[SFDXA] WWV goes digital

[Bill]

 From Tony N2MFT:


    Surfin’: WWV Goes Digital

*TAGS:* dean lewis 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/search/Tag.name:dean%20lewis>, measurements 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/search/Tag.name:measurements>, National 
Institute 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/search/Tag.name:National%20Institute>, radio 
stations <http://www.arrl.org/news/search/Tag.name:radio%20stations>, 
Stan Horzepa <http://www.arrl.org/news/search/Tag.name:Stan%20Horzepa>, 
WA1LOU blog <http://www.arrl.org/news/search/Tag.name:WA1LOU%20blog>, 
WWVB <http://www.arrl.org/news/search/Tag.name:WWVB>
03/16/2012

By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor

/This week, Surfin’ discovers that WWV has a new voice -- and she is 
digital./

Time and frequency radio station *WWV* 
<http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/wwv.cfm> recently switched to a 
digital female voice for its 18th minute of the hour geophysical alert 
broadcasts. A text-to-speech engine from *NeoSpeech* 
<http://www.neospeech.com/> generates the new voice “Kate,” which was 
chosen for its clarity and consistency.

The new voice is getting rave reviews. It is “incredibly easier to 
understand; higher apparent modulation, consistent, well articulated and 
at a higher audio frequency/pitch that comes through well in spite of 
fading,” according to Dean Lewis, W9WGV, who alerted me about the change.

The website of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
details the *time and frequency services* 
<http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/> of WWV and its sister stations 
*WWVH* <http://tf.nist.gov/stations/wwvh.htm> and *WWVB* 
<http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/wwvb.cfm>. Of particular interest 
is the *Digital Time Code and Broadcast Format web page* 
<http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/wwv_format.cfm#geo> that describes 
the minutia of WWV and WWVH broadcasts. Also, check out the QSL Gallery 
for *NIST Radio Stations* <http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/qsl.htm> 
and the *Station Library* 
<http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/hflibrary.cfm>, which has an 
interesting collection of papers and article (downloadable PDFs) related 
to radio, time, and frequency standards and measurements.

Until next time, keep on surfin’!

/Editor’s note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, seeks the unusual in radio. To 
contact Stan, send *e-mail* <mailto:%20wa1lou at arrl.org> or add comments 
to the *WA1LOU blog* <http://horzepa.blogspot.com/>. /

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