Wwv100

09/30/2019

We're now starting Day 3 of 5 of SES WW0WWV, celebrating the 100th anniversary of WWV.

Pileups continue on 40m and 20m SSB, but we're endeavoring to work as many of you as we can.

Our biggest challenge continues to be 30m. Let's face it, when the band is only 100Hz away and barely 100 yards from a 10kW AM carrier, well, let's just say you're competing with rather unique conditions. You may hear everyone calling us and think we're ignoring you, when really we just can't hear anything but the strongest signals. We're considering options, and we might even get WWV to dial back 10MHz just a bit... Hi Hi

Below, another incredible evening will mean it will get cold, but the view of the stars under the WWVB towers and our antennas is something.

The WWVB tower looms over the stacked 5-element yagi on 6m, while the SteppIR 2-element yagi sits atop a 50' crank-up outside the security fence.

Though sunsets this time of year are often blue and orange, the Broncos fell to 0-4. Still, the evening sky creates a great backdrop to the vertical element reaching up to the top hat on WWVB, and our antennas for the WW0WWV operations in the foreground.

Thanks for your comments - keep them coming!

More "action" shots to come . . .

09/29/2019

We have made it through 1-day of the 5-day operation of WW0WWV! Spirits are high, and although the first day was a little damp and cool, tonight the stars and Milky Way are dancing among the red tower lights of WWV and WWVB – an astonishing view!

In the photo Paul, NO0T, and Bill, WT0DX, work 6m meteor scatter as Dave, W8XAL, covers 80m SSB behind them. The RMHam Communications Trailer is home to 3 of the 6 main stations making up the special event station WW0WWV, as well as satellite and local VHF and UHF operations. We’re putting the facility to the test, and so far it’s exceeding our expectations!

A redacted operator schedule of bands and modes is available from the Main Menu, Operator Schedule @ WWV100.com. Remember we’re using UTC. The frequencies we’ll try to start at, +/- 5Hz, can be found at our listing on QRZ.com.

We hope you have a chance to work WW0WWV, from now until the end of the day October 2, 2019 (UTC).

This was the first break of the day to post, but we’ll endeavor to share more in the next few days.

09/05/2019

Wow, those are coils!

WWVB, used throughout the United States to synchronize local clocks and oscillators, sits on the same property as WWV. The broadcasts are 50kW at a low frequency of 60 kHz, which has a wavelength of 5000m (3.1 miles). A desired quarter wave vertical antenna would have to be 1250m, ¾ of a mile, or 4100 ft tall. To get it shorter (125m), additional length was added above the vertical radiating element horizontally in a lattice called a capacitance hat or top hat, stretched between 4 towers, each 400ft tall (image). The vertical element terminates in a structure know as a Helix House, which is about 2 stories tall.

To reduce and hopefully cancel the capacitance introduced by the top hat and shorter antenna, the Helix House houses a large inductor and a variometer (variable inductor) so the system can be tuned. (image) The image shows the copper inductor coil (about 3 feet tall), and the darker inductor positioned horizontally is the variometer. A computer controls the variometer and will make adjustments for such things as ice and windy conditions automatically. The computer looks for a phase difference in the voltage and current at the transmitter, and if needed, a 3-phase motor rotates the rotor in the variometer to adjust and match the system. The feedline to the antenna starts at the far end of the variometer, heading upward to the top of the Helix House.

Be sure to tune in for the 100th anniversary of WWV and special event station WW0WWV, on the air from September 28 through October 2, 2019. Please see WWV100.com for more details and our operating frequencies during the event.

08/14/2019

Radios and antennas have started to arrive, as the WWV Centennial Committee prepares for a trial run of WW0WWV the weekend of August 24-25, 2019. A tower and beam will be hoisted along with several verticals. We’ll be testing band and notch filtering in an attempt to reign in the extreme RF environment created by WWV and WWVB.

On-air tests will start Saturday afternoon, 8/24 and run through Sunday 8/25. We look forward to working available hams across the country who happen to tune us in. We’ll post notes on specific times and frequencies on our website, and hopefully you can get an early QSO with WW0WWV.

Please visit WWV100.com to learn how you can support this event.

The WW0WWV special event station will celebrate the 100th anniversary of WWV starting on September 28 and running through October 2, 2019. Operations will be on most HF bands, some satellite, and 6m meteor scatter. Details at WWV100.com

Photo: Greg Ella, N0EMP, uses a 10MHz loop to monitor the broadcast signal of WWV at the site of the special event station. He was able to measure the drift of a GPSDO to about 1 cycle in 90 seconds against the 10MHz WWV carrier.

08/01/2019

A 1920 partnership between the ARRL and the National Bureau of Standards helped study the phenomena of “signal fading” in a series of on-air broadcasting and listening tests that relied on amateur participation for its success. Tests were conducted in June and July of 1920, and the first write-up appeared in the November 1920 QST.

Amateur operators will once again have a chance to contribute to propagation science this fall. A “Festival of Frequency Measurement"--a coordinated effort of hams to make frequency measurements for use in ionospheric research--is being planned as a part of the WWV centennial celebrations at the end of September 2019. This sub-event will showcase the importance of WWV’s role in disseminating time and frequency information, and its impact and continuing capability to enable scientific research.

A preliminary test of procedures and “trial run” are underway today (August 1), and the results will help fine-tune the “Festival” for this fall.

Special event amateur radio station WW0WWV will operate from September 28 through October 2, 2019 on the HF bands using CW, SSB, and digital. Tune us in - we look forward to the QSO! To learn more, please visit WWV100.com

Only 58 days until we are ON THE AIR!

07/26/2019

The first radio time service in the U.S. was not WWV, but the Navy radio station NAA. Built across the Potomac from Washington, DC in 1912, the broadcast became known as “Arlington Time” and graced the cover of QST in 1916, 3 years before WWV was licensed.

Be sure to tune in the special event amateur radio station, WW0WWV, from September 28 through October 2, 2019, as we celebrate 100 years of broadcasts from the oldest operating radio station in the world, WWV.

Please visit WWV100.com for more info about the special event station WW0WWV.

image source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:November_1916_QST.djvu&page=0

07/11/2019

In May 1920, “experimental concerts” were “sent out” on Friday evenings from 8:30 to 11:00 on 500m (600kHz). These “concerts” are thought to be the first scheduled broadcasts to a wide audience from WWV. Records were played on a Victrola with the output connected directly to the transmitter. The station could be heard out to about 40km.

In the enlargement of the tone-arm you can see a microphone or electromagnetic detector taped to the needle and the wire leading to the transmitter. This could very well be the first electronic pick-up!

A news release from May 28, 1920 hinted at the significance of these broadcasts:

…This music can be heard by anyone in the states near the District of Columbia having a simple amateur receiving outfit. The pleasant evenings which have been experienced by persons at a number of such receiving stations suggest interesting possibilities of the future.

Quite an understatement! Broadcasting had begun, and this new medium would go on to revolutionize culture and society. The early years (1919-1922) of WWV were very experimental; it’s primary purpose as a frequency standard emerged in 1923.

07/10/2019

Did you know that WWV & WWVH still have Telephone Time-of-Day Service?

https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/radio-stations/wwv/telephone-time-day-service.

And it gets used! An incredible 2000 calls a day. Check out the story and give them a call! Might be interesting to hear the delay between over the air and a land line and/or cell connection. Is there a difference?

The audio portions of the WWV and WWVH broadcasts can also be heard by telephone. The time announcements are normally...

07/03/2019

This is a first in a series of videos to give viewers a "behind the scenes" glimpse into WWV

07/02/2019

Our first post lacked a caption for the photo! We'll do better from now on.

The 1943 image in the first post is of the "new" Beltsville, MD WWV station, which operated from 1943 until 1966. The original Beltsville location burned to the ground on November 6, 1940, recorded here in a newspaper clipping from the Washington Star.

We'll be sharing lots of "inside" WWV videos and images between now and the start of the special event station on September 27. If you're interested in operating and would like to learn more, please visit WWV100.com.