Time To Read Article:
Recently, Me and Dad were on the radio when we stumbled upon a callsign WW0WWV, and Dad said “I wonder whether this is associated with the real WWV” (If you were wondering, they SPECIFICALLY say on their website they are NOT associated IN ANY WAY), which then led us down the rabbit-hole of learning about what the REAL WWV did. And So that day, I took out my DIY Radio (which I built from a kit) and listened in on its 20 MHz broadcast (It has broadcasts on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20 and an experimental 25 MHz)
After listening in, I learned about WWV, I learned it not only sends the time, but also sends some other standards, such as Musical standards by playing a tone at 440 Hz (an A above Middle C) once every hour, and frequency standards for radio by broadcating on EXACTLY 2.500 MHz or 5.00 MHz or 10.00 MHz or 20.00 MHz or 25.00 MHz, as well as some other things.
NOTE: Hz and MHz is a measure of frequency which is a measurement of how many times a thing happens in a set amount of time, basically
After learning about them, I decided to send them a signal report via email (this was a Sunday for reference):
Dear WWV,
I am Isaac Skillman (KD3BSR), an 11-year old in Middletown, DE. I have been learning about time synchronization and your radio station, which I learned not only sends the time but also sends an A above Middle C and sends Geophysical Announcements. I really like the work you do to help all sorts of people with time and musical standard references.
Today I heard your signal on my deck in Middletown, Delaware using a small shortwave receiver me and my dad built from a kit. We heard the top of the hour station ID announcement. Please accept the following signal report:
Frequency: 20.00 MHz
Time of Reception (UTC): 21:00 (16:00 Local)
Signal Strength: 4
Reception Quality: 5
There was no interference noise. There was, however, some fading, which was minimal.
Please find the attached image of me listening with my little radio.
Thanks for all the work you do,
Isaac Skillman
KD3BSR
On Monday I got a reply from WWV:
Dear Mr. Skillman,
Thank you for listening to the WWV broadcast and submitting a reception report for the 20 MHz frequency. Have you ever picked up any of our other frequencies yet? We broadcast on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 25 MHz also. If your folks give you time on the computer, you can find out more about the radio station WWV using this link: https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/time-distribution/radio-station-wwv
It is great to see you learning about the shortwave radio world. Building a receiver from a kit is a great way to develop an understanding of electronics. Thank you for sending a picture of you with the radio that you built (with Dad’s help). That is a cool looking radio!!
If propagation is great, you might hear the announcement from WWVH at 45 seconds past the minute with a woman’s voice followed by the announcement from WWV at 52 seconds past the minute with a man’s voice. You will probably only hear those on the 5, 10, and 15 MHz frequencies but it is possible to hear them on the 2.5 MHz frequency also.
I will forward your information to our administration team and they will send a QSL to you to confirm your reception report. I see your subsequent email with your mailing address so I included that in the email to our admin team. They should have your QSL request in the mail by tomorrow.
Thanks again for listening!
Regards,
Jim Spicer
WWV/WWVB
Then on Thursday, I got some VERY exciting (physical) mail…
Well-done, Isaac. Great blog post. This is so exciting! The email back to you was very detailed. I think you made an impression.