Time on long wave
If a radio station has for decades been reaching more and more listeners throughout Germany, it is a question of either a special radio station or special listeners. In this case, both are correct. Thus, the radio transmitter with the callsign DCF77, located in Mainflingen near Frankfurt, sends its completely rerun-free programme into the world on 77.5 kHz long wave. Although ordinary radios are not receptive to this frequency, radio controlled clocks – whose actual number (100 million) is rather underestimated – receive the most current news imaginable with their special antennas: precise time information from the atomic clocks of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). This year, time transmission over the DCF77 long-wave transmitter is celebrating its 50 year anniversary. On this occasion, PTB in Braunschweig is organizing a colloquium open to the public on Monday, 23 March 2009, starting at 2 p.m., which in several lectures – from its history to the current developments – is devoted to time transmission. All interested persons and all time aficionados are cordially invited.more...