[R-390] Rush Limbaugh sure sounds good on '67 EAC ;-)

[Roy Morgan]

At 01:53 PM 7/14/03 -0500, Mike wrote:

>Certainly close enough for a cigar *all* the time in my book.
>
>Get any good stories?

Well, lets see:


The staff is battling a number of bad weeds, as part of their good neighbor 
policy toward nearby farmers.

The Russian Olive trees on the site grow way too fast and need to be 
thinned out.

The site was chosen in the early 60's partly because of the ground 
conductivity in that area.

Some of the main line transmitters are now Contenental ones.  They replaced 
the larger TMC transmitters, which are now used for standby service.

The hulks of the *old* 60 kc transmitter are headed for the scrap 
heap.  The new 60 KC transmitters are Continential, each with two sections 
running a total of four 4CX5000 tubes.   Two of the installed three 60 KHz 
transmitters run continuously.    "... each transmitter only has to produce 
a forward power of about 38 kW for WWVB to produce its effective radiated 
power of 50 kW."   Two diamond shaped flat top antennas, some 850 meters 
apart and each about 400 feet tall are fed through matching networks to 
form a sort of dipole.  An automatic tuning system keeps them in proper 
phase by nudging a variometer under motor control.

For more info on NIST time services see:
www.time.gov
and: http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/boulder.html
To see pictures of WWVB, WWB and WWVH, see:
http://tf.nist.gov/

The country's most accurate clock called the "fountain clock", is shown at:
http://tf.nist.gov/cesium/fountain.htm
It is run from time to time to calibrate a group of Hydrogen maser clocks 
that constitute the working master clock of NIST at Boulder.  (A yet more 
accurate clock is under development.)

A group of four cesium clocks is used at WWV in Fort Collins to set the 
time and frequency signals that are broadcast. They are compared routinely 
with the master clock group at Boulder.

No public tours of the station are now held.  (The same is true of the 
Denver and  Philadelphia mints, where tours can be arranged in advance 
through your congress person's office.)

Roy




- Roy Morgan, K1LKY since 1959 - Keep 'em Glowing!
7130 Panorama Drive, Derwood MD 20855
Home: 301-330-8828 Work: Voice: 301-975-3254,  Fax: 301-948-6213
roy.morgan@nist.gov --