What is the signal that Atomic clocks receive?
Atomic clocks receive a 60-kilohertz, low frequency AM radio signal from the WWVB radio station maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST is the official timekeeper for the US and is located in Boulder, Colorado. Its WWVB station is located nearby in Ft. Collins. The NIST and its sister agency, the US Naval Observatory, participate with an international coalition of agencies to determine official world time, called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Both of these agencies establish time via high frequency shortwave and low frequency AM radio signals, satellite transmission, Internet, and via telephone. Atomic timepieces make this technology accessible to everyday consumers.
