NIST Time and Frequency Services

Michael A. Lombardi

NIST Special Publication 432

(Minor text revisions made in April 2003)

NIST Time and Frequency Services

Michael A. Lombardi

Time and Frequency Division

Physics Laboratory

(Supersedes NIST Special Publication 432, dated June 1991)

January 2002

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Donald L. Evans, Secretary

TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATION

Phillip J. Bond, Under Secretary for Technology

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS 

AND TECHNOLOGY

Arden L. Bement, Jr., Director
this document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept 

adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation 

or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology,

nor is it intended to imply that the entities, materials, or equipment are 

necessarily the best available for the purpose.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL 

PUBLICATION 432 (SUPERSEDES NIST SPECIAL PUBLICATION 432, DATED 

JUNE 1991) NATL. INST. STAND.TECHNOL. SPEC. PUBL. 432, 76 PAGES 

(JANUARY 2002) 

CODEN: NSPUE2

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON: 2002

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Website: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2250 

Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001
iii

Chapter 1

How NIST Provides Time and Frequency

Standards for the United States 1

Who Needs Time and Frequency Standards? 1

NIST and the Primary Standards of Measurement 3

Atomic Time and the Definition of the Second 4

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) 5

Leap Seconds 7

Traceability 7

Time and Frequency Services Offered by NIST 10

Chapter 2

Synchronizing the Nation’s Clocks: NIST Radio Station WWVB 13

History of WWVB 13

WWVB Station Description 15

WWVB Signal Description 17

WWVB Coverage Area 21

WWVB Receiving Equipment and Applications 23

WWVB Performance 25

Chapter 3

Time Signals You Can Hear: NIST Radio Stations WWV and WWVH 29

History and Site Description of WWV 29

History and Site Description of WWVH 32

Station Specifications 33

Antennas 34

Transmitters 36

Information Transmitted 37

Time Announcements 37

Standard Time Intervals 37

Standard Audio Frequencies and Silent Periods 40

UT1 Corrections 40
ii

Geophysical Alerts 41

Marine Storm Warnings 45

Global Positioning System (GPS) Status Announcements 45

WWV/WWVH Time Code 45

Receiving Equipment 48

Listening to the Signals by Telephone 50

HF Propagation 51

Applications and Measurement Results 52

Chapter 4

Keeping Computers on Time: 

NIST Computer Time Synchronization Services 57

Internet Time Service (ITS) 57

ITS Servers 57

ITS Time Code Formats 58

Daytime Protocol (RFC-867) 58

Time Protocol (RFC-868) 59

Network Time Protocol (RFC-1305) 59

ITS Performance 59

Automated Computer Time Service (ACTS) 60

ACTS Time Code 60

nist.time.gov Web Site 62

Chapter 5

Remote Calibration Services 63

NIST Frequency Measurement and Analysis Service 63

Acknowledgments 65

Photo and Illustration Credits 67

Bibliography 69
1

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) maintains the standards 

for time and frequency for most users in the United States. NIST provides a variety of

services designed to deliver time and frequency signals to the people who need them.

The signals are broadcast via several mediums, including high and low frequency radio,

the Internet,and telephone lines. These signals are used to synchronize millions of clocks

everyday, throughout the United States and around the world. This booklet is a guide to

NIST Time and Frequency Services. It describes the signals and services offered by NIST,

how they work, and how you can use them.

Beginning with Chapter 2, we’ll take a detailed look at each of the time and frequency

services that NIST provides. However, let’s begin by discussing why time and frequency

services are needed in the first place, and how NIST provides and controls them.

Who Needs Time and Frequency Standards?

Everybody needs time and frequency standards. If we stop and think about it, time and

frequency standards are involved in one way or another in just about everything we do.

Time and frequency standards supply us with three basic types of information. The first

type, date and time-of-day, tell us when something happened. Date and time-of-day can

be used to record events, or to make sure that multiple events are synchronized, or happen at the same time. It’s easy to think of ways we use date and time-of-day in our everyday lives. For example, we use date information to remind us when birthdays, anniversaries, and other holidays are scheduled to occur. We use time-of-day information to set

our alarm clocks so we get out of bed on time. Our wristwatches and wall clocks help

us get to school and work on time. And if we plan to meet a friend for dinner at 6 p.m.,

that’s a simple example of synchronization. If our watches agree, we should both arrive

at about the same time.

Date and time-of-day information have other, more sophisticated uses as well. Fighter

planes flying in a high-speed formation require synchronized clocks. If one banks or

turns at the wrong time, it could result in a collision and loss of life. If you are watching

a network television program, the local station has to be ready to receive the network

feed (usually from a satellite), at the exact instant it arrives. This requires 

synchronization of the station and network clocks. The instruments used to detect 

and measure earthquakes, called seismographs, require synchronized clocks so that 

How NIST Provides Time and Frequency

Standards for the United States

Chapter 1
2

transactions need to be synchronized so that the buyer and seller can agree upon the

same price at the same time. A time error of just a few seconds could result in a large difference in the price of a stock. The electric power companies also need time 

synchronization. They use synchronized clocks throughout their power grids, so they

can instantly transfer power to the parts of the grid where it is needed most. They 

also use synchronized clocks to determine the location of short circuit faults along 

a transmission line.

The second type of information, time interval, tells us “how long” it takes for 

something to happen. We use time interval to state our age, or the amount of time 

we have been alive. Most workers are paid for the amount of time that they worked,

usually measured in hours, weeks, or months. We pay for time as well—30 minutes on

a parking meter, a 20 minute cab ride, a 5 minute long distance phone call, or a 

30 second radio advertising spot.

The standard unit of time interval is the second (s), which is defined according to 

a property of the cesium atom, as we shall see shortly. However, many applications in 

science and technology require the measurement of intervals much shorter than one second; such as milliseconds (10-3 s), microseconds (10-6 s), nanoseconds (10-9 s), and even

picoseconds (10-12 s).

The third type of information, frequency, is the rate at which something happens. The

unit we use to measure frequency is the hertz (Hz), or the number of events 

per second. Many of the frequencies we depend upon are generated by fast moving electrical signals that are reproduced many thousands (kHz) or millions (MHz) of times per

second, or even faster. For example, the quartz watch on your wrist keeps time by counting the frequency of a quartz crystal designed to run at a frequency of 32,768 Hz. When

the crystal has oscillated 32,768 times, the watch records that one second has elapsed.

Channel 7 on your television receives video at a frequency of 175.25 MHz. The station

has to transmit on this frequency as accurately as possible,so that its signal does not interfere with the signals from other stations. Your television has to be able to pick out the

channel 7 frequency from all the other available radio signals, so that you see the correct

picture on your screen. A high speed Internet connection might use something called a

T1 line, which sends data at a frequency of 1,544,000 bits per second (1.544 MHz). And

the computer that you use to connect to the Internet might run at a frequency faster than

1 GHz (one billion cycles per second). All of these applications require an oscillator that

produces a specific frequency. This oscillator should be stable, which means that the frequency it produces stays the same (with only minor variations) over long time intervals.

Accurate frequency is critical to today’s communication networks. It shouldn’t surprise

you that the highest capacity networks run at the highest frequencies. In order to send

data faster and faster, we need stable oscillators situated throughout a network that all

produce nearly the same frequency. The process of making multiple oscillators run at the

same frequency is called syntonization.
3

we mentioned, the standard unit of time interval is the second. If we count seconds in

an agreed upon fashion, we can calculate the date and the time-of-day. And if we count

the number of events that occur during a second, we can measure the frequency.

It’s easy to see that the world depends heavily on time and frequency information,

and that we rely on many millions of clocks and oscillators to keep time and produce 

frequency. To keep the world running smoothly, these devices need to be periodically

compared to an internationally recognized standard. This comparison might be as simple

as setting our watch or alarm clock to the correct minute,or adjusting the frequency of an

atomic oscillator so it keeps time within a few nanoseconds per day. The time and frequency standards maintained by NIST provide the reference for these comparisons.

NIST and the Primary Standards of Measurement

The task of maintaining the national standards for time and frequency is an important

part of the work done at NIST, and it fits in perfectly with the agency’s mission. NIST

serves as the national measurement laboratory, or the ultimate reference point for 

measurements made in the United States. NIST is responsible for maintaining the seven

base physical quantities at the highest possible accuracies. Time is one of the seven base

quantities; the others are used in the measurement of length, light, electricity, chemical

concentration, temperature, and mass. NIST distributes the standard units 

of measurement throughout the country in the form of measurement services and 

standard reference materials. By doing so, it provides measurement references to anyone

Figure 1.1. The NIST Boulder Laboratories
4

of the measurement is known and documented, the measurement is said to be traceable.

Establishing traceability is important to many organizations, because it helps them prove

that their measurements are being made correctly. In some cases,traceability is even a legal

or contractual requirement.

NIST strives to develop in-house measurement capabilities that exceed the highest

requirements of users in the United States. Since these requirements become more

demanding every year, NIST scientists and researchers are continually developing new

standards and measurement techniques to keep up with this demand. While these new

standards are being developed, other NIST personnel are busy distributing the existing

standards and measurement techniques, so that everyone can make traceable measurements that are nearly as good as those made inside the national laboratory.

Although most of NIST is located in Gaithersburg,Maryland,the Time and Frequency division is located in Boulder, Colorado (Figure 1.1). The time and frequency services controlled from Boulder are excellent examples of how NIST is able to distribute its standards

and measurement capability to a wide variety of users throughout the United States.

Atomic Time and the Definition of the Second

We mentioned earlier that the standard unit for time interval is the second (s). Since

1967, the second has been defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of the 

radiation associated with a specified transition of the cesium atom. Frequency

(expressed in hertz) is obtained by counting events over a 1 s interval.

The second is one of the seven base units of measurement in the International System

of Units (SI). These units are used to express the values of the seven physical quantities

that we mentioned earlier. The seven base units were defined by international agreement

and all other units of measurement can be derived from them. The International Bureau

of Weights and Measures (BIPM) located near Paris, France, is responsible for ensuring

that the major countries of the world use the SI units. This means that the second 

and the other base units are defined the same way all over the world. As a result,the timekeeping standards maintained by the major countries tend to closely agree with each

other—typically to within one microsecond, and often to within a few nanoseconds.

Since the second is defined based on a property of the cesium atom, it should come as

no surprise that the electronic device that produces the standard second is called a

cesium oscillator. Cesium oscillators (and other types of atomic oscillators) are called

intrinsic standards, because they produce frequency based on a natural phenomena,

in this case a property of an atom. NIST maintains an ensemble of atomic oscillators in

Boulder, Colorado. The outputs of these oscillators are averaged together to produce the

national standard for time and frequency. Most of the oscillators in the ensemble 

are commercially available, but the primary standard, called NIST-F1, is a custom device

that was designed and built at NIST (Figure 1.2). The primary standard is used to help

calibrate the ensemble.
5

time and frequency standards. NIST-F1 is a cesium fountain frequency standard, and has

many performance advantages over the earlier cesium beam standards. At this writing

(2001), NIST-F1 is one of the most accurate clocks in the world, and can keep time 

to within about 0.1 nanoseconds per day. Along with the other atomic clocks in the

ensemble, NIST-F1 provides the reference for the NIST time and frequency services.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

The ensemble and primary standard described above form what is known as the NIST

time scale. This time scale produces a very stable and accurate frequency by using a

weighted average of all its oscillators, with the best oscillators receiving the most weight.

Small adjustments, never more than about 2 nanoseconds per day, are made to the NIST

time scale to keep it in agreement with international standards. The output of the time

scale is called UTC(NIST), which is short for Coordinated Universal Time kept at NIST.

You can think of UTC(NIST) as both a frequency and a time standard. It produces an

extremely stable frequency that serves as the standard for the United States. It also produces

the standard for time interval,by generating pulses that occur once per second. By counting

these second pulses, NIST can keep time. The second pulses are added together to keep

track of longer units of time interval—such as years, months, days, hours, and minutes.

The UTC system of timekeeping is similar to your local time, with two major

differences. Since UTC is used internationally, it ignores local conventions

such as Daylight Saving Time and time

zones. In other words, UTC is the same

no matter where you are located on

Earth. Unlike local time, which is usually based on a 12-hour clock, UTC is a

24-hour clock system. The hours are

numbered from 0 to 23. The time 

at midnight is 0 hours, 0 minutes, and 

0 seconds. The time just before the next

midnight is 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 

59 seconds.

To convert UTC to local time,you need

to add or subtract a specific number 

of hours. The number of hours to add 

or subtract depends on the number of

time zones between your location and

the zero meridian that passes through

Greenwich, England. When local time

changes from Daylight Saving to

Figure 1.2. NIST-F1 Primary Standard
6

Figure 1.3. World Time Zone Map 
7

and local time changes by 1 hour. For example, in New York City, the difference between

UTC and local time is 5 hours when Standard Time is in effect, and 4 hours when Daylight

Saving Time is in effect.

Most of the hardware and software products that access NIST services allow you to

select your time zone and are capable of automatically converting UTC to your local time.

These products also automatically correct for Daylight Saving Time. The conversion is fairly simple. The chart of world time zones in Figure 1.3 shows the number of hours to add

or subtract from UTC to obtain your local standard time. If Daylight Saving Time is in

effect at your location, add 1 hour to what is shown on the chart.

Leap Seconds

As we mentioned earlier, the second is defined according to the intrinsic properties 

of the cesium atom. This means that UTC is an atomic time scale,which runs at an almost

perfectly constant rate. Prior to atomic time, time was kept using astronomical time

scales that used the rotation of the Earth as their reference. When the switch to atomic

time keeping occurred,it became obvious that while much was gained,some things were

lost. A few people still needed time referenced to the Earth’s rotation for applications

such as celestial navigation, satellite observations of the Earth, and some types of surveying. These applications relied on an astronomical time scale named UT1.

For these reasons, it was agreed that UTC should never differ from UT1 by more than

0.9 s. Therefore,those who needed UT1 could just use UTC,since they could be sure that

the difference between the two time scales would be less than 1 s. Keeping the two time

scales in agreement requires making occasional 1 s adjustments to UTC. These adjustments are called leap seconds. A leap second can be positive or negative, but so far,

only positive leap seconds have been needed. Leap seconds are announced by the

International Earth Rotation Service and are usually inserted into the UTC time scale on

June 30 or December 31, making those months 1 s longer than usual. Currently, about 4

leap seconds are required every 5 years.

All NIST services automatically add leap seconds when necessary. For the very few

people who need to know UT1 with an uncertainty of less than 1 s, most NIST services

also broadcast a UT1 correction. This correction reports the current time difference

between UTC and UT1 to the nearest 0.1 s.

Traceability

Earlier, we introduced the concept of measurement traceability. Each of the NIST time

and frequency services provides a way to establish traceability to NIST and to international standards. You can think of traceability as a chain that extends all the way from the

definition of the SI unit to your measurement or application. Keeping the chain intact

requires making a series of comparisons. Each link in the chain is continually compared

to the previous link. Figure 1.4 illustrates the part of the traceability chain that extends

from the SI definition of the second down to the NIST services.
8

The traceability chain starts with a time and frequency source that is as nearly perfect

as possible. For example, at the NIST laboratories it is possible to synchronize a clock to

within nanoseconds or even picoseconds of UTC. However, as we transfer UTC down

through the links in the chain, we add uncertainty to our measurement. By the time a

NIST service is used to synchronize a computer clock, the time might only be within a

few milliseconds of UTC, and these few milliseconds become our measurement uncertainty relative to UTC. This is an important concept. Whenever we talk about traceability, we also need to talk about measurement uncertainty. The typical uncertainty of each

time and frequency service is discussed in the following chapters.

Let’s examine Figure 1.4 to see how the traceability chain works. We mentioned 

that NIST compares its time and frequency standards to the time scales maintained in

other countries. The comparison data are handled and processed by the BIPM, the same

organization responsible for the SI units. Most international comparisons are done using

INTERNATIONAL

ATOMIC TIME

SCALES (TAI, UTC)

NIST PRIMARY

FREQUENCY

STANDARD

NIST ENSEMBLE OF

ATOMIC OSCILLATORS

TA (NIST)

UTC (NIST)

OTHER

INTERNATIONAL

TIME SCALES

NIST FREQUENCY

MEASUREMENT AND

ANALYSIS SERVICE

HF RADIO STATION

WWV

(FT. COLLINS, CO)

HF RADIO STATION

WWVH

(KAUAI, HI)

LF RADIO STATION

WWVB

(FT. COLLINS, CO)

AUTOMATED

COMPUTER TIME

SERVICE (ACTS)

INTERNET TIME

SERVICE (ITS)

(MUTIPLE SERVERS)

NIST.TIME.GOV

WEB SITE

AUDIO TIME SIGNALS

VIA TELEPHONE

Frequency Data

Time Data

Periodic Calibrations

Leap Seconds

GPS Link Various

Satellite Links

2.5, 5, 10,

15, 20 MHz

2.5, 5,

10, 15 MHz

60 kHz Telephone

System

Internet Internet

Comparisons made via common-view measurements and other methods

Figure 1.4. The Traceability Chain for NIST Time and Frequency Services
9

clock to another, you would connect them both to the same measurement system and

make a comparison. However, what if the two clocks aren’t located in the same place?

They might be in different buildings, different cities, or even different countries. For

example, what if you want to compare a clock in the United States to one in Italy?

Obviously,you can’t directly compare them using the same measurement system,but you

can indirectly compare them using the common-view technique.

To use the common-view technique, both oscillators are simultaneously compared to a

common-view reference and measurement data are collected. The reference is usually a

Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite, although other satellite and land based signals

are sometimes used. The collected measurement data are then exchanged and processed

to see how one oscillator compares to the other. For the purposes of illustration, let’s say

that the clock in the United States is measured to be 10 ns fast with respect to the satellite, and the clock in Italy is measured to be 10 ns slow with respect to the satellite. Even

though we were unable to directly compare the two clocks, we now know that the

United States clock was 20 ns ahead of the Italian clock at the time the common-view

measurement was made.

NIST is one of about 50 laboratories that send their common-view data to the BIPM.

Like NIST, most of these laboratories serve as the ultimate reference point for measurements made in their countries. The BIPM averages data from all of the contributing 

laboratories, and produces a time scale called International Atomic Time (TAI). When 

corrected for leap seconds,TAI becomes Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), or the true

international time scale.

Unlike UTC(NIST) and similar time scales maintained by other laboratories, UTC is 

a paper time scale. About 250 oscillators contribute to UTC,but the BIPM has access only

to the data, not the oscillators. Even so, the BIPM’s role is very important. They 

publish the time offset or difference of each laboratory’s version of UTC relative to 

the international average. For example, the BIPM publishes the time offset between UTC

and UTC(NIST), which is typically less than 10 ns. The work of the BIPM makes it possible for NIST and the other laboratories to adjust their standards so that they agree as 

closely as possible with the rest of the world. Since every national measurement 

laboratory is always comparing itself to the other laboratories, you can 

rest assured that the units of time and frequency are defined in the same way all over 

the world.

The process of comparing the NIST time scale to the other standards of the world 

completes the first link of the traceability chain. The second link is used to control the

broadcast services described in Chapters 2 through 4. These services are continuously compared to the NIST time scale, and much care is taken to keep the measurement 

uncertainty as small as possible. Some of the services used to synchronize computer 

equipment (Chapter 4) are directly connected to the NIST time scale, but most are 

referenced to atomic standards located outside of NIST’s Boulder, Colorado, laboratory.

For example, the NIST radio station sites described in Chapters 2 and 3 are located in Fort

Collins, Colorado, and Kauai, Hawaii. Three cesium standards are kept at Fort Collins and
10

These standards are continuously compared and adjusted to agree with the Boulder time

scale, using the same common-view technique used for the international comparisons. As a

result, time can easily be kept within 100 ns of UTC(NIST) at each radio station.

The next link in the traceability chain connects NIST to the user. The signals broadcast

by NIST must travel across a path en route to the user, and the uncertainties introduced by

this link are much larger than those introduced by the previous two links. As we shall see

in the following chapters, signals that travel over a low frequency (LF) radio 

or satellite path usually have smaller uncertainties than signals that travel over a high frequency (HF) radio path, or a telephone or Internet path.

The final link in the traceability chain occurs when you actually use the signal.

Some uncertainty is always added after the signal arrives at your location. The amount 

of uncertainty added depends upon your application. In some cases, the amount of 

uncertainty added by this final link will be much larger than the combined uncertainty 

of all the previous links. For example, if you use a NIST signal to synchronize a computer clock (Chapter 4), the resolution of the clock is one limiting factor. If the clock displays only seconds, you won’t be able to synchronize it to less than one second. Another

source of uncertainty is the delay introduced by your client software or operating 

system, which might be larger than the total broadcast delay. If you calibrate a stop 

watch using an audio time signal (Chapter 3), the largest cause of uncertainty is human

reaction time, which is not nearly as stable or consistent as the audio signal. In other

cases, the uncertainty of the final link is very small. The best receivers and measurement

systems use sophisticated electronics and software to preserve as much of the signal

accuracy as possible.

As you read through the rest of this booklet, keep the traceability chain in mind. NIST

maintains time and frequency standards that are as nearly perfect as possible. By providing

time and frequency services,NIST makes it possible for all of us to use these standards as the

reference for our own measurements.

Time and Frequency Services Offered by NIST

Table 1.1 lists the time and frequency services currently offered by NIST. It also lists the

medium each service uses to deliver its time and frequency information, what you need

to have in order to use the service, and some of its typical applications. The remaining

chapters provide a detailed look at each service listed in the table.

For the current status of each of these services, including contact information, broadcast

outage reports,and new developments,please visit the NIST Time and Frequency Division

web site located at:

http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq
11

NAME OF SERVICE REQUIREMENTS CHAPTER TIME FREQUENCY 

UNCERTAINTY UNCERTAINTY

Computer, Internet 

connection, web

browser 

Telephone

Computer, analog

modem, telephone line,

client software

Computer, Internet connection, client software

HF receiver

LF receiver

Paid subscription, 

NIST provides equipment

< 2 s

< 30 ms

< 15 ms 

< 100 ms

1 to 20 ms

0.1 to 15 ms 

< 20 ns 

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

10-6 to 10-9

10-10 to 10-12

2 ✕ 10-13

4

3

4

4

3

2

5

nist.time.gov 

web site 

Telephone time-of-day

service

Automated Computer

Time Service (ACTS)

Internet Time Service

(ITS)

Radio Stations WWV

and WWVH

Radio Station WWVB

Frequency

Measurement Service

(FMS)
12
13

There are literally millions of wall clocks, desk clocks, clock radios, wristwatches, and

other devices that set themselves to NIST time. These radio controlled clocks contain

tiny radio receivers tuned to NIST radio station WWVB, located near Fort Collins,

Colorado. WWVB continuously broadcasts time and frequency signals at 60 kHz, in the

part of the radio spectrum known as low frequency (LF). The WWVB signal includes a

time code containing all of the information needed to synchronize radio controlled

clocks in the United States and the surrounding areas. In addition, calibration and testing

laboratories use the 60 kHz carrier frequency from WWVB as a reference for the calibration of electronic equipment and frequency standards.

History of WWVB

LF and VLF (very low frequency) broadcasts have long been used to distribute time and

frequency standards. As early as 1904, the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) was

broadcasting time signals from the city of Boston as an aid to navigation. This experiment

and others like it made it evident that LF and VLF signals could cover a large area using a

relatively small amount of power. By 1923, NIST radio station WWV (Chapter 3) had

begun broadcasting standard carrier signals to the public on frequencies ranging from 75

to 2000 kHz. These signals were used to calibrate radio equipment, which became

increasingly important as more and more stations became operational. Over the years,

many radio navigation systems were designed using stable time and frequency signals

broadcast on the LF and VLF bands. The most well known of these navigation systems is

LORAN-C, which allows ships and planes to navigate by transmitting stable 100 kHz 

signals from multiple transmitters.

The station known today as WWVB began life as radio station KK2XEI in July 1956. The

transmitter was located at Boulder, Colorado, and the radiated power was just 

1.4 W. Even so,the signal was monitored at Harvard University in Massachusetts. The purpose of this experimental transmission was to show that the radio path was 

stable and the frequency error was small at low frequencies.

In 1962, NIST (then called the National Bureau of Standards or NBS) began building a

new facility at a site north of Fort Collins,Colorado. This site became the home of WWVB

and WWVL, a 20 kHz transmitter that was moved from the mountains west of Boulder.

Synchronizing the Nation’s Clocks: 

NIST Radio Station WWVB

Chapter 2
14

conductivity, which was due to the high alkalinity of the soil. It was also reasonably

close to Boulder (about 80 km, 49.3 mi), which made it easy to staff and manage; but

much farther away from the mountains. The increased distance from the mountains

made it a better choice for broadcasting an omnidirectional signal.

WWVB went on the air on July 5, 1963, broadcasting a 7 kW signal on 60 kHz. WWVL

began transmitting a 500 W signal on 20 kHz the following month. Although WWVL went

off the air in July 1972, the WWVB signal became a permanent part of the nation’s infrastructure.

A time code was added to WWVB on July 1, 1965. This made it possible for radio clocks

to be designed that could decode the signal and automatically synchronize themselves.

The time code format has changed only slightly since 1965; it uses a scheme known 

as binary coded decimal (BCD) which uses four binary digits (bits) to send one 

decimal number.

The radiated power of WWVB was increased to its current level of 50 kW in 1999. The

power increase made the coverage area much larger, and made it easy for tiny receivers

with simple antennas to receive the signal. This resulted in the introduction of many new

low cost radio controlled clocks that “set themselves” to agree with NIST time.

Figure 2.1. Aerial View of WWVB/WWV Station Site
15

WWVB Station Description

WWVB is located on a 390 acre (158 hectare)

site located near Fort Collins,Colorado. Radio

station WWV (Chapter 3) shares the same

location. An aerial view of the station site is

shown in Figure 2.1.

WWVB uses two nearly identical antennas

that were originally constructed in 1962, and

refurbished in 1999. The north antenna was

originally built for the now discontinued

WWVL 20 kHz broadcast, and the south

antenna was built for the WWVB 60 kHz broadcast. The antennas are spaced 867 m apart.

Figure 2.2 shows two of the south antenna

towers.

Each antenna is a top-loaded monopole consisting of four 122 m (400 ft) towers arranged

in a diamond shape (Figure 2.3). A system of

cables, often called a capacitance hat or top

hat, is suspended between the four towers.

This top hat is electrically isolated from the towers, and is electrically connected to a

downlead suspended from the center of the top hat. The combination of the downlead

and the top hat serves as the radiating element.

Ideally, an efficient antenna system requires a radiating element that is at least 

one-quarter wavelength long. However, at a low frequency such as 60 kHz, it is difficult to

construct an antenna that large.The wavelength of 60 kHz is about 5000 m,so a one-quarter

Figure 2.2. WWVB Antenna Towers

Figure 2.3. Diagram of WWVB Antenna Array
16

wavelength antenna would be 1250 m tall, or about 10 times the height of the WWVB

antenna towers. As a compromise, some of the missing length was added horizontally to

the top hats of this vertical dipole, and the downlead of each antenna is terminated at its

own helix house under the top hats. Each helix house contains a large inductor to cancel

the capacitance of the short antenna and a variometer (variable inductor) to tune the antenna system. Energy is fed from the transmitters to the helix houses using underground cables

housed in two concrete trenches. Each trench is about 435 m long.

A computer is used to automatically tune the antennas during icy and/or windy 

conditions. This automatic tuning provides a dynamic match between the transmitter and

the antenna system. The computer looks for a phase difference between voltage and current at the transmitter. If one is detected, an error signal is sent to a three-phase motor in

the helix house that rotates the rotor inside the variometer. This retunes the antenna and

restores the match between the antenna and transmitter.

There are three transmitters at the WWVB site. Two are in constant operation and one

serves as a standby. A photograph of one of the transmitters is shown in Figure 2.4. Each

transmitter consists of two identical power amplifiers that are combined to produce the

greatly amplified signal sent to the antenna. One transmitter delivers an amplified time

code signal into the north antenna system, and one transmitter feeds the south antenna

system. The time code is fed to a console where it passes through a control system and

then is delivered to the transmitters.

Figure 2.4. A WWVB Transmitter
17

using a single transmitter and antenna. As we described, the length of the WWVB antennas is much less than one-quarter wavelength. And when the length of a vertical radiator

is less than the wavelength, the efficiency of the antenna goes down, and some of the

transmitter power is lost. In other words,if the efficiency of an antenna is less than 100%,

the transmitter power is greater than the effective radiated power. The north antenna system at WWVB has an efficiency of about 57%, and the south antenna has an efficiency of

about 59%. However, the combined efficiency of the north and south antennas is about

71%. As a result, each transmitter must produce only about 36 kW of power for WWVB

to produce its effective radiated power of 50 kW.

On rare occasions, one of the WWVB antenna systems might require maintenance or

repairs. When this happens, the power of one transmitter is temporarily increased to about

50 kW and a single transmitter and antenna are used to deliver the signal. Using this technique, the station is still able to deliver an effective radiated power of about 28 kW.

TABLE 2.1 – CHARACTERISTICS AND SERVICES OF WWVB

WWVB Signal Description

WWVB identifies itself by advancing its carrier phase 45° at 10 minutes after the hour and

returning to normal phase at 15 minutes after the hour. If you plot WWVB phase, this

results in an hourly phase shift of approximately 2.1 μs as shown in Figure 2.5.

WWVB is also identified by its unique time code. The time code is synchronized with

the 60 kHz carrier and is broadcast continuously at a rate of 1 bit per second using a simple modulation scheme called pulse width modulation. The time code is sent in binary

coded decimal (BCD) format, where four binary digits (bits) are used to represent one

decimal number. The carrier power is reduced and restored to produce the time code

bits. The carrier power is reduced 10 dB at the start of each second. If full power is

CHARACTERISTICS & SERVICES NIST RADIO STATION WWVB

Date Service Began July 1956

South Antenna Coordinates 40° 40’ 28.3” N

105° 02’ 39.5” W

North Antenna Coordinates 40° 40’ 51.3” N

105° 03’ 00.0” W

Standard Carrier Frequency 60 kHz

Power 50 kW

Standard Time Intervals Seconds, 10 seconds, minutes

Time of Day Information Time code frame sent every minute, BCD format
18

restored 200 ms later, it represents a 0 bit. If full power is restored 500 ms later, it represents a 1 bit. If full power is restored 800 ms later, it represents a reference marker or a

position identifier.

The binary-to-decimal weighting scheme is 8-4-2-1. The most significant bit is sent first.

This is the reverse of the WWV/ WWVH time code described in Chapter 3. The BCD

groups and the equivalent decimal numbers are shown in Table 2.2.

TABLE 2.2 - BCD WEIGHTING SCHEME USED BY WWVB TIME CODE

Figure 2.5. WWVB Phase Signature

DECIMAL BIT 1 BIT 2 BIT 3 BIT 4

NUMBER 23 22 21 20

00000

10001

20010

30011

40100

50101

60110

70111

81000

91001
19

Figure 2.6. The WWVB Time Code Format
BIT NUMBER BIT DESCRIPTION BIT NUMBER BIT DESCRIPTION

0 Frame Reference Bit, Pr 30 Day of Year, 8

1 Minutes, 40 31 Day of Year, 4

2 Minutes, 20 32 Day of Year, 2

3 Minutes, 10 33 Day of Year, 1

4 Reserved 34 Reserved

5 Minutes, 8 35 Reserved

6 Minutes, 4 36 UTI Sign, +

7 Minutes, 2 37 UTI Sign, -

8 Minutes, 1 38 UTI Sign, +

9 Position Marker 1, P1 39 Position Marker 4, P4

10 Reserved 40 UT1 Correction, 0.8 s

11 Reserved 41 UT1 Correction, 0.4 s

12 Hours, 20 42 UT1 Correction, 0.2 s

13 Hours, 10 43 UT1 Correction, 0.1 s

14 Reserved 44 Reserved

15 Hours, 8 45 Year, 80

16 Hours, 4 46 Year, 40

17 Hours, 2 47 Year, 20

18 Hours, 1 48 Year, 10

19 Position Marker 2, P2 49 Position Marker 5, P5

20 Reserved 50 Year, 8

21 Reserved 51 Year, 4

22 Day of Year, 200 52 Year, 2

23 Day of Year, 100 53 Year, 1

24 Reserved 54 Reserved

25 Day of Year, 80 55 Leap Year Indicator

26 Day of Year, 40 56 Leap Second Warning

27 Day of Year, 20 57 Daylight Saving Time

28 Day of Year, 10 58 Daylight Saving Time

29 Position Marker 3, P3 59 Frame Reference Bit, P0

20
21

contains the current minute, hour, day of year, the last two digits of the current year, the

UT1 correction, leap year and leap second indicators, and information about daylight and

standard time. Two BCD groups are used to express the hour (00 to 23), minute (00 to

59),and year (00 to 99);and three groups are used to express the day of year (001 to 366).

The time code frame begins with a frame reference marker consisting of reference 

bits P0 and Pr. The on-time reference point of the time code frame is the leading edge of

the reference bit Pr. Seconds are determined by counting pulses within the frame.

Position markers (P1 through P5) lasting for 0.8 s are transmitted every 10 s 

within the time code frame. The individual bits are annotated in Table 2.3.

UT1 corrections are broadcast at seconds 36 through 43. The bits transmitted at 

seconds 36, 37, and 38 show if UT1 is positive or negative with respect to UTC. If 1 bits

are sent at seconds 36 and 38, the UT1 correction is positive. If a 1 bit is sent at second

37, the UT1 correction is negative. Bits 40, 41, 42, and 43 form a four-bit BCD group that

show the magnitude of the correction in units of 0.1 s.

A leap year indicator is transmitted at second 55. If it is set to 1, the current year is a

leap year. The bit is set to 1 during each leap year after January 1 but before February 29.

It is set back to 0 on January 1 of the year following the leap year.

A leap second indicator is transmitted at second 56. If this bit is high, it indicates that

a leap second will be added to UTC at the end of the current month. The bit is set to 

1 near the start of the month in which a leap second is added. It is set to 0 immediately

after the leap second insertion.

Daylight saving time (DST) and standard time (ST) information is transmitted at seconds

57 and 58. When ST is in effect, bits 57 and 58 are set to 0. When DST is in effect, bits

57 and 58 are set to 1. On the day of a change from ST to DST bit 57 changes from 0 to

1 at 0000 UTC, and bit 58 changes from 0 to 1 exactly 24 hours later. On the day of a

change from DST back to ST bit 57 changes from 1 to 0 at 0000 UTC, and bit 58 changes

from 1 to 0 exactly 24 hours later.

Figure 2.6 shows one frame of the time code. The six position identifiers are labeled as

P0, P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5. The minutes, hours, days, year, and UT1 sets are marked by

brackets; with the weighting factors printed below the bits. Wide pulses represent 1 bits

and narrow pulses represent 0 bits. Unused bits are set to 0. The decoded UTC at the

start of the frame is 2001, 258 days, 18 hours, and 42 minutes. Since the UT1 correction

is –0.7 s, the decoded UT1 is 2001, 258 days, 18 hours, 41 minutes, 59.3 s.

WWVB Coverage Area

The propagation characteristics of LF radio waves make them well suited for time and frequency transfer. At these longer wavelengths, losses in the Earth’s surface are low. Thus,

the ground wave can travel well for thousands of kilometers and moderate amounts of

transmitted power can cover large portions of a hemisphere.
22

nighttime hours in the Fall season (October). The dark color indicate areas where signal

levels are estimated to be 100 microvolts per meter (μV/m) or greater. Table 2.4 provides

a rough estimate of the expected seasonal signal strength at six different locations.

TABLE 2.4 - ESTIMATED SEASONAL SIGNAL STRENGTH OF WWVB, μV/M

Season UTC Cutler, Honolulu Mexico Miami San Diego Seattle 

Maine City

Winter 0000 220 3.2 180 180 180 250

Winter 0400 220 125 560 560 1000 560

Winter 0800 220 320 560 560 1000 560 

Winter 1200 320 320 560 560 1000 560 

Winter 1600 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Winter 2000 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Spring 0000 25 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Spring 0400 250 32 560 180 1000 560 

Spring 0800 250 400 560 180 1000 560 

Spring 1200 40 400 320 100 1000 560 

Spring 1600 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Spring 2000 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Summer 0000 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Summer 0400 250 8 560 560 1000 560 

Summer 0800 250 400 560 560 1000 560 

Summer 1200 32 100 180 100 560 320 

Summer 1600 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Summer 2000 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Fall 0000 125 3.2 180 56 180 250 

Fall 0400 250 180 560 500 1000 560 

Fall 0800 250 100 560 500 1000 560 

Fall 1200 12 100 560 18 1000 560 

Fall 1600 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 

Fall 2000 32 3.2 180 100 180 250 
23

WWVB Receiving Equipment and Applications

WWVB receivers are used to control digital and analog wall clocks, desk clocks, travel

alarms, clock radios, and wristwatches. New applications for WWVB receivers are found

almost daily, and millions of units have been sold.

The simple WWVB receivers share several common characteristics. The receiver usually consists of a single integrated circuit that amplifies and demodulates the WWVB signal.

A microprocessor (sometimes integrated into the receiver circuit) is often used to 

digitally process the time code and drive either an analog or digital display. On some

models the microprocessor also outputs the time code to a serial interface so it can be

read by a computer system.

One major advantage of WWVB is that

the signal can be received using an indoor

antenna. LF signals have long wavelengths and when they collide with an

object, the angle of incidence is very

small. This allows much of the signal to

penetrate the object it strikes instead of

being reflected. The 60 kHz WWVB signal

has a wavelength of approximately 5000

m and can penetrate buildings and walls

and easily reach indoor antennas. The

antennas used are surprisingly simple.

One type of antenna often used in WWVB

designs is a ferrite loop, similar to those

found inside an AM radio. This antenna

consists of a ferrite (a grayish-black material) bar wrapped with a coil of fine wire. The

length of wire and the way it is positioned and wrapped on the bar determine how well

the antenna works. The goal is to make the antenna electrically resonant at either a quarter or half-wavelength of the 60 kHz carrier frequency. For the purpose of illustration, a

Figure 2.7. Daylight Coverage Area Figure 2.8. Nighttime Coverage Area

Figure 2.9. WWVB Receiver Circuit
24

The bar at the top of the photograph is a 4 in (10.16 cm) wide ferrite loop antenna,so you

can see that the circuit board is just a few centimeters wide and contains just a few components. Obviously, the receivers and antennas used by some products, such as WWVB

wristwatches, are much smaller than the one pictured here.

WWVB clocks like those you might find in a home or office are shown in Figure 2.10.

These clocks not only keep accurate time, but they automatically adjust for Daylight

Saving Time, leap seconds, and leap years. They work by synchronizing an inexpensive

quartz oscillator to the WWVB time code. The period of synchronization varies from

model to model, but many units synchronize only once every 24 hours; usually during the

evening when the signal is strongest. In between synchronizations,time is kept using the

quartz oscillator. Typically, the quartz oscillator can maintain frequency to within a few

parts per million,so it will take at least two or three days to gain or lose a full second even

if WWVB has not been received. Therefore,synchronizing once per day is usually enough

to keep a clock’s display on the right second. If you live within the coverage area and

your WWVB clock is unable to synchronize, it usually means a source of radio interference is near the receiver. Some common culprits are computer monitors (some have a

scan rate at or very close to 60 kHz),noisy AC wiring,fluorescent lamps,or nearby power

lines, transformers, or radio transmitters.

More expensive WWVB receivers are used for applications that require better performance and reliability. These receivers continually track the signal, and require an 

outdoor antenna for best results. Figure 2.11 shows a receiver designed to distribute time 

to other systems,such as communications systems,computers,wall clocks,voice recorders,

radio consoles,phone systems,and so on. This type of receiver includes a large digital clock

Figure 2.10. WWVB Radio Controlled Clocks
25

display, and typically outputs a time code in several different formats. Time codes in text

and binary format are output in computer readable format using standard serial interfaces

such as RS-232 and RS-485. Standard time code formats like those defined by the InterRange Instrumentation Group (IRIG) or the National Emergency Number Association

(NENA) might also be available. In addition, this type of receiver might include an on time

1 pulse per second signal that can be used as a measurement reference.

Another type of WWVB receiver is designed to work as a frequency standard that can

distribute standard frequencies or be used as a reference to calibrate other oscillators.

This type of device is known as a carrier phase tracking receiver. It disciplines a stable

quartz oscillator so that it agrees with the WWVB signal and outputs standard frequencies

such as 100 kHz,1 MHz,5 MHz,and 10 MHz. The receiver continuously compares its local 

oscillator to the WWVB signal and makes corrections as necessary. Some receivers

designed as frequency standards ignore the time code entirely and do not output 

time-of-day or an on-time pulse.

WWVB Performance 

NIST maintains the time and frequency standards at the WWVB site as closely as possible.

The transmitted frequency of WWVB is maintained within a few parts in 1013 and time at

the station site is kept within 100 ns of UTC(NIST).

The received performance of WWVB depends upon the quality of the received signal,

the type of receiver and antenna used, and the distance between your receiving site and

the transmitter. Let’s look at a few examples of the type of performance you can obtain.

The majority of WWVB users use the station to get time-of-day,using low cost consumer

clocks and watches such as those shown in Figure 2.10. The received time is delayed as

Figure 2.11. WWVB Time Distribution Receiver
26

the greater the delay. Like all radio signals, the WWVB signal travels at the speed of light

and the longest possible delay in the continental United States is <15 ms. For most people and most applications, this small amount of delay really doesn’t make any difference.

For example, if the time displayed by a wall clock or wristwatch is 15 ms late, your eyes

won’t be able to tell.

If you need more accurate time, you might want to calibrate the path. For example,

some WWVB receivers produce a 1 pulse per second (pps) signal. This signal is intended to be on time, or to coincide with the arrival of the UTC second. Receivers that produce 1 pps may have a switch or software setting that allows you to advance the on-time

pulse to compensate for the path delay. You can estimate the path delay with software

that computes the distance between your receiving site and WWVB (the station’s coordinates are listed in Table 2.1), and then calculates the time required for a radio signal 

to travel that distance. Using this technique, it’s possible to keep time within 0.1 ms 

of UTC.

If you use WWVB for frequency measurements or calibrations, there is no need to 

estimate or compensate for the path delay. For frequency, the important issue is path 

stability, or the changes in the path delay that occur over time. Part of the signal that

leaves the WWVB transmitter travels along the ground (groundwave) and another part 

is reflected from the ionosphere (skywave). Groundwave reception provides better

results than skywave reception. The reason is simple—the groundwave signal follows 

a direct route to your receiver, and therefore the path length doesn’t change very much.

Since the groundwave doesn’t travel as far as the skywave, it might not be possible 

to receive. The further you are from the transmitter,the more important it is to have a sensitive receiver and a good antenna in order to track the groundwave. If your receiving site

is relatively close to the transmitter (<1000 km), the signal should be predominantly

groundwave. For longer paths, a mixture of groundwave and skywave is received. And

over a very long path, the groundwave might become so weak that it is only possible to

receive the skywave. In this instance, the path becomes much less stable.

The characteristics of a LF path also vary at different times of day. For example, during

the daylight and nighttime hours the path delay might vary by only a few hundred

nanoseconds. However, if the skywave is being received, phase shifts will occur at 

sunrise and sunset. For instance, as the path changes from all darkness to all daylight, the

ionosphere lowers and the path gets shorter. The path length then stabilizes until either

the transmitter or receiver enters darkness. At this point, the ionosphere rises 

and the path gets longer. If the signal becomes weak and the receiver loses its tracking

point on the carrier, it often has to find a new cycle of the carrier to track. Therefore, the

received phase of WWVB often shifts by a multiple of 16.67 μs, or the period of 

the 60 kHz carrier, if the signal is weak or noisy.

WWVB receivers designed as frequency standards attempt to stay locked to the 

60 kHz carrier as tightly as possible. Receivers that stay locked to the same groundwave
27

cycle at all times can produce frequency traceable to UTC(NIST) with an uncertainty of

< 1 ✕ 10-12 when averaged over one or more days. The peak-to-peak variation in the phase

is typically about 1 microsecond over 24 hours (Figure 2.12). If the receiver is changing

cycles and/or losing lock due to a weak or noisy signal, large phase steps could be introduced and the frequency uncertainty might be 10 to 100 times larger.

The data points shown in Figure 2.12 are one-hour averages so the phase signature

(Figure 2.4) has been averaged out. The phase plot shows a diurnal variation due to

changes in the path length at sunrise and sunset. Each individual day looks like one

“cycle” of the phase plot. This same pattern will repeat itself day after day if the 

receiver stays locked to the signal.

Figure 2.12. WWVB Phase as Received in Boulder, Colorado
28
29

The world’s most famous time announcements undoubtedly are those broadcast by

NIST radio stations WWV and WWVH. Millions of listeners are familiar with these broadcasts,

where the announcer states the time in hours, minutes, and seconds “at the tone.” These

stations operate in the part of the radio spectrum that is properly known as HF (high frequency), but is commonly called shortwave. WWV is located just north of Fort Collins,

Colorado, and WWVH is located on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Both stations broadcast

continuous time and frequency signals on 2.5,5,10,and 15 MHz,and WWV also broadcasts

on 20 MHz. Both stations can also be heard by telephone. And as we shall see in this chapter, both stations provide much more information than just the time.

The coverage area of the two stations is essentially worldwide on 5, 10, and 15 MHz,

although reception might be difficult in some areas, since standard time and frequency

stations in other parts of the world use these same frequencies. Both stations send QSL

cards confirming reports of long distance reception. WWV has received reports from as

far away as the South Pole, and reports from Europe, Asia, and Australia are common.

WWVH has received reports from as far away as South Africa, a distance of 19,300 km

(12,000 miles) from Hawaii.

WWV and WWVH broadcast the same program on all frequencies, 24 hours a day. At

least one of the frequencies should be usable at any given time of day. The most commonly used frequency is 10 MHz, since it is normally usable both during the day and 

at night. As a general rule, frequencies above 10 MHz work best in the daytime, and 

the lower frequencies work best at night. The 2.5 MHz broadcasts work best in the area

near the stations. For example, the 2.5 MHz WWV broadcast should work well for residents of Colorado and its neighboring states, since propagation is similar to the commercial AM broadcast band.

History and Site Description of WWV

WWV has a long and storied history that dates back to the very beginning of radio broadcasting. The call letters WWV were assigned to NIST (then called the National Bureau 

of Standards) in October 1919. Although the call letters WWV are now synonymous with

the broadcasting of time signals, it is unknown why those particular call letters were chosen or assigned. Testing of the station began from Washington,D.C. in May 1920,with the

Time Signals You Can Hear: 

NIST Radio Stations WWV and WWVH

Chapter 3
30

50 W transmissions used a wavelength of 500 m (about 600 kHz, or near the low end 

of today’s commercial AM broadcast band), and could be heard out to about 40 km away

from the station. A news release dated May 28, 1920 hinted at the significance 

of this event:

This means that music can be performed at any place, radiated into the air

by means of an ordinary radio set, and received at any other place even

though hundreds of miles away. The music received can be made as loud as

desired by suitable operation of the receiving apparatus. Such concerts are

sometimes sent out by the radio laboratory of the Bureau of Standards in

connection with trials of experimental apparatus. 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.

Interesting possibilities, indeed! Keep in mind that KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

generally acknowledged as the first commercial broadcast station, did not go on the air

until November 2, 1920.

On December 15, 1920 the station began assisting the Department of Agriculture in the

distribution of market news to farm bureaus and agricultural organizations. A 2 kW spark

transmitter and telegraphic code were used to broadcast 500 word reports, called the

Daily Market Marketgram, on 750 kHz. The operating radius was about 300 km out of

Washington. These broadcasts continued until April 15, 1921.

By December 1922, it was decided that the station’s purpose would be the transmission

of standard frequency signals. The first tests were conducted on January 29th and 30th of

1923, and included the broadcast of wavelengths from 200 to 545 kHz. By May of 1923,

WWV was broadcasting frequencies from 75 to 2000 kHz on a weekly schedule. The accuracy of the transmitted frequency was quoted as being “better than three-tenths of one per

cent.” The output power of the station was 1 kW.

There were numerous changes in both the broadcast schedule, format, and frequency of

WWV throughout the 1920’s. In January 1931,the station was moved from Washington to

the nearby city of College Park,Maryland. A 150 W transmitter operating at 5 MHz was initially used, but the power was increased back to 1 kW the following year. A new device,

the quartz oscillator, made it possible to dramatically improve the stability of the output

frequency of WWV. Quartz oscillators were first used at WWV in 1927, and by 1932

allowed the transmitted frequency to be controlled to less than 2 parts in 107

.

The station moved again in December 1932, this time to a Department of Agriculture

site near Beltsville, Maryland. By April of 1933, the station was broadcasting 30 kW on 

5 MHz, and 10 and 15 MHz broadcasts (20 kW output power) were added in 1935.

The 5 MHz frequency was chosen for several reasons, including “its wide coverage, its relative freedom from previously assigned stations, and its convenient integral relation with
31

or multiples of 5 MHz. WWV continues to use all of these frequencies today, as well as

another harmonic (20 MHz), and a sub-harmonic (2.5 MHz).

The Beltsville area was the home of WWV until December 1966 (although the location

name for the broadcast was changed to Greenbelt, Maryland in 1961). During the years

in Beltsville, many interesting developments took place. A fire destroyed the station in

November 1940, but the standard frequency equipment was salvaged and the station

returned to the air just five days later using an adjacent building. An act of Congress in

July 1941 provided $230,000 for the construction of a new station, which was built 5 km

south of the former site and went on the air in January 1943. The 2.5 MHz broadcasts began

in February 1944 and have continued to the present day. Transmission on 20, 25, 30, and

35 MHz began in December 1946. The 30 and 35 MHz broadcasts were discontinued in

January 1953 and the 25 MHz broadcast was stopped in 1977. With the exception of an

almost two-year interruption in 1977 and 1978, the 20 MHz broadcasts have continued to

the present day.

Much of the current broadcast format also took shape during the Beltsville years.

The 440 Hz tone (A above middle C) was added to the broadcast in August 1936, at 

the request of several music organizations. Since 1939, 440 Hz (known to musicians 

as A4 or A440) has been the international standard for musical pitch. The second pulses

were added in June 1937, and the geophysical alert messages began in July 1957. And as

quartz oscillator technology improved,so did the frequency control of the broadcast. The

transmitted frequency was routinely kept within 2 parts in 1010 of the national 

standard by 1958.

WWV’s most well known feature, the announcement of time, also began during 

the Beltsville years. A standard time announcement in telegraphic code was added in

October 1945, and voice announcements of time began on January 1, 1950. The original

voice announcements were at five-minute intervals. It is interesting to note that WWV

continued to broadcast local time at the transmitter site until 1967.

From 1955 to 1958,WWV played a key role in the definition of the atomic second. During

this period the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) in Washington, D.C., and 

the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington, United Kingdom made simultaneous

common-view measurements of the signals broadcast from WWV. The USNO compared the

signal to an astronomical time scale (UT2) and NPL compared the signal to the new cesium

standard they had just developed. The data they collected helped the USNO and NPL equate

the length of the astronomical second to the atomic second, and led to the atomic second

being defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of the cesium atom.

In 1966,WWV was moved to its current location,near Fort Collins,Colorado. The LF station WWVB had gone on the air in July 1963 near Fort Collins, and it was decided that

WWV would share the same 390 acre (158 hectare) site. The new site was about 80 km

from the Boulder laboratories where the national standards of time and frequency were

kept. The proximity to Boulder and the use of atomic oscillators at the transmitter site

would make it possible to control the transmitted frequency to within 2 parts in 1011,
32

parts in 1013.

At 0000 UTC on December 1, 1966 the Greenbelt, Maryland, broadcast was turned off

and the new transmitter at Fort Collins was turned on. In April 1967, the station began

broadcasting Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) instead of local time, and began its current

format of using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in December 1968. The time

announcements were made every minute, instead of every 5 minutes, beginning in 

July 1971.

On August 13, 1991 both WWV and WWVH began broadcasting voice recordings that

were digitized and stored in solid state memory devices. Previous voice recordings were

played back from mechanical drum recorders, which were more prone to failure. The

male voice on WWV was designed to sound like Don Elliot,the station’s original announcer. WWVH still uses the voice of its original announcer, Jane Barbe, although the digital

storage device has made her voice sound slightly different.

Other new features and programming changes have been added to the WWV broadcast

over the past decade,and the current station schedule is described in the remainder of this

chapter. A photo of the station is shown in Figure 3.1.

History and Site Description of WWVH

WWVH began operation on November 22,1948 at Kihei on the island of Maui,in the then

territory of Hawaii (Hawaii was not granted statehood until 1959). The original station

broadcast a low power signal on 5, 10, and 15 MHz. As it does today, the program schedule of WWVH closely follows the format of WWV. However,voice announcements of time

were not added to the WWVH broadcast until July 1964.

Figure 3.1. Radio Station WWV
33

constantly threatened by an eroding

shoreline, and much of the station’s

equipment and property had been damaged. It was estimated that 75 feet of

shoreline were lost in the period from

1949 to 1967. By 1965, the ocean was

within a few meters of both the main

building and the 15 MHz antenna, and it

was obviously necessary to move WWVH

to a new location.

In July 1971, the station moved to its current location, a 30 acre (12 hectare) site near

Kekaha on the Island of Kauai,Hawaii. Photographs of the entrance to WWVH and an aerial view are shown in Figures 3.2 and 3.3.

Station Specifications

WWV and WWVH radiate 10 kW on 5, 10, and 15 MHz. The radiated power is lower on

the other frequencies:WWV radiates 2.5 kW on 2.5 and 20 MHz while WWVH radiates 5

kW on 2.5 MHz and does not broadcast on 20 MHz. This information is summarized in

Table 3.1.

Figure 3.2. Radio Station WWVH

Figure 3.3. Aerial View of WWVH Station Site
34

Antennas

The WWV antennas are half-wave vertical antennas that radiate omnidirectional patterns.

Since there are five broadcast frequencies,five antennas are in use at all times. Each antenna is connected to a single transmitter using a rigid coaxial line,and the site is designed so

that no two coaxial lines cross. Each antenna is mounted on a tower that is approximately one half-wavelength tall. The tallest tower, for 2.5 MHz, is about 60 m tall. The shortest

tower, for 20 MHz, is about 7.5 m tall. The 10 m tall tower for the 15 MHz broadcast (with

the 122 m tall WWVB towers in the background) is pictured in Figure 3.4.

Figure 3.4. 15 MHz WWV Antenna (WWVB Towers in Background)

Characteristics WWV WWVH

Date Service Began March 1923 November 1948 

Standard Carrier Frequencies 2.5, 5, 10, 15, & 20 MHz 2.5, 5, 10, & 15 MHz 

Power 2.5 kW on 2.5 and 20 MHz, 5 kW on 2.5 MHz, 10 kW 

10 kW on 5, 10, and 15 MHz on 5, 10, and 15 MHz
35

of each antenna consists of nine quarter-wavelength wires that connect to the center of the

tower and slope downwards to the ground at a 45° angle. This sloping skirt functions as the

lower half of the radiating system and also guys the antenna (Figure 3.5). The WWV antenna coordinates are listed in Table 3.2.

TABLE 3.2 – WWV ANTENNA COORDINATES

WWV also has standby antennas that are used only if a primary transmitter or antenna

fails. On 2.5, 15, and 20 MHz, these antennas are connected to the standby transmitters.

The standby antenna for 15 MHz is an omnidirectional half-wave dipole. Broadband

antennas serve as the standby units for 2.5 and 20 MHz. On 5 and 10 MHz, the primary

and standby transmitters share the same antenna, and an automated RF switch is used to

switch between transmitters if necessary.

The 2.5 MHz antenna at WWVH is nearly identical to its WWV counterpart. However,

the 5,10,and 15 MHz antennas are phased array vertical dipoles. They consist of two halfwave vertical dipoles that are separated by a quarter-wavelength and driven 90° out of

phase. These antennas radiate a cardioid pattern with the maximum gain pointed toward

the west. Each frequency also has a vertical monopole standby antenna connected to the

standby transmitters, in the event that the primary system fails. The WWVH Antenna

Coordinates are listed in Table 3.3.

TABLE 3.3 – WWVH ANTENNA COORDINATES

Frequency (MHz) Latitude Longitude

2.5 40° 40’ 55.2” N 105° 02’ 31.3” W

5 40° 40’ 42.1” N 105° 02’ 24.9” W

10 40° 40’ 47.8” N 105° 02’ 25.1” W

15 40° 40’ 45.0” N 105° 02’ 24.5” W

20 40° 40’ 53.1” N 105° 02’ 28.5” W

Frequency (MHz) Latitude Longitude

2.5 21° 59’ 20.9” N 159° 45’ 52.4” W

5 21° 59’ 10.8” N 159° 45’ 44.8” W

10 21° 59’ 18.2” N 159° 45’ 51.3” W

15 21° 59’ 15.3” N 159° 45’ 50.0” W
36

Transmitters

The WWV transmitters consist of two types: plate modulated class C transmitters operating

at 10 kW each on 5, 10 and 15 MHz, and class A transmitters operating at 2.5 kW each on

2.5 and 20 MHz. All frequencies have a standby transmitter/antenna system that will automatically begin operating within three minutes of a primary system failure.

WWVH uses class-C plate modulated transmitters on 5, 10, and 15 MHz that operate at

10 kW with 50% efficiency. The 2.5 MHz transmitter is of the class-A type and operates

at 5 kW with 20% efficiency. All four frequencies have a backup transmitter/antenna system that will automatically begin transmission within three minutes after the primary system fails. All four of the backup

transmitters are 5 kW class-A transmitters,

identical to the primary transmitter on

2.5 MHz.

The signals broadcast by both stations

use double sideband amplitude modulation. The modulation level is 50% for

the steady tones, 50% for the BCD time

code, 100% for the second pulses and the

minute and hour markers,and 75% for the

voice announcements.

Figure 3.6. WWV Control Room

Figure 3.5. Diagram of WWV Antenna
37

from cesium oscillators that are steered to agree with UTC(NIST). Figure 3.6 shows a

portion of the equipment in the WWV control room, including the time code generators and cesium oscillators.

Information Transmitted 

WWV and WWVH are best known for their audio time announcements, but the stations

provide other information as summarized in Table 3.4.

TABLE 3.4 – INFORMATION PROVIDED BY WWV AND WWVH

Figures 3.7 and 3.8 show the hourly program schedules of WWV and WWVH along with

station location, radiated power, and details of the modulation.

Time Announcements

Voice announcements are made from WWV and WWVH once every minute. Since 

both stations can be heard in some areas, a man’s voice is used on WWV, and a woman’s

voice is used on WWVH to avoid confusion. The WWVH announcement occurs first, at

about 15 s before the minute. The WWV announcement follows at about 7.5 s before the

minute. Though the announcements occur at different times, the tone markers 

are transmitted at the exact same time from both stations. However, they may not be

received at exactly the same instant due to differences in the propagation delays from the

two station sites.

Standard Time Intervals

The most frequent sounds heard on WWV and WWVH are the seconds pulses. These pulses are heard every second except on the 29th and 59th seconds of each minute.

The first pulse of each hour is an 800 ms pulse of 1500 Hz. The first pulse of each minute

is an 800 ms pulse of 1000 Hz at WWV and 1200 Hz at WWVH. The remaining second

pulses are short audio bursts (5 ms pulses of 1000 Hz at WWV and 1200 Hz at WWVH)

that sound like the ticking of a clock.

SERVICE TYPE INFORMATION PROVIDED

Standard Audio Frequencies 440, 500, & 600 Hz

Time Intervals Seconds, 10 seconds, minutes, hours.

Time Signals: Voice Voice announcement is made once per minute

Time Signals: Code BCD code on 100 Hz subcarrier, 1 pulse/s

Official Announcements Geoalerts, Marine Storm Warnings, Global

Positioning System Status Reports
38

Figure 3.7. WWV Broadcast Format
39

Figure 3.8. WWVH Broadcast Format
40

Each seconds pulse is preceded by 10 ms of silence and followed by 25 ms of silence.

The silence makes it easier to pick out the pulse. The total 40 ms protected zone around

each seconds pulse is shown in Figure 3.9.

Standard Audio Frequencies and Silent Periods

In alternate minutes during most of each hour, 500 Hz or 600 Hz audio tones are broadcast. A 440 Hz tone (the musical note A above middle C) is broadcast once each hour. In

addition to being a musical standard,the 440 Hz tone provides an hourly marker for chart

recorders and other automated devices. The 440 Hz tone is omitted, however, during the

first hour of each UTC day. See Figures 3.7 and 3.8 for further details.

The silent periods are without tone modulation. However, the carrier frequency, seconds pulses, time announcements, and the 100 Hz BCD time code continue during the

silent periods. In general, one station will not broadcast an audio tone while the other

station is broadcasting a voice message.

On WWV, the silent period extends from 43 to 52 minutes after the hour. WWVH has

two silent periods; from 8 to 11 minutes after the hour and from 14 to 20 minutes after

the hour. Minutes 29 and 59 on WWV and minutes 00 and 30 on WWVH are also silent.

UT1 Correction

UT1 corrections are encoded into the broadcasts by using doubled ticks during the first

16 s of each minute. You can determine the amount of the correction (in units of 0.1 s)

by counting the number of doubled ticks. The sign of the correction depends on whether

the doubled ticks occur in the first 8 s of the minute or in the second 8 s. If the doubled

ticks are in the first 8 s (1 to 8) the sign is positive. If the doubled ticks are in the second

WWV

1000 Hz

1200 Hz

WWVH

Figure 3.9. WWV and WWVH Second Pulses
41

rection is +0.3 s. This means that UT1 equals UTC plus 0.3 s. If UTC is 8:45:17, then UT1

is 8:45:17.3. If ticks 9, 10, 11, and 12 are doubled, the correction is –0.4 s. If UTC 

is 8:45:17, then UT1 is 8:45:16.6. If none of the ticks are doubled, then the current 

correction is 0.

Official Announcements

Announcement segments are available by subscription to other United States government

agencies. These segments are used for public service messages up to 45 s long. The accuracy and content of these messages is the responsibility of the originating agency. For

information about the availability of these segments, contact the NIST Time and

Frequency Division. The announcements that are currently part of the program schedule

are described below.

Geophysical Alerts

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses WWV and WWVH to

broadcast geophysical alert messages that provide information about solar terrestrial conditions. Geophysical alerts are broadcast from WWV at 18 minutes after the hour and

from WWVH at 45 minutes after the hour. The messages are less than 45 s in length and

are updated every three hours (typically at 0000, 0300, 0600, 0900, 1200, 1500, 1800, and

2100 UTC). More frequent updates are made when necessary.

The geophysical alerts provide information about the current conditions for long distance

HF radio propagation. The alerts use a standardized format and terminology that requires

some explanation. After defining the terminology, we’ll look at a sample message.

Solar flux is a measurement of the intensity of solar radio emissions with a wavelength

of 10.7 cm (a frequency of about 2800 MHz). The daily solar flux measurement is recorded at 2000 UTC by the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory of the Canadian

National Research Council located at Penticton, British Columbia, Canada.

The value broadcast is in solar flux units that range from a theoretical minimum of about

50 to numbers larger than 300. During the early part of the 11-year sunspot cycle, the

flux numbers are low; but they rise and fall as the cycle proceeds. The 

numbers will remain high for extended periods around sunspot maximum.

Basically, solar flux is measured by counting sunspots, or storms on the surface of the

sun. The greater the number of sunspots, the stronger is the ionosphere, the electrified

region in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. A strong ionosphere means that HF radio signals

can be reflected over great distances. Therefore, high solar flux numbers usually, but not

always, mean that HF propagation conditions are good. A solar flux figure might be 65 or

lower in years of minimum solar activity. In most years, the average solar flux figure falls

between 100 and 200.

The A and K indices are a measurement of the behavior of the magnetic field in and

around the Earth. The K index uses a scale from 0 to 9 to measure the change in the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field. A new K index is determined and added to

the broadcast every three hours based on magnetometer measurements made at the Table
42

vatory. The A index is a daily value on a scale from 0 to 400 to express the range of disturbance of the geomagnetic field. It is obtained by converting and averaging the eight, 3

hour K index values. An estimated A index is first announced at 2100 UTC, based on

seven measurements and one estimated value. At 0000 UTC, the announced A index consists entirely of known measurements, and the word “estimated” is dropped from the

announcement. Table 3.5 shows the relationship between the A and K indices.

TABLE 3.5 – THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE A INDEX AND K INDEX

The A and K indices are probably the most widely discussed values in radio monitoring

circles. If the A index is less than 10 or the K index is around 3, it indicates nearly ideal

conditions for HF radio propagation. The lower the figure, the less the signals are

absorbed by the Earth’s geomagnetic field. Less absorption means that HF signals will

travel farther and better.

Solar flux values and the A and K indices can also be used to compute the maximum

usable frequency (MUF) and the lowest usable frequency (LUF) for a given time and location. This information is helpful to radio listeners who want to know the best time to

tune in hard-to-hear signals.

Space Weather describes the conditions in space that affect earth and its technological

systems. Space weather is a consequence of the behavior of the Sun,the nature of Earth’s

magnetic field and atmosphere, and our location in the solar system.

Space weather storms observed or expected to occur are characterized using the NOAA

Space Weather scales. The tables below describe the terminology used in the announcements. The descriptor refers to the maximum level reached or predicted. These space

weather scales are described in more detail on the NOAA Space Environment Center’s

web site (http://www.sec.noaa.gov).

TABLE 3.6 – NOAA SPACE WEATHER SCALES

A Index 0 3 7 15 27 48 80 140 240 400

K Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

GEOMAGNETIC SOLAR RADIATION RADIO BLACKOUTS DESCRIPTOR

STORMS STORMS

G5 S5 R5 Extreme

G4 S4 R4 Severe

G3 S3 R3 Strong

G2 S2 R2 Moderate

G1 S1 R1 Minor
43

derived in real time from a network of western hemisphere ground-based magnetometers.

TABLE 3.7 – GEOMAGNETIC STORM LEVELS

Solar Radiation storms levels are determined by the proton flux measurements made

by NOAA’s primary Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES).

TABLE 3.8 – SOLAR RADIATION STORM LEVELS

Radio Blackout levels are determined by the x-ray level measured by the primary GOES

satellite.

TABLE 3.9 – RADIO BLACKOUTS

PLANETARY K INDICES GEOMAGNETIC STORM LEVEL

K = 5 G1

K = 6 G2

K = 7 G3

K = 8 G4

K = 9 G5

FLUX LEVEL OF >10 MeV PARTICLES SOLAR RADIATION STORM LEVEL

10 S1

102 S2

103 S3

104 S4

105 S5

PEAK X-RAY LEVEL AND FLUX RADIO BLACKOUT LEVEL

M1 and (10-5) R1

M5 and (5 x 10-5) R2

X1 and (10-4) R3

X10 and (10-3) R4

X20 and (2 x 10-3) R5
44

3.10 describes the information contained in the geophysical alert. Table 3.11 provides

example text from an actual message.

TABLE 3.10 – INFORMATION IN GEOPHYSICAL ALERT VOICE MESSAGE

TABLE 3.11 – EXAMPLE TEXT FROM ACTUAL GEOPHYSICAL ALERT MESSAGE

The announcements describe the largest space weather event observed (section 2) or

expected (section 3) in the first line of each section. The remaining lines give the type

of events and the level observed for each one. In the example above, no geomagnetic

storm information is included because none was observed or expected during the period.

In the case where none of the three types of events are observed or expected, the

announcement would contain section 1, plus alternate section 2 and alternate section 3.

To hear the current geophysical alert message by telephone, dial (303) 497-3235.

For more information about these messages, contact: Space Weather Operations,

NOAA R/SEC, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3328. Email: swo@sec.noaa.gov 

Voice: (303) 497-3171.

SECTION INFORMATION IN VOICE MESSAGE

1 The solar-terrestrial indices for the day: specifically the solar flux, the A index,

and the K index. 

2 Space weather storms observed during the previous 24 hours. Includes all

observed geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms (proton events) and Radio

blackouts (class M1 and greater flares). 

3 Space weather expected during the following 24 hours.

SECTION EXAMPLE OF ACTUAL GEOPHYSICAL ALERT MESSAGE

1 Solar-terrestrial indices for 08 November follow. 

Solar flux 173 and mid-latitude A-index 14

The Mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 08 November was 3. 

2 Space weather for the past 24 hours has been severe.

Solar radiation storm(s) reaching the S4 level is in progress.

Radio blackouts(s) reaching the R2 level occurred. 

Alternate No space weather storms have been observed during the past 24 hours. 

section 2

3 Space weather for the next 24 hours is expected to be severe.

Solar radiation storms reaching the S4 level are expected to continue. 

Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level are expected. 

Alternate No space weather storms are expected during the next 24 hours.

section 3
45

Both WWV and WWVH broadcast marine storm warnings for the ocean areas where the

United States has warning responsibility under international agreement. These brief voice

messages warn mariners of storm threats present in their areas, and contain information

provided by the National Weather Service. Atlantic high seas warnings are broadcast by

WWV at 8 and 9 minutes after the hour and an eastern North Pacific high seas warning

is broadcast at 10 minutes after the hour. WWVH broadcasts eastern and central North

Pacific high seas warnings at 48, 49, 50 and 51 minutes after the hour. Additional segments (at 11 minutes after the hour on WWV and at 52 minutes after the hour on WWVH)

are used when conditions are particularly bad.

The storm warnings are based on the most recent forecasts. The forecasts are updated

at 0500, 1100, 1700, and 2300 UTC for WWV; and at 0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 UTC for

WWVH. All marine forecasts rely heavily on the Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) program

for obtaining meteorological observations.

A typical storm warning announcement might read like this:

North Atlantic weather West of 35 West at 1700 UTC; Hurricane Donna, intensifying, 24 North, 60 West, moving northwest, 20 knots, winds 75 knots;storm,

65 North, 35 West, moving east, 10 knots; winds 50 knots,

seas 15 feet.

For more information about marine storm warnings, write to: National Weather Service,

NOAA, 1325 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Or, visit the National Weather

Service web page at http://www.nws.noaa.gov.

Global Positioning System (GPS) Status Announcements

The United States Coast Guard sponsors two voice announcements per hour on WWV

and WWVH, giving current status information about the GPS satellites and related operations. The 45 s long announcements begin at 14 and 15 minutes after each hour on WWV

and at 43 and 44 minutes after each hour on WWVH. For further information,contact the

U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center, 7323 Telegraph Road,Alexandria,VA 22310, or call

(703) 313-5900.

WWV/WWVH Time Code

WWV and WWVH each broadcast a binary coded decimal (BCD) time code on a 100 Hz

subcarrier. The time code provides UTC information in serial fashion at a speed of 1 bit

per second. The information carried by the time code includes the current minute, hour,

and day of year. The time code also contains the 100 Hz frequency from the subcarrier.

The 100 Hz frequency may be used as a standard with the same accuracy as the audio 

frequencies.

The time code is sent in binary coded decimal (BCD) format, where four binary digits

(bits) are used to represent one decimal number. The binary-to-decimal weighting
46

gf

time code described in Chapter 2. The BCD groups and the equivalent decimal numbers

are shown in Table 3.12.

TABLE 3.12 - BCD WEIGHTING SCHEME USED BY WWV AND WWVH TIME CODE

Bits are transmitted on the 100 Hz subcarrier using amplitude modulation. A 200 ms

pulse (20 cycles of 100 Hz) is used to represent a 0 bit, and a 500 ms pulse (50 cycles of

100 Hz) is used to represent a 1 bit. However, tone suppression deletes the first 30 ms of

each pulse. Therefore, 170 ms pulses are recognized as 0 bits, and 470 ms pulses are recognized as 1 bits. The leading edge of each pulse can serve as an on time marker, but due

to the tone suppression it actually occurs 30 ms after the start of the second.

WWV and WWVH require 1 minute to send their time code (Figure 3.9). The time code

frame contains the minute, hour, day of year, the last two digits of the current year, the

UT1 correction, a leap second indicator, and information about daylight and standard

time. Two BCD groups are used to express the hour (00 to 23), minute (00 to 59), and

year (00 to 99); and three groups are used to express the day of year (001 to 366). The

information in the time code refers to the time at the start of the one-minute frame.

Seconds are determined by counting pulses within the frame. The individual time code

bits are annotated in Table 3.13.

DECIMAL BIT 1 BIT 2 BIT 3 BIT 4

NUMBER 20 21 22 23

00000

11000

20100

31100

40010

51010

60110

71110

80001

91001
47

BIT NUMBER BIT DESCRIPTION BIT NUMBER BIT DESCRIPTION

0 Frame Reference Bit, Pr (hole) 30 Day of Year, 1 

1 Reserved 31 Day of Year, 2 

2 DST Indicator 32 Day of Year, 4 

3 Leap Second Warning 33 Day of Year, 8 

4 Year, 1 34 Reserved 

5 Year, 2 35 Day of Year, 10 

6 Year, 4 36 Day of Year, 20 

7 Year, 8 37 Day of Year, 40 

8 Reserved 38 Day of Year, 80 

9 Position Marker 1, P1 39 Position Marker 4, P4 

10 Minute, 1 40 Day of Year, 100 

11 Minute, 2 41 Day of Year, 200 

12 Minute, 4 42 Reserved 

13 Minute, 8 43 Reserved 

14 Reserved 44 Reserved 

15 Minute, 10 45 Reserved 

16 Minute, 20 46 Reserved 

17 Minute, 40 47 Reserved 

18 Reserved 48 Reserved 

19 Position Marker 2, P2 49 Position Marker 5, P5 

20 Hour, 1 50 UT1 Sign 

21 Hour, 2 51 Year, 10 

22 Hour, 4 52 Year, 20 

23 Hour, 8 53 Year, 40 

24 Reserved 54 Year, 80 

25 Hour, 10 55 DST Indicator 

26 Hour, 20 56 UT1 Correction, 0.1 s 

27 Reserved 57 UT1 Correction, 0.2 s 

28 Reserved 58 UT1 Correction, 0.4 s 

29 Position Marker 3, P3 59 Frame Reference Bit, P0 
48

new minute. During the first second of the minute, no pulse is transmitted. Since the

pulses are already delayed 30 ms by the tone suppression,the UTC minute actually begins

1030 ms (1.03 s) earlier than the first pulse in the frame. For synchronization purposes,

position markers lasting for 770 ms are transmitted every 10 s.

A leap second indicator is transmitted at second 3. If this bit is high, it indicates that 

a leap second will be added to UTC at the end of the current month. The bit is set to 

1 near the start of the month in which a leap second is added. It is set to 0 immediately

after the leap second insertion.

UT1 corrections are broadcast during the final 10 s of each frame. The bit transmitted

at second 50 shows if UT1 is positive or negative with respect to UTC. If a 1 is sent, the

UT1 correction is positive. If a 0 is sent, the UT1 correction is negative. Bits 56, 57, and

58 form a three-bit BCD group that shows the magnitude of the correction. Since the unit

for the UT1 correction is 0.1 s,multiply the BCD group by 0.1 to obtain the correct value.

Since only three bits are used, the WWV and WWVH time codes can only transmit UT1

corrections ranging from –0.7 to +0.7 s.

Daylight saving time (DST) and standard time (ST) information is transmitted at seconds

2 and 55. When ST is in effect, bits 2 and 55 are set to 0. When DST is in effect, bits 2

and 55 are set to 1. On the day of a change from ST to DST bit 55 changes from 0 to 1 at

0000 UTC, and bit 2 changes from 0 to 1 exactly 24 hours later. On the day of a change

from DST back to ST bit 55 changes from 1 to 0 at 0000 UTC, and bit 2 changes from 1

to 0 exactly 24 hours later.

The year information is transmitted in two different parts of the time code. The last

digit of the year is sent using bits 4 through 7. The next to last digit of the year, or the

decade indicator, is sent using bits 51 through 54. For example, for the year 2001, bits 

4 through 7 will return a decimal value of 1, and bits 51 through 54 will return a 

decimal value of 0.

Figure 3.10 shows one frame of the time code. The six position identifiers are labeled

P0, P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5. The minutes, hours, days, year, and UT1 sets are marked by

brackets,with the weighting factors printed below the bits. Wide pulses represent “1”bits

and narrow pulses represent “0” bits. Unused bits are set to 0. The decoded UTC at the

start of the frame is 2001, 173 days, 21 hours, and 10 minutes. Since the UT1 correction

is +0.3 s, the decoded UT1 is 2001, 173 days, 21 hours, 10 minutes, and 0.3 s.

Receiving Equipment

WWV and WWVH can be heard with any shortwave receiver. A typical general coverage

shortwave receiver provides continuous coverage of the spectrum from about 150 kHz,

which is below the commercial AM broadcast band, to 30 MHz. These receivers allow

reception of WWV and WWVH on all available frequencies. The best shortwave receivers

are often referred to as communications receivers. These receivers are usually designed
49

WWV and WWVH TIME CODE FORMAT

P4 P5 P3 P2 P1 P0

0 10 20 30 40 50 0

ON TIME

POINT A

SECONDS

59 0 1 2

0.770 S

1.03 SHOLE

0.170 S

TIME FRAME 1 MINUTE

(index count 1 second)

MODIFIED IRIG H FORMAT IS COMPOSED OF THEFOLLOWING:1. 1 ppm FRAME REFERENCE MARKER

R = (P and 1.03 second “HOLE”)

2. BINARY CODED DECIMAL YEAR AND

TIME-OF-YEAR CODE WORD

3. 6 ppm POSITION IDENTIFIERS (P through P )4. 1 pps INDEX MARKERS

0

0 5

(P through P )POSITION IDENTIFIERS (0.770 second duration)

W WEIGHTED CODE DIGIT (0.470 second duration)

DURATION OF INDEX MARKERS, UNWEIGHTED CODE, AND UNWEIGHTEDCONTROL ELEMENTS = 0.170 SECONDSNOTE: OF PULSE IS REPRESENTED BY POSITIVE-GOING EDGE.

0 5

UTC AT POINT A = 2001, 173 DAYS, 21 HOURS, 10 MINUTESUT1 AT POINT A = 2001, 173 DAYS, 21 HOURS, 10 MINUTES, 0.3 SECONDS

BEGINNING

1 SECOND

80

80

40

100

200

0.4

20

20

20

20

40

40

0.2

10

10

10

10

0.1

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

4

4

4

4

8

8

8

8

w

MINUTES

DST INDICATOR #2 (see text)

LEAP SECOND WARNING

UNITS

OF

YEAR

HOURS

R

DAYS

UT1

CORRECTION

SIGN (+)FOR

UTI CORRECTION

TENS OF YEAR

DST

INDICATOR #1

0.770 SECOND

Figure 3.10. WWV and WWVH Time Code Format
50

ate both a transmitter and receiver. They are designed to work with large outdoor antennas,with quarter-wave or half-wave length dipole antennas often providing the best results.

Prices range from less than $500 to more than $5000. A typical communications receiver

is shown in Figure 3.11.

Less expensive shortwave radios are usually portable, and can run off batteries. They

typically use a built-in telescopic whip antenna that is less than 1 m long, but most have

a connector for an external antenna. Some of the lower cost models only provide coverage of the frequencies commonly used for international broadcasts; typically from about

4 to 12 MHz. These receivers will still provide reception of both WWV and WWVH on 5

and 10 MHz, which are usually the easiest frequencies to receive.

A few low-cost commercially available receivers are dedicated to the task of receiving

WWV and WWVH. These receivers might receive only a single frequency, often 10 MHz,

and their sole purpose is producing the WWV or WWVH audio.

Receivers that decode and display the time code are also available, but are not nearly as

common as their WWVB counterparts. Some units output a time code to a serial interface and/or output a standard time code format defined by the Inter-Range

Instrumentation Group (IRIG). In addition, these receivers might include an on time one

pulse per second signal for use as a measurement reference. Since it is difficult for a time

code receiver to stay locked to a single frequency at all times, these units generally monitor several frequencies and use the one that currently offers the best reception.

Listening to the Signals by Telephone

If you don’t have a shortwave receiver, you can still listen to WWV and WWVH by 

simply making a telephone call. The broadcasts are simulcast by telephone via NIST’s

Figure 3.11. A HF Communications Receiver
51

upon the type of phone call. The time signals are usually delayed by <30 ms if you call

from an ordinary telephone (land line) from within the continental United States,and the

stability (delay variations) are generally <1 ms during the call. If you are calling from a

mobile phone, the delay is often more than 100 ms due to the multiple access methods

used to share cell channels. And if you are making an overseas call, your call could be

routed through a communications satellite, which might add 250 to 500 ms 

to the delay.

To hear these broadcasts, dial (303) 499-7111 for WWV and (808) 335-4363 for WWVH.

You can listen for about two minutes before your call is disconnected. Please keep in

mind that these are not toll-free numbers. Callers outside the local calling area are

charged long distance rates.

NIST has provided time signals by telephone for several decades. The WWV number 

has been available since July 1971, and the Hawaii number has been available since 

April 1973.

HF Propagation

WWV and WWVH are referred to the primary NIST Frequency Standard and related NIST

atomic time scales in Boulder, Colorado. The frequencies as transmitted are maintained

within a few parts in 1013 for frequency and <100 ns for timing with respect to

UTC(NIST). In fact, at the transmitter site WWV’s frequency is controlled just as tightly

as WWVB (Chapter 2). However, the received performance of WWV 

and WWVH is generally worse than the received performance of WWVB. This is because

a HF radio path is much less stable than a LF radio path.

Why is a HF path less stable? Although HF radio propagation is a complex subject, we

can provide a simplified explanation here. We mentioned in Chapter 2 that the groundwave signals from WWVB follow a direct route to your receiver, and therefore the path

length doesn’t change very much. Other types of radio signals, such as those that originate

from satellites, follow even a more direct route. In fact, some signals require line-of-sight

propagation, which means that nothing can block the path between the receiving antenna and the transmitter. An example would be a GPS satellite antenna, which requires a

clear view of the sky.

HF signals are different. They don’t have to follow a direct route. In fact, they rely on

skywave propagation, which means that they follow an indirect route. HF signals travel

past their horizon line, bounce off the ionosphere, and head back down toward Earth and

your receiver, which might be on the opposite side of the Earth from the transmitter. This

bouncing off the ionosphere is called refraction, or skip. Sometimes the signals bounce

just once off the ionosphere, sometimes they bounce more than once. Each of these

bounces or hops adds more delay to a timing signal. As you can see, the good news about

refraction is that it allows stations to be heard over great distances. The bad news is that

refraction makes the signal path (and therefore the amount of the path delay) variable and

hard to predict.
52

The gases in these regions become ionized by the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.

The more radiation, the more ionization occurs. Too much ionization makes the ionosphere too dense to refract signals, and it absorbs signals instead of sending them back to

Earth. Not enough ionization means that the ionosphere won’t be dense enough to

refract or absorb signals. Instead, signals will simply pass through the ionosphere and

head off into space.

The ionosphere has several layers that effect HF propagation, specifically the D, E, and

F layers. The D layer is usually between 50 and 100 km above the Earth’s surface, the E

layer is between 100 and 160 km, and the F layer is between 160 and 320 km above the

Earth. Each layer reacts differently to different frequencies at different times of day, and

even during different seasons of the year. For example, consider that the D layer is very

dense during the daytime, and tends to absorb signals below 7 MHz. At night, however,

it becomes less dense and is able to refract signals. This means that a 5 MHz signal from

WWV probably won’t travel very far during the daytime. Those who can receive it 

during the day are probably close enough to the station to receive the groundwave. At

night,however,the 5 MHz signal will refract off the ionosphere and the coverage area will

become much larger.

Since the HF radio path delay depends upon so many factors—the frequency used,

the time of day, the season, and the ionospheric conditions, to name just a few; it’s easy

to see that it limits the performance of WWV and WWVH for time and frequency applications. Even so, the signals still meet the requirements for many applications and 

measurements, as described in the next section.

Applications and Measurement Results 

What kind of results can you get using WWV and WWVH? Let’s look at the results obtained

for several different applications and measurements (summarized in Table 3.13).

Manual Synchronization of a Watch or Clock — Many thousands of people set their

clocks or watches to the tones from WWV and WWVH. If you are listening from within

the United States either by radio or by telephone, the time should be delayed by <20 ms

(less for most listeners) with respect to UTC(NIST). This delay is insignificant when compared to human reaction time, which is no better than 100 ms for most people, and is

sometimes several hundred milliseconds or more.

Stop Watch and Timer Calibrations — Calibration and testing laboratories use 

the audio tones from WWV and WWVH as the reference for stop watch and timer calibrations. These calibrations are actually a time interval measurement, tones from the

broadcast are used as signals to start and stop the timer. In between the start and stop

tones the timer runs continuously, usually for an interval of at least an hour. When the

timer is stopped, the measured time interval on its display is compared to the actual time

interval broadcast by the station. The difference between these two values is the time offset, or error of the timer. WWV and WWVH contribute practically zero uncertainty to

these measurements. Even though both the start and stop tones are delayed 
53

always be much less than a millisecond. Once again, the largest source of uncertainty is

human reaction time.

Tuning a piano — The 440 Hz tones broadcast by WWV and WWVH near the beginning of each hour serve as the ultimate reference for the calibration of pianos and other

musical instruments. Since 1939, A440 (the musical note A above middle C at 440 Hz)

has been the internationally recognized standard for musical pitch. The piano tuner 

listens to a standard musical pitch and compares it to the same note on the piano 

keyboard. The piano is then adjusted (by tightening or loosening strings), until it 

agrees with the audio standard.

What is the smallest frequency error that a piano tuner can hear? It depends on lots of

factors, including the sound volume, the duration of the tone, the suddenness of the frequency change, and the musical training of the listener. However, the just noticeable difference is often defined as 5 cents, where 1 cent is 1/100 of the ratio between two adjacent tones on the piano’s keyboard. Since there are 12 tones in a piano’s octave,

the ratio for a frequency change of 1 cent is the 1200th root of 2. Therefore, to raise a

musical pitch by 1 cent, you would multiply by the 1200th root of 2, or 1.000577790.

If you do this 5 times starting with 440 Hz, you’ll see that 5 cents high is about 441.3 Hz,

or high in frequency by 1.3 Hz. Obviously,WWV or WWVH will contribute no discernible

uncertainty to these measurements, since their 440 Hz tone should have an error of less

than 0.001 Hz.

Keep in mind that the actual piano tuning is generally done with a transfer standard such

as a tuning fork or an audio tone generator, since those devices are easy to bring to the

piano site and their signals are always available. In other words, if you use a transfer standard,you don’t have to wait until the top of the hour to hear the tone. However,the audio

from WWV or WWVH is often used as a reference for calibrating the transfer standard.

Calibrating a receiver dial — Radio amateurs and shortwave listening enthusiasts often

use WWV or WWVH to calibrate their receiver dial. Receivers are usually tested after they

have been turned on for at least an hour,so that their internal oscillator has a chance to stabilize. The calibration method varies for different radios,but the object is always to mix the

incoming signal from WWV and WWVH with the signal from the receiver’s beat frequency

oscillator (BFO). This produces a beat note that sounds like a low frequency whistle. The

receiver is tuned to the station, and the dial is moved up or down until the whistle completely goes away, a condition known as zero beat. Usually, headphones are used to listen

for zero beat, since the receiver’s speaker might not be able to produce 

the low frequency beat note signals. Since a person with average hearing can hear tones

down to 20 or 30 Hz,an audio zero beat can resolve frequency within 2 or 3 parts in 106 at

10 MHz. To get closer, you can also look at the receiver’s signal strength, or S-meter. This

meter will fluctuate at its slowest rate as the beat note approaches 0 Hz. It should 

be possible to obtain a beat note of 1 Hz or less, as indicated by a slow “bobbing” of the 

S-meter back and forth. Once zero beat is reached, the difference between the receiver’s

dial reading and the carrier frequency of the radio station shows you the frequency offset
54

reading of 10000.2 kHz, the receiver dial has a frequency offset of 200 Hz, or 2 ✕ 10-5.

Keep in mind that the precision of these calibrations is often limited by the resolution

of the tuner. On some lower cost receivers the tuning resolution is 100 Hz, or even 1 or

5 kHz, so the dial will still appear to be correct even if the BFO has a fairly large frequency

offset. More expensive receivers sometimes tune in 1 Hz increments. The uncertainty of

WWV and WWVH is small enough to set the BFO of even the best receivers to within 1

Hz at 10 MHz, a frequency offset of 1 ✕ 10-7.

Frequency Calibrations (zero beat) — There are many variations of the zero beat

method used to calibrate oscillators other than the BFO in a communications receiver.

One simple method involves placing one end of a piece of insulated wire near the 

oscillator and the other end near the antenna input of your HF receiver. If the radio is

tuned to 10 MHz and the oscillator under test is a 10 MHz oscillator, you should hear a

slow pulsing sound (beat note) in addition to the WWV or WWVH audio. By adjusting the

oscillator, this pulse should get slower and slower until zero beat is reached and no pulsing is heard. The uncertainty of this method is generally equal to 1 cycle of the 

carrier frequency, or 1 ✕ 10-7 at 10 MHz. This makes it useful for calibrating oscillators

such as those found in low cost frequency counters, signal generators, and other types of

test equipment.

Time Synchronization — Some WWV and WWVH receivers are designed or modified

to produce a 1 pulse per second (pps) signal. This signal is intended to be on time, or to

coincide with the arrival of the UTC second. You can estimate the path delay with software that computes the distance between your receiving site and the station 

(the station coordinates are listed in Tables 3.2 and 3.3), and then calculates the time

required for a radio signal to travel that distance. As we saw earlier, HF radio propagation

depends on many factors. Without taking all of these factors into account, it’s difficult to

estimate the path delay to much better than 1 ms. Therefore,most WWV and WWVH time

measurements have an uncertainty of about 1 ms, even if you compensate for the path

delay. If you don’t compensate for path delay at all, the uncertainty is dependent on your

distance from the transmitter. It should be < 15 ms for receivers located in the continental United States or near Hawaii.

Frequency Calibrations (phase comparison) — Better results from WWV and WWVH

can be obtained by comparing the received phase of the signal to the oscillator under

test, and averaging for one day or longer. To use this method, you need a receiver that

brings out an electrical pulse, for example a 1 pps signal referenced to the time code. A

1 pps signal is obtained from the oscillator under test using a frequency divider. The two

signals are then compared using a time interval counter. While the receiver is locked to

the signal, it should be stable to a few hundred microseconds or less. This translates to

an uncertainty of parts in 109 when averaged for 24 hours, which is sufficient for measuring the frequency offset of most quartz oscillators. Lower uncertainties (parts in 1010)

can be realized by making a single measurement (or a short series of measurements) at

the same time each day and then averaging the results over multiple days.
55

MEASUREMENT REQUIREMENTS BEST CASE LARGEST UNCERTAINTY 

OF APPLICATION UNCERTAINTY SOURCE OF CONTRIBUTED 

UNCERTAINTY BY WWV OR 

WWVH 

Audio time signal

obtained with HF

receiver or by telephone

Audio time signal

obtained with HF

receiver or by telephone 

Audio time signal

obtained with HF

receiver or by telephone

HF receiver with beat

frequency oscillator

and S-meter, headphones 

HF Receiver, oscillator

whose output frequency is a multiple or sub

multiple of HF carrier 

HF receiver with output pulse 

HF receiver with output pulse, frequency

divider for oscillator

under test, time interval counter 

Human reaction time 

Human reaction time 

Human ear’s

ability to detect

difference

between two

frequencies

Dial resolution

of receiver 

Radio path

noise 

Inability to

make good

path delay

estimate 

Radio path

noise

Insignificant 

Insignificant

Insignificant 

Insignificant 

for nearly all 

receiver 

calibrations 

1 ✕ 10-7

(1 Hz at 

10 MHz) 

1 ms

Parts in 109

100 ms 

1 ✕ 10-4 in 

10,000 s 

5 cents 

(~ 0.3%)

1 ✕ 10-7

(1 Hz at 10 MHz) 

1 ✕ 10-7

(1 Hz at 10 MHz) 

1 ms 

Parts in 109 in 

24 hours

Manual synchronization of a

watch or clock 

Stop watch and

timer calibrations 

Tuning a Piano 

Calibrating a

Receiver Dial 

Frequency

Calibrations (zero

beat)

Time

Synchronization

Frequency

Calibrations

(phase comparison) 
56
57

Since we rely so heavily on computer systems in our daily lives,it shouldn’t surprise you

that one of the most common time and frequency applications is the synchronization of

computer clocks. At this writing (2001) NIST is handling well over 300 million computer

timing requests per day through its Internet Time Service,and this number is expected to

become much larger in the coming months and years. This chapter describes the NIST

services you can use to synchronize your computer clock. It also describes the

nist.time.gov web site, which enables you to view NIST time with your web browser.

Internet Time Service (ITS)

The NIST Internet Time Service allows

users to synchronize computer clocks via

the Internet. The time information provided by the service is directly traceable to

UTC(NIST). The service responds to time

requests from any Internet client in several

formats including the Daytime, Time, and

Network Time protocol (NTP). Using the

ITS is easy. It requires only an Internet 

connection and client software compatible

with your computer’s operating system. A

sample ITS software client is shown in

Figure 4.1, and software can easily be

obtained from a number of publishers.

ITS Servers

The NIST Internet Time Service uses multiple time servers as listed in Table 4.1. NIST

maintains a number of time servers. Some are located in Boulder, Colorado, and others

reside at other facilities around the country. New servers are added whenever necessary

to increase the capacity of the service. Each server is identified by its unique Internet

protocol (IP) address. All servers provide the same information, and the same uncertainty

relative to UTC(NIST), but some handle more traffic than others and might take longer to

handle your request. You can configure your client software so that it points to the server of your choice.

Keeping Computers on Time:

NIST Computer Time Sychronization Services

Chapter 4

Figure 4.1. ITS Client Software
58

ITS Time Code Formats

Every ITS server is constantly “listening” for one of three different types of timing

requests. When it receives one of these requests, it transmits a time code in the requested

format. The combination of the timing request and the time code is called a protocol, and

each of the three standard timing protocols has been defined by an Internet document

called a Request for Comments (RFC). Each protocol is briefly described below. You 

can refer to the RFC document (available from several Internet sites) if you need more 

information.

Daytime Protocol (RFC-867)

This protocol is widely used by small computers running MS-DOS,Windows, and similar

operating systems. The server listens on port 13,and responds to requests in either tcp/ip

or udp/ip formats. The standard does not specify an exact format for the Daytime

Protocol, but requires that the time be sent using standard ASCII characters. NIST chose

a time code format nearly identical to the one used by its older dial-up Automated

Computer Time Service (ACTS) shown in Table 4.3,except that a health digit (H) replaces

the UT1 correction, and the time is sent 50 ms (as opposed to 45 ms) early. The health

digit indicates the health of the server. If H = 0, the server is healthy. If H = 1, then the

server is operating properly but its time may be in error by up to 5 s. This state should

change to fully healthy within 10 min. If H = 2, then the server is operating properly but

its time is known to be wrong by more than 5 s. If H = 4, then a hardware or software

failure has occurred and the amount of the time error is unknown.

NAME IP ADDRESS LOCATION

time-a.nist.gov 129.6.15.28 NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland 

time-b.nist.gov 129.6.15.29 NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland 

time-a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov 132.163.4.101 NIST, Boulder, Colorado 

time-b.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov 132.163.4.102 NIST, Boulder, Colorado 

time-c.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov 132.163.4.103 NIST, Boulder, Colorado 

utcnist.colorado.edu 128.138.140.44 University of Colorado, Boulder 

time.nist.gov 192.43.244.18 NCAR, Boulder, Colorado 

time-nw.nist.gov 131.107.1.10 Microsoft, Redmond, Washington

nist1.datum.com 63.149.208.50 Datum, San Jose, California 

nist1.dc.glassey.com 216.200.93.8 Abovenet, Virginia 

nist1.ny.glassey.com 208.184.49.9 Abovenet, New York City 

nist1.sj.glassey.com 207.126.103.204 Abovenet, San Jose, California 

nist1.aol-ca.truetime.com 207.200.81.113 True Time, Sunnyvale, California 

nist1.aol-va.truetime.com 205.188.185.33 True Time, Virginia
59

versal standard. Client software designed to work with NIST’s version of the Daytime protocol won’t necessarily work with other versions, and vice versa. In contrast, NTP client

software should be compatible with all NTP servers.

Time Protocol (RFC-868)

No longer widely used, this simple protocol returns a 32-bit unformatted binary number

that represents the time in UTC seconds since January 1, 1900. The server listens for

Time Protocol requests on port 37, and responds in either tcp/ip or udp/ip formats.

Conversion to local time (if necessary) is the responsibility of the client program. The 

32-bit binary format can represent times over a span of about 136 years with a resolution

of 1 s. There is no provision for increasing the resolution or increasing the range of years.

The strength of the time protocol is its simplicity. Since many computers keep time

internally as the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 (or another date), converting

the received time to the necessary format is often a simple matter of binary arithmetic.

However, the format does not allow any additional information to be transmitted, such as

advance notification of leap seconds or Daylight Saving Time, or information about the

health of the server.

Network Time Protocol (RFC-1305)

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is the most complex and sophisticated of the time

protocols, and the one that provides the best performance. Large computers and workstations often include NTP software with their operating systems. The client software

runs continuously as a background task that periodically gets updates from one or more

servers. The client software ignores responses from servers that appear to be sending the

wrong time, and averages the results from those that appear to be correct.

Many of the available NTP software clients for personal computers don’t do any 

averaging at all. Instead, they make a single timing request to a signal server (just like 

a Daytime or Time client) and then use this information to set their computer’s clock. The

proper name for this type of client is SNTP (Simple Network Time Protocol).

The NIST servers listen for a NTP request on port 123,and respond by sending a udp/ip

data packet in the NTP format. The data packet includes a 64-bit timestamp containing

the time in UTC seconds since January 1, 1900 with a resolution of 200 ps.

ITS Performance

The uncertainty of Daytime, Time, and SNTP time clients is usually <100 ms, but 

the results can vary due to the Internet path, and the type of computer, operating 

system, and client software. In extreme cases, the uncertainty might be 1 s or more.

The uncertainty of a continuously running NTP client is often <10 ms.
60

p

Although the great majority of computer clocks are now synchronized via the Internet,

some applications still require an accurate timing signal that can be obtained over an ordinary telephone line using an analog modem. The Automated Computer Time Service

(ACTS) is provided by NIST to satisfy those requirements. Using ACTS requires 

a computer, an analog modem, and some simple software. When a computer connects to

ACTS by telephone, it receives an ASCII time code. The information in the time code is

then used to set the computer’s clock.

You can connect to ACTS using either a Colorado or Hawaii phone number as shown

in Table 4.2.

TABLE 4.2 – ACTS INFORMATION

ACTS Time Code

ACTS works at speeds up to 9600 baud with 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity. To

receive the full time code, you must connect at a speed of at least 1200 baud. The full

time code is transmitted every second and contains more information than the 300 baud

time code, which is transmitted every 2 seconds and omits the MJD and DUT1 information. The full time code is described in Table 4.3 and looks like this:

JJJJJ YY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS TT L DUT1 msADV UTC(NIST) OTM

PHONE NUMBER LOCATION PHONE LINES CAPACITY 

(CALLS PER DAY)

(303) 494-4774 NIST, Colorado 24 60,000 

(808) 335-4721 WWVH, Hawaii 4 10,000 
61

TIME CODE DESCRIPTION

JJJJJ The Modified Julian Date (MJD). The MJD is the last five digits of the Julian 

Date, which is the number of days since January 1, 4713 B.C. To get the 

Julian Date, add 2,400,000.5 to the MJD.

YY-MM-DD The last two digits of the year, the month, and the current day of month.

HH:MM:SS The time in hours, minutes, and seconds. The time is always sent as

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). An offset needs to be applied to UTC to

obtain local time. For example, Mountain Time in the United States is 7 hours

behind UTC during Standard Time, and 6 hours behind UTC during Daylight

Saving Time.

TT A two digit code (00 to 99) that indicates whether the United States is on 

Standard Time (ST) or Daylight Saving Time (DST). It also indicates when ST 

or DST is approaching. This code is set to 00 when ST is in effect, or to 50 

when DST is in effect. On the day of the transition from DST to ST, the code is 

set to 01. On the day of the transition from ST to DST, the code is set to 51. The

client software is responsible for implementing the change at 2 a.m. on the day 

of the transition. During the month of the transition, the code is decremented

every day until the change occurs. For example, October is the month of the 

transition (in the United States) from DST to ST. On October 1, the number 

changes from 50 to the actual number of days until the time change. It will 

decrement by 1 every day, and reach 01 on the day of the transition. It will be 

set to 00 the day after the transition, and will remain there until the following April.

L A one-digit code that indicates whether a leap second will be added or 

subtracted at midnight on the last day of the current month. If the code is 0, 

no leap second will occur this month. If the code is 1, a positive leap second 

will be added at the end of the month. This means that the last minute of the

month will contain 61 seconds instead of 60. If the code is 2, a second will be

deleted on the last day of the month. 

DUT1 A correction factor for converting UTC to UT1. It is always a number ranging 

from –0.8 to +0.8 seconds. This number is added to UTC to obtain UT1. 

msADV The number of milliseconds that NIST advances the time code. It is originally 

set to 45.0 ms. If you return the on-time marker (OTM) to the ACTS server, it

will change to reflect the actual one way path delay. 

UTC(NIST) A label that indicates that you are receiving Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 

OTM OTM (on-time marker) is an asterisk (*). The time values sent by the time 

code refer to the arrival time of the OTM. In other words, if the time code 

says it is 12:45:45, this means it is 12:45:45 when the OTM arrives. 
62

45 ms early. This always removes some of the delay. Better results are possible if the user’s

software returns the OTM to ACTS after it is received. When the OTM returns, ACTS

measures the amount of time it took for the OTM to go from ACTS to the user and back

to ACTS (round trip path delay). By dividing the round trip path delay by 2, ACTS obtains

the one-way path delay. ACTS then advances the OTM by the one-way path delay and the

OTM changes from an asterisk to a pound sign (#). When the # sign appears, the time

code is synchronized to UTC(NIST) with an uncertainty of <15 ms.

nist.time.gov Web Site

If you point your web browser to

http://nist.time.gov, you’ll see a digital

clock display that displays UTC(NIST),

or the local time for the United States time

zone that you select (Figure 4.2). Although

the site can’t set your computer’s clock, it’s

useful for manually setting a clock or watch

to NIST time. The estimated uncertainty of

the display is shown on screen. The uncertainty is typically less than 1 s, and usually

within 0.5 s of UTC(NIST).

One of the most popular United States

government web sites, nist.time.gov 

currently (2001) receives millions of timing

requests per month. It uses the Internet Time Service as its timing reference, so the time

display is generally very accurate. However,keep in mind that it should be used as a timeof-day service only. It should not be used to measure frequency or time interval, nor

should it be used to establish traceability to NIST.

Figure 4.2. nist.time.gov Web Site
63

The services described in the previous chapters consist of signals broadcast by NIST

for use as time and frequency references. These signals are provided free of charge as a

service of the United States government and meet the needs of most users. However,

some of the nation’s calibration and testing laboratories require smaller measurement

uncertainties. For these organizations, NIST offers a remote calibration service on a paid

subscription basis that automates the process of establishing traceability to UTC(NIST).

NIST Frequency Measurement and Analysis Service

The NIST Frequency Measurement and Analysis Service (FMAS) was designed to make it

easy for a customer to measure and calibrate any quartz, rubidium, cesium, or hydrogen

maser frequency standard in their own laboratory,without sending the device to NIST for

calibration. The service can measure any frequency from 1 Hz to 120 MHz in 1 Hz increments. This means it can measure standard output frequencies such as 5 and 10 MHz,

telecommunication frequencies such as 1.544, 2.048, and 51.84 MHz, and even 1 Hz timing pulses. As many as five devices can be measured and calibrated at once,even if all five

have different output frequencies. The FMAS uses Global Positioning System (GPS) signals as its reference frequency and will work anywhere on Earth. All measurements are

made automatically, and are traceable to NIST at an uncertainty of 2 ✕ 10-13 per day.

Subscribers to the NIST service receive a complete frequency measurement system that

includes everything needed to make traceable frequency measurements. Once the system is installed, customers simply plug in the frequency standards they want to measure,

and connect the system to either a dedicated phone line or Internet connection. This

allows NIST personnel to remotely access the system, verify and analyze the data, and

quickly troubleshoot any problems that may occur. The GPS signals provide traceability

to NIST,since the same GPS signals received by subscribers are received at NIST and compared to the national frequency standard. The GPS receiver is software controlled and

requires no operator attention. The customer is required to mount a small antenna in a

location with a clear view of the sky. Figure 5.1 shows a two-week measurement of 

a hydrogen maser made at a customer’s location using the FMAS.

NIST completely supports each FMAS customer. When enhancements to the software

are developed,NIST installs them for the customer remotely. If any hardware component

Remote Calibration Services

Chapter 5
64

an overnight delivery service. Each subscriber receives a monthly calibration

report prepared by NIST personnel. The

calibration report documents that the customer’s primary standard is traceable to

UTC(NIST). It includes a graph of the performance of the customer’s standard and a

statement of measurement uncertainty. The

FMAS specifications are listed in Table 5.1.

The FMAS complies with the requirements of NVLAP (National Voluntary

Laboratory Accreditation Program).

Subscribers to the service who seek accreditation in the frequency calibration field can

reduce or eliminate the proficiency testing and on-site assessment fees charged 

by NVLAP.

NIST offers the FMAS as part of its calibration program. The service identification number is 76100S. For more information, including pricing and delivery, visit the Time and

Frequency Division web site at http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq.

TABLE 5.1 – SPECIFICATIONS FOR NIST FMAS

Figure 5.1. Sample FMAS Screen Display

FMAS SPECIFICATION

Measurement Channels Up to five frequency standards can be calibrated at one time.

The FMAS accepts any input frequency from 1 Hz to 

120 MHz in 1 Hz increments. 

Measurement Resolution <30 ps 

Frequency Uncertainty 

using GPS 2 ✕ 10-13 (24 h averaging time) 

Relative Frequency 

Uncertainty without GPS 

(oscillator to oscillator 

comparisons) 2 ✕ 10-15 (24 h averaging time) 
65

The NIST time and frequency services described in this booklet would not be possible

without the continuous efforts of a dedicated technical staff that is responsible for 

their development,operation,and maintenance. Thanks are due to Matt Deutch,the engineer-in-charge at WWV and WWVB; Dean Okayama, the engineer-in-charge at WWVH; and

Judah Levine, who single handedly created the ITS and the current version 

of ACTS. Thanks are also due to Don Sullivan, the Chief of the Time and Frequency

Division; John Lowe, the Services Group Leader;Andrew Novick, radio station staff members Douglas Sutton, Glenn Nelson, Bill Yates, Judy Foley, Don Patterson, Ernie Farrow, and

Adele Ochinang. Since time and frequency services at NIST have such a long history,

many retired NIST employees obviously made great contributions during their careers.

Those I have had the pleasure to know and learn from include Wayne Hanson,Dick Davis,

Roger Beehler, Chuck Snider, Joe Cateora, Jim Jespersen, and Al Clements. And finally, I

would like to offer a special thank you to retired NIST engineer George Kamas for the

many hours that we spent together early in my career, as he patiently and generously

shared his knowledge of time and frequency metrology.

Michael A. Lombardi, NIST

Acknowledgments
66
67

Photographs of commercially available equipment are included only for the purposes

of illustration and example, and imply no endorsement by NIST.

Figure 1.1 – Photo by Andrew Novick, NIST

Figure 1.2 – Photo copyright by Geoffrey Wheeler, all rights reserved.

Figure 1.3 – Copyright World Radio and TV Handbook (www.wrth.com), used 

with permission.

Figure 1.4 – Illustration by Jeffrey Aarons, NIST

Figure 2.1 – Photo copyright by Photo Works, Louisville, Colorado, all rights reserved.

Figure 2.2 – Photo copyright by Photo Works, Louisville, Colorado, all rights reserved.

Figure 2.3 – Illustration by Jeffrey Aarons, NIST

Figure 2.4 – Photo by Glenn Nelson, NIST

Figure 2.6 – Illustration by Jeffrey Aarons, NIST

Figure 2.9 – Copyright Ultralink Corporation, used with permission.

Figure 2.11 – Copyright Spectracom Corporation, used with permission.

Figure 3.1 – Photo by Glenn Nelson, NIST

Figure 3.2 – Photo by Dean Okayama, NIST

Figure 3.3 – Photo by Dean Okayama, NIST

Figure 3.4 – Copyright Photo Works, Louisville, Colorado, all rights reserved.

Figure 3.5 – Illustration by Jeffrey Aarons, NIST

Figure 3.6 – Copyright Photo Works, Louisville, Colorado, all rights reserved.

Photo and Illustration Credits
68

Figure 3.8 – Illustration by Jeffrey Aarons, NIST

Figure 3.9 – Illustration by Jeffrey Aarons, NIST

Figure 3.10 – Illustration by Jeffrey Aarons, NIST

Figure 3.11 – Copyright Ten-Tec Corporation, used with permission.
69

The following publications (listed alphabetically by author) provide more information

about the topics presented in this booklet:

Allison,Ted,“How to Ensure Timebase Accuracy: Prepping the Techs in the Trenches,”Cal

Lab:The International Journal of Metrology, September-October 2000, pp. 23-25.

Anderson, Ross J., and Georgia L. Harris,“Specifications and Tolerances for Field Standard

Stopwatches,”National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 105-5, 1997.

Arey, T. J., Radio Monitoring, the How-To Guide, Index Publishing Group, Inc., San 

Diego, 1997.

Beehler,Roger E.,and Michael A.Lombardi,“NIST Time and Frequency Services,” National

Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 432, 1990.

Beers,Yardley,“WWV Moves to Colorado – Part I and II,”QST, January and February 1967,

pp. 11-14 and 30-35.

Bergquist, James C., Steven R. Jefferts, and David J. Wineland, “Time Measurement at 

the Millenium,” Physics Today, March 2001, pp. 37-42.

Bobbett, David, ed.,World Radio and TV Handbook, WRTH Publications Limited, United

Kingdom, vol. 55, 2001.

Braudaway, David W.,“Low Signal Strength a Problem Receiving WWV? Try an All-Wave

Antenna from 1936!,” Proceedings of the 1999 National Conference of Standards

Laboratories Workshop and Symposium, July 1999.

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