Patty Winter <winter@apple.uucp> (02/23/90)
I recently received a very nice response from Mr. Roger E. Beehler
of the Time and Frequency Division of NIST after I wrote to him
complaining (in a friendly way) about the the omission of the "aloha"
from the new WWVH station IDs. He says that he wasn't aware of the
aloha's demise, and he agrees that it "adds a little warmth to an
otherwise rather dull announcement!"
There is hope, however. NIST is trying to get funds for new and
improved time-code generators for both stations (WWV and WWVH). He
explains that:
Although the primary motivation for this is to be able
to add some additional information (the year, a better
Daylight-Savings-Time indicator, and a leap-second warning)
into the broadcast code formats, the new equipment will
also change the way in which we announce the time and the
station ID. These announcements will be generated from
digitized words and phrases stored in computer memory.
Mr. Beehler goes on to say that if they get these new systems, they'll
be rerecording the time and ID text, and he'll try to make sure that
the "aloha" is reinstated.
The timeline for obtaining the new time-code generators is 6 to 12
months, so don't hold your breath waiting. And of course, they might
not even get the money for them. :-( Let's hope that NIST can squeeze
some money out of the budget for this project; it sounds worthwhile for
several reasons besides bringing back the aloha. :-)
Patty
p.s. I like the idea of leap-second warnings. Gives people a chance to
grab onto something before the earth adjusts its rotation speed. :-)
--
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Patty Winter N6BIS INTERNET: winter@apple.com
AMPR.ORG: [44.4.0.44] UUCP: {decwrl,nsc,sun}!apple!winter
*****************************************************************************LANG@UNB.CA (02/23/90)
On Fri, 23 Feb 90 00:10:56 GMT Patty Winter <zaphod.mps.ohio-state. edu!mips!apple!winter@THINK.COM> writes: > p.s. I like the idea of leap-second warnings. Gives people a chance to > grab onto something before the earth adjusts its rotation speed. :-) Or so that we don't inadvertently celebrate the start of the new year one second early! ======================================================================== Richard B. Langley BITnet: LANG@UNB.CA or SE@UNB.CA Geodetic Research Laboratory Phone: (506) 453-5142 Dept. of Surveying Engineering Telex: 014-46202 University of New Brunswick FAX: (506) 453-4943 Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B 5A3 ========================================================================