This might not be news to some of you. This information was released a few weeks ago. However it appears that NIST is suggesting significant budget cuts, which include the SHUTDOWN of WWV and WWVH transmitters.. a savings of over $6M per year in government spending.
Why is this a terrible thing? Well, for starters… you’ll lose one of the most valuable rig/antenna test stations for HF. One of the first things most HAMs do when setting up a new amateur HF station is to tune to one of the WWV frequencies and see if you can hear them. It’s a great way to see if your receiver and antenna are working as expected, as well as testing for band conditions.
BUT, one of the BIGGEST questions that seems very hard to answer is… Will WWVB be included in the budget cut and shutdown? WWVB provides a 60KHz signal that is automatically used by millions of devices like atomic clocks, watches and weather stations to sync time and maintain accuracy.
WWVB is NOT specifically called out in the budget document, but many speculate that it will be shutdown as well due to the language in the cut that reads, “the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii.”.
D4D is out to school on this. We have seen much conflicting information about WWVB being included in the cut.That fact is that it is located in Colorado, right next to WWV so a reasonable person might assume it would be impacted based on how the budget cut is written.
Nevertheless, we are standing strong that this budget cut should be reconsidered. If you would like to voice your opinion, please sign the petition with us and SAVE WWV AND WWVH .
It’s argued that very few people get usefulness out of this HF service. If WWVB remains on the air, then that statement might be true to some extent.
Considering that this would be one more notch in the bedpost for those wanting EVERYTHING on the planet to be dependent upon the internet, GPS and cell phones, D4D says… let’s keep WWV and WWVH on the air, so we can be independent of the grid if need be.
If you have thoughts on this, or have more information on the topic, please comment and send us a note.
Recent Comments