NIST ups range of time signal

BOULDER — For everyone committed to being on time in 1998, there is good news from the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder.

WWVB, the low-frequency standard time and frequency radio station, operated by NIST’s Time and Frequency Division, doubled its broadcasting power to 23 kilowatts, increasing the range of the extremely accurate time signal that can be used to automatically set the correct time in clocks, watches, VCRs, cars and electronic gear.

Controlled by the NIST atomic clock in Boulder, WWVB previously operated at 10 kwh for…