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Boy, was that rude, waking up an hour EARLY today!
I read this last nite, after in-one-ear......out-the-other hearing of time change coming on the news.
Joke was on me!
Cell phone changed during sleep hours, as did TV and but not microwave OR stove OR the important clock radio.
Don't we have Ben Franklin to blame for this? Aren't the 'energy saving' studies a mixed bag? What a PIA.
Too much is never enough
My cheap Sony Dream Machine "AUTO TIME SET" clock radio ICF-C218 (less than $20) adjusted itself for the DST change. Apparently "the clock receives a highly accurate time signal being broadcast by a scientific reference transmitter and sets the time and date." It also has a small battery to handle power outages. Damn clever.
(I've never listened to the radio though. Bought it as clock to sit on the bedside table).
Regards,
Geoff
I'll be damned if mine (ICF-C318) didn't do the same thing. It's freakin' amazing (to me at least). I can accept this with my computers or a cell phone, but a cheap clock radio?Wow. I never knew how they did it, thanks.
Edits: 03/11/12
It keeps hot stuff hot, and cold stuff cold. But...._how does it know_?!?!?
The 'Atomic Clock' is the reference for the PLANET.
They broadcast a signal on 5mhz, 10mhz, 15mhz and 20mhz. Maybe above and below that, as well.
The broadcasts are on station WWV from Ft.Collins Colorado or WWVH from Hawaii.
In years past, I used THAT to set my clocks. You will also find your CellPhone is tied into this same grid but due to latency, may be a second 'slow'.
The first 'atomic clocks' were expensive, For 20$? I am MORE than a little tempted.
How's it sound? Radio good? OR will it take a 'pod?
Too much is never enough
.
We have one at a vacation house where the electricity fails often. Its time is always right!
mine lose contact every now and then, especially the ones some distance from windows.
There was a proposal in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to establish a transmitter in the eastern U.S. to improve the situation, but the funding for that particular item was not provided, and there's nothing on the horizon at the moment.
WWV, the station that transmits time signals from Ft.Collins Colorado, is a mere 80 miles north of me. If I wear a pair of rabbit ears, the signal is strong enough to reset my biological clock. ;-)
Abe,
with a name like Collins, you figure to know!
Don't forget WWVH broadcasting from Hawaii......Maui? Kuaui?
Anyway, to receive the WWVH signal, wait for WWV to go down, which formerly did on a regular, scheduled basis. You've than got a couple minutes to listen for WWVH. Being marginally nuts, I've done this.
These stations also don't have LOTS of power. 10kw for Hawaii and 20kw for Colorado, but I may be wrong.
The high frequencies of 15 and 20mhz are best during daylight hours while 5 and 10mhz are best later in the evening.
I've been a SWL longer than I've been into good stereo and have a now ancient Sony ICF-2010, which is a full featured radio with incredible performance. And like any classic, it's worth as much today as when I bought it.
Too much is never enough
I haven't listened to WWV for a while but don't they still have the two discrete voice announcements from WWV and WWVH? You could get an idea of the propagation by their relative loudnesses...
Guess I need to try and fix my transceiver one of those days, I would like to use the RX once in awhile.
Rick
since they are on exactly the same frequency, the stronger signal covers the weaker.
All my listening had been done from Chicago or Miami. As wacky as it sounds, getting Radio Havana in Miami was tougher than from Chicago?
The late tropicals were good in Miami, though. All the low power stuff from South America.
I heard WWVH once during a planned shutdown of WWV. I'd listen later at night when sun noise is least, at the 5 or 10mhz frequencies and the hour before dawn on 2.5
Too much is never enough
That's interesting, on the West coast you hear both announcements most of the time. It's about 2500 mi to Hi and 950 to Ft. Collins from here. Of course it all depends on the propagation but I'd expect you to hear it at least part of the time. One had a male announcer the other female so you could tell which you were hearing even if the signal wasn't very good.
In my youth I too used to like SWL and so did one of my friends. I still remember when we were in Jr. High and the FBI started opening his mail. Our best guess was that it was because he had sent for QSL cards from Radio Havana and Radio Moscow. Eventually they stopped, guess ol' Joe decided that he wasn't fomenting a revolution of 14 year olds...
Regards, Rick
International SW is not like it was. I still get some far east feeds, and for a couple of mornings even got Viet Nam in English. But its been several years.
Radio RSA was always a kick as was Japan and both Chinas.
Europe was alway active. Germany, France, Italy, the Vatican and many others. I used to keep track.
But today? I think even VOA is gone and Radio Moscow, which was a hoot, is simply MIA.
Now? Reruns of Gene Scott and an endless supply of Religious Broadcasts while all the edgy stuff seems to have disappeared.
We had a power failure here in Southern California a few months back. Basicall from the Mexican Border to Orange county, East to Riverside. WOW, it was electrically quiet and I sat up and listened for several hours. I was almost sorry the lights came back on!
Too much is never enough
I haven't done much shortwave listening lately but I understand that many of the stations have gone to digital modes of transmission.
HF HAM Radio has also gone "digital". See link below for a PDF paper on how to setup a SSB RECEIVER (and optionally a SSB TRANSMITTER) for the PSK31 mode.
I can sit here on my couch sending RTTY to you (two hops at least, iPad to my router and RF modem to ISP.) with no effort, license, understanding or commitment. Try that with your Model 19! On top of that this is orders of magnitude more reliable and still provides many of the enjoyable social aspects. True, it does lack a technical vetting process but that rather adds to the interest don't you think? If only I had known back then how much I could improve my signal by hanging jewelry from the antenna...
73, Rick
"If I wear a pair of rabbit ears, the signal is strong enough to reset my biological clock. ;-)"
And the cool thing is they jacked up the power of WWVB a few years ago so we now have usable groundwave coverage in Oregon day and night!
So I'm not surprised that you have become bio-synced to it, but Coloradoians are sweet, not only are they willing to risk their health from the high cosmic ray levels due to their altitude, and constant RF from NIST, they are always willing to give you the time of day...
Rick
DC area. I used to listen to it in NYC to put me to sleep at night.
I have 3 "atomic clocks", and they all changed automatically during the night. Despite the fact that they all periodically receive transmissions, they all have slightly different times. :-(
Jack
you're doing okay. Where are you?
I'm in Maryland, 1/2 hour from DC.
Jack
Both are out of Ft. Collins Colorado (north of Denver).
WWV transmits on shortwave frequencies (well above the AM broadcast band) and can be heard on 2.5MHz, 5.0MHz, 10.0MHz, 15.0MHz, 20MHz. The time announcements are in English and can also be used to determine shortwave propagation conditions near those frequencies. Before the days of 'digital' displays, WWV signals were also used to calibrate the tuning dial of shortwave receivers.
WWVB transmits a time code signal at a much lower frequency of 60KHz (well below the AM broadcast band). Many consumer clocks use this signal to keep accurate time.
The US Naval Observatory (USNO) out of DC has a long history in keeping accurate time but I'm not sure if they transmit a public time signal.
60khz? That is Well Below the lower limit of US AM at 540.
The hangup with such frequencies is that even a 1/4 wave antenna is immense. Like over 3000 feet.
Best of luck stringing THAT antenna!
Too much is never enough
The transmit antenna is loaded so it doesn't have to be so long. The receiver antennas are basically just tuned circuits.
I know up in Michigan or other north/central state is a HUGE antenna farm visible from space.
It is used to transmit an ULF signal to submarines. (I guess VLF is correct?)
Anyway, here is the Wiki on such transmissions. I had NO idea of the activity at these frequencies.
As kind of a speculative aside.....Is it any wonder we haven't heard from ET? As our technology improves we go to lower and lower power with more digital information. We (Earth) has decreased the amount of RF radiated at higher powers at LOT.
So, if ET is watching Get Smart of reruns of The Lucy Show, that's gonna stop when everything goes to cable or DBS.
If other sort-of intelligent life follows the same pattern, you've got maybe 100 years of hi-intensity RF from a planet than a quick decrease. If someone is listening, they have a VERY small window of opportunity.
Too much is never enough
Yes, USNO has public time services.
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/ntp.html
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/
Many years ago, I actually missed the time change date, and showed up for work on time as usual, but an hour late. The schoolmarm/secretary/nurse Rachet made note of it in my permanent record (unknown to me), and it came up at my review. But I have the last laugh - she owned stock in the privately-held company (an acoustics consulting firm), and it's long since gone belly up. :)
Edits: 03/11/12
Don't forget to set those clocks ahead tonight!!
Nah nah nah. Not necessary here in Arizona.
;^)
...regards...tr
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