Using your new WWV receiver in Software

Drawing European Article Number 13 in Software Using your new WWV receiver

You will have fun learning about other interesting things on WWV besides the time function feature, such as accurate tone frequencies, geophysical alerts (solar activity reports), marine storm warnings, the global positioning system (GPS) and Omega navigation system status reports Table 10-4 shows the broadcast schedule for WWV in Fort Collins, CO A similar schedule is available for WWVH in Hawaii This diagram is extracted from a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publication If you want to order a copy, it is available for a modest charge from the Government Printing Office, Washington DC 20402 Write and ask for a current list of available publications The two features of most interest are precise frequency of the carrier signal, to calibrate radio and test equipment, and precise time information given each minute as a voice transmission But there are many other interesting parts of their transmissions

In order to obtain the best reception on your new WWV Time-Code receiver you will want to construct an optimum antenna Using a random length of wire will give poor results A very efficient method to use with the WWV Time-Code receiver is a dipole antenna cut for the proper frequency of 10 MHz Half-wave dipoles are very effective antennas and are simple to construct For low-power work or receiver use, you can use low-cost RG-58 52 ohm coax from the dipole antenna to your new receiver The formula for dipole antennas: 234/(frequency in MHz) = 1 4-wavelength in feet will give the length of wire needed for each leg of the dipole For example, if you wanted to build a

Table 10-4

1 0 0

45 525

60 00

Standard broadcast frequencies and radiated power 10 MHz - 10 kW 25 MHz - 25 kW 5 MHz - 25 kW 15 MHz - 10 kW 20 MHz - 25 kW UT1 corrections For additional information contact Nist Radio Station WWV 2000 East County Rd 58 Fort Collins, CO 80524 (303) 484-2372

45 52 5 60

Beginning of each hour is identified by 08-second-long, 1500-Hz tone Beginning of each minute is identified by 08-second-long, 1000-Hz tone The 29th and 59th second pulses of each minute are omitted 440 Hz tone is omitted during first hour of each day

There are various tones which can be used to check audio equipment or musical instruments and they can be captured to detect the start of each hour or each minute At certain intervals, voice announcements are made for the benefit of other government agencies The predominant ones are as follows: Marine storm warnings are prepared by the National Weather Service and broadcast for areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans which are of interest to the US Government Global Positioning System status announcements are prepared by the Coast Guard to give current status information about the GPS satellites Omega Navigation System reports are prepared by the Coast Guard to give the status of the 8 Omega transmitting stations in the 10 l4 kHz frequency range These serve as navigation aids Geophysical alerts are prepared by the Space Environment Service Center of NOAA They are broadcast on the 18th minute of the hour and give

information of interest to amateur radio operators, as well to as various scientific organizations regarding solar activity, geomagnetic fields, solar flares, and other geophysical statistics This propagation information can help you decide when the DX will be good

Beginning of each hour is identified by 08 second-long, 1500 Hz tone Beginning of each minute is identified by 08 second-long, 1000 Hz tone The 29th and 59th second pulses of each minute are omitted 440 Hz tone is omitted during the first hour of each day

You will have fun learning about other interesting things on WWV at certain times besides just the time function feature Features such as accurate tone frequencies, geophysical alerts (solar activity reports), marine storm warnings, and global positioning system (GPS) and Omega navigation system status reports