Time signal with Pro-97 for Solar Eclipse

[exeter1]

I'll be recording certain things for the upcoming total solar eclipse on August 21st. I'll be near Salem, Oregon. I would like to have an audible time signal that will be heard on video recordings of the eclipse, and I'm wondering if I can do that with my old Radio Shack Pro-97? Can anyone help me? It's been many years since I've used the scanner, and longer since I've done any programming on it. I do have Starsoft's Win97 v1.37 installed and working. I also have a Premium account here at RadioReference.

I'm looking to do the following.

1) Have a reliable audible time signal in the background, such as from:
https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/radio-stations/wwv

From what I can tell though, my Pro-97 will not scan a high enough frequency for WWV. They broadcast on 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20MHz. Near as I can tell the Pro-97 can't do any of those frequencies.

Pro-97 Frequency Coverage: 25-54, 108-136.9875, 137-174, 216.0025-221.9975, 222-225, 225.025-405.975, 406-512, 806-960 (excluding cellular) and 1240-1300MHz

Am I reading that correctly in that the Pro-97 will reach various frequencies between 25 and 960 KHz, and then from 1240 to 1300 MHz. But it will not touch between 2.5 and 20 MHz?

Is there any other highly accurate time signal that I can pick up with the Pro-97?

2) If there's anything interesting between Central California and Northern Oregon then I'm interested as well. That I think I can handle by simply using the import process in Win97 of the counties between here and Salem, Oregon.

---

Is anyone here doing anything similar?

Thanks,

Paul

 

[byndhlptom]

Pro97

The lowest frequency that the 97 will receive is 24MHz. That is above the highest WWV signal (20MHz).

You will need a HF receiver to listen to WWV (either a receiver or one of the USB rx units that receives HF)

There are some talking clocks out there, maybe you can hack the to give a time reference to your recordings.....

good luck

$02

 

[dlwtrunked]

The lowest frequency that the 97 will receive is 24MHz. That is above the highest WWV signal (20MHz).

You will need a HF receiver to listen to WWV (either a receiver or one of the USB rx units that receives HF)

There are some talking clocks out there, maybe you can hack the to give a time reference to your recordings.....

good luck

$02

Here is a "cheat" to do what he wants. On an earlier day before the eclipse, record WWV on HF or have someone else do that around the same time of day. Note that WWV voice announces only the time of day and not the day. Now on the day of the eclipse, synchronize playback of that recording with the actual time as much as possible. One should be able to do that within 1 second if careful. Now use that playback with recording the eclipse.

 

[wtp]

why not

just have a clock in view ?

 

[exeter1]

just have a clock in view ?

The reason is that when recording astronomical phenomena like a total eclipse, if you want your video to be useful to future researchers you need to be able to prove down to the second exactly when things happened. You also need to provide your exact position on the Earth down to a high resolution. A clock in the background is only proof that I put a clock in the background.

You may think that nothing as far away as the Sun will show motion fast enough to have a few seconds make a difference, however with a total solar eclipse there are other timing issues that may require high resolution, such as when recording an eclipse from the very outside edge of the eclipse path, the eclipse may only last a second or two. And it's possible for the Sun to literally flash on and off several times as it is blocked and unblocked by lunar mountains. Things like this can be used to perform very fine measurements, but only if the timing is known very well. Which is why using an internet timing service is not desirable due to unknown amounts of latency. So you just play a WWV radio in the background of your video and it takes care of the issue.

 

[jonwienke]

GPS offers an extremely accurate time source. You can get u-blox GPS modules online for less than $20 that offer timing outputs with sub-millisecond precision. There are various arduino and raspberry pi projects that convert GPS outputs into displays. A bit of googling shows many options.

 

[wtp]

i will up it then

to atomic clock.
60khz ground wave.
they start around $21 at walmart.
just trying to get it done quick and cheap.

 

[mmckenna]

Many, many years ago I worked in professional video/film production. SMPTE Time Code was the industry standard for timing. Using that (if it's still used in digital video, I don't know) would be a solution. Lock the time code generator to GPS and you'd be good to go.

I don't think most consumer/hobby grade equipment will support that, but it would be worth looking into.

But, as others have said, a simple low cost short wave receiver or an atomic clock would be an easy solution.

 

[wtp]

might try 25Mhz

WWV 25 MHz Signal Swapped to Circular Polarization, Reception Reports Invited
and the pro 97 starts at 25.

 

[jonwienke]

GPS offers both precise location data and precise time reference.