short waves
often include but they've dumped the old tried-and-true bands like 60 meters
(5 mc).

Yes, CHU is now on 7850 kc. They are the only organization that seems to
have cared enough of what their listeners preferences were. They were going
to drop their 41 meter facility altogether but conducted an e-mail survey
and listened to what the users wanted. They did have to move due to ITU
frequency reallocation nonsense.

I suspect your bigger problem has been propagation. It's been awful the last
few weeks. Be patient. Your old friends are still there beeping and will be
back when Ol' Sol settles down.

WA9VLK

P.S. Use of mc/kc is intentional although writer acknowledges its being
unfashionable. Whatever.

Shortwave Time Signals - Where have they gone?
 

SX-25 wrote:

Yes, CHU is now on 7850 kc. They are the only organization that seems to
have cared enough of what their listeners preferences were. They were
going to drop their 41 meter facility altogether but conducted an e-mail
survey and listened to what the users wanted. They did have to move due
to ITU frequency reallocation nonsense.


=============================================
CQ Magazine is reporting the following:

CHU Moving to 7850 kHz

After seventy years of broadcasting Canada's official time, radio
station CHU will move from 7335 KHz to 7850 KHz. The change goes
into effect on 01 January 2009 at 00:00 UTC.

In April 2007, the International Telecommunications Union
re-allocated the 7300-7350 KHz band from "fixed service" to
broadcasting. Since then, interference on the 7335 KHz frequency has
come from many broadcasters around the world, prompting CHU's move.

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



mike