February 9, 2008 4:59 AM
The atomic-clock age -- UPDATE
When radio station announcers say it is exactly the top of the hour, my atomic-time-signal watch always shows that the stations are 7-13 seconds behind the real time. Why is this?
-- Jeff
Scott, of Aurora, had part of the answer. He says almost all radio and TV stations use a delay system that allows announcers to drop inappropriate language by hitting a button to delete it, so it never gets on the air.
That explains part of the delay on many radio stations, both talk and music. The other part is due to new digital equipment. It's far too complicated for me to understand, but processing the audio signal takes several seconds, which accounts for the rest of the delay, said Karl Schipper, FM chief engineer for Clear Channel Communications.
There are still a few stations that haven't gone digital, and some don't employ the content delay system, though not many, said KOA chief engineer Jan Chadwell. Generally speaking, he said, "The day of doing stuff in real time is gone."
February 11, 2008
4:00 PM
Shawn writes:
I have the same problem (or worse) with my digital cable system. If I watch a Broncos or Rockies game, the delay between the radio and the TV is between 5 and 8 seconds.
February 11, 2008
10:46 AM
Kenneth L. van der Laan writes:
I stand corrected. The second explanation makes a lot more sense.
January 28, 2008
11:07 AM
Kenneth L. van der Laan writes:
The earth does not take precisely 24 hours on the nose to rotate. In fact, it has been slowing down as of late, about 8 seconds or something like that per day or maybe per month. Can't remember. Anyhow, regular clocks are based on the assumption of the exact 24 hours. The atomic clock connects with precise time measurements from the Bureau of Standards. I seem to recall that the rotation of a certain pulsar is the universal standard.