WWV’s 25 MHz Signal Back on the Air

[Fansome]

WWV’s 25 MHz Signal Back on the Air
TAGS: air, daily basis, dean lewis, Fort Collins, listeners, meter
propagation, MHz signal, NIST, old times, Propagation Beacons, standards,
technology, youtube   
04/07/2014

WWV silenced its 25 MHz signal in 1977, but it’s back on the air “for old
times’ sake” — officially on an “experimental basis.” Resurrecting the
long-dormant standard time outlet operated by the National Institutes of
Standards and Technology (NIST) was Matt Deutch, N0RGT, the Lead
Electrical Engineer at WWV. It all came about after Dean Lewis, W9WGV,
lamented the loss of the 25 MHz signal in an e-mail to Deutch, who
surprised him by subsequently putting the signal back on the air on April
4 for about 3-1/2 hours.

A listener in Scotland posted his reception of the WWV 25 MHz signal on
YouTube.

WWV is running another 25 MHz test today (April 7), which began at about
1530 UTC. “Matt promises the signal to be available for 24 hours,” said
Lewis. “Members and listeners might be interested in hearing this historic
event.”

Lewis said he’d told Deutch that since 10 meter propagation has been so
good at this point in Cycle 24, and he uses the various WWV frequencies as
propagation beacons on a daily basis.

“He responded that ‘for old times’ sake,’ they’d put the [25 MHz] signal
back on the air for a while. I assumed, of course, that he was kidding,
and so I didn’t check. Matt wasn’t kidding!”

NIST said the 25 MHz broadcast consists of the normal WWV signal heard on
all other WWV frequencies, at the same level of accuracy. The transmitter
in Fort Collins, Colorado, puts out 2500 W into a “broadband monopole.”
WWV has invited listeners’ comments and signal reports.

[Fansome]

Seems to still be on as of about 8:30am EDT.

[Fansome]

Update: signal will remain on the air for the rest of the week.

http://www.arrl.org/news/view/wwv-s-25-mhz-signal-back-on-the-air?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

WWV’s 25 MHz Signal Back on the Air
TAGS: air, daily basis, dean lewis, Fort Collins, listeners, meter propagation, MHz signal, NIST, old times, Propagation Beacons, standards, technology, youtube   
04/07/2014

WWV silenced its 25 MHz signal in 1977, but it’s back on the air “for old times’ sake” — officially on an “experimental basis.” Resurrecting the long-dormant standard time outlet operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was Matt Deutch, N0RGT, the Lead Electrical Engineer at WWV. It all came about after Dean Lewis, W9WGV, lamented the loss of the 25 MHz signal in an e-mail to Deutch, who surprised him by subsequently putting the signal back on the air on April 4 for about 3-1/2 hours.

A listener in Scotland posted his reception of the WWV 25 MHz signal on YouTube.

WWV began another 25 MHz test starting on April 7, and Deutch told ARRL that WWV-25 probably will remain on the air for the rest of the week. “So hopefully a few more people will hear it,” he said.

Lewis said he’d told Deutch late last week that 10 meter propagation has been so good at this point in Cycle 24, and he uses the various WWV frequencies as propagation beacons on a daily basis.

“He responded that ‘for old times’ sake,’ they’d put the [25 MHz] signal back on the air for a while. I assumed, of course, that he was kidding, and so I didn’t check. Matt wasn’t kidding!”

NIST said the 25 MHz broadcast consists of the normal WWV signal heard on all other WWV frequencies, at the same level of accuracy. The transmitter in Fort Collins, Colorado, can put out 2500 W into a “broadband monopole,” although Deutch said the transmitter was running 1200 W. WWV has invited listeners’ comments and signal reports.

[ChrisSmolinski]

I got this email from NIST in response to my reception report:

Thanks for your email, and your reception report of the WWV experimental broadcast at 25 MHz.

WWV first began broadcasting on 25 MHz in 1946, but the broadcast was suspended in 1977. Due to listener interest and changes in broadcasting technology, NIST is pleased to be able to provide this service on a limited basis once again. At present, the broadcast is carried on a base-fed broadband monopole antenna. All normal WWV frequencies operate on a center-fed half-wave dipole antenna, with a dedicated backup transmitter that will come online automatically should the main transmitter fail. The 25 MHz broadcast does not have this capability at this time. Please note that the experimental 25 MHz broadcast may be interrupted without notice at any time.

For the latest status in the 25 MHz broadcast, refer to the NIST Radio Station WWV web site.
http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/wwv.cfm
Due to the number of QSL requests to this experimental broadcast, it may take more time to respond to your QSL request.
Thank you for your continued interest and support.

Staff of Radio WWV