At the tone, the time will be....Tired of a VCR VCR: see videocassette recorder. VCR in full videocassette recorder Electromechanical device that records, stores on a videotape cassette, and plays back on a TV set recorded images and sound. that constantly blinks 12:00? A year from now, that VCR and other small devices could synchronize themselves to one of the most accurate clocks in the world, the one at the National Institute of Standards and Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of "working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards" in the national interest. (NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology, Washington, DC, www.nist.gov) The standards-defining agency of the U.S. government, formerly the National Bureau of Standards. It is one of three agencies that fall under the Technology Administration (www.technology. ) in Boulder, Colo. NIST now broadcasts a time signal from an atomic clock atomic clock, electric or electronic timekeeping device that is controlled by atomic or molecular oscillations. A timekeeping device must contain or be connected to some apparatus that oscillates at a uniform rate to control the rate of movement of its hands or the through its radio station in Fort Collins, Colo. (SN: 5/1/93, p. 276). Electric power companies, computer systems, and others receive the signal and use it as a reference; however, in places far from the transmitter, such as Florida, the signal is very weak and detection requires fairly large antennas, says Don Sullivan, chief of NIST's Time and Frequency Division. By September 1997, NIST plans to have installed a new transmitter to increase the signal's power fourfold fourfold Adjective 1. having four times as many or as much 2. composed of four parts Adverb by four times as many or as much Adj. 1. . Sullivan expects this upgrade to improve coverage of the continental United States United States territory, including the adjacent territorial waters, located within North America between Canada and Mexico. Also called CONUS. as well as parts of Mexico and southern Canada. After the power boost, antennas small enough to fit inside a wristwatch should be able to pick up the signal. Oregon Scientific, a company in Portland, makes a travel alarm clock that sets the time and date from the NIST signal, but it needs an external antenna. "There are pockets in the East and in urban areas with reception difficulties," says spokesman Jesse Rotman. The planned boost to the signal would be "outstanding news for us," he adds. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, have built industries around products that take advantage of the time signals they broadcast, Sullivan says. "It's not as though the idea is new, but it takes substantially more power to get coverage in the U.S.," he explains. |
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