[BC] HD Time Hacks

[Paul Christensen]

> WBBM's time tones on the hour and 1/2-hour are running about 8 seconds 
> late this morning, which I guess must be related to their reported HD 
> startup.

Good catch, Rich.  I've gotta' believe WBBM is using a GPS-based master 
clock these days.  Many GPS clocks allow for a user-defined offset which 
offsets local or UTC time from GPS time.   In order to hit the breaks at the 
correct real time and avoid other similar problems, it would first seem that 
the studio master clock is the place to make the compensation, including the 
sync for the top of the hour tone.   In essence, they're operating 8-10 
seconds ahead of real-time.   But...

If WBBM joins CBS network news at the top of the hour, the network and the 
facility master clock are off by the amount of the HD time offset and they 
join the network 8-10 seconds ahead of where they need to be.   Perhaps 
either Tom or Kerry at WOR could offer some input on how they deal with the 
time dilemma?  It may be that the only viable solution at the moment is to 
let listeners be late by a few seconds and just live with it.

-Paul


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Paul Christensen, CPBE
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