At The Tone

A Little History of NIST Radio Stations WWV & WWVH (1955-2019)

Radio Stations WWV & WWVH – New Station IDs (1976)

Released on cassette (1992); CD (2009); digital (2015)

Role: Creator, Researcher, Writer, Audio transfer, Audio restoration, Audio editor, Licensing

At The Tone is the first comprehensive audio survey of NIST Radio Stations WWV and WWVH: two legendary shortwave radio broadcasters whose primary purpose is the dissemination of scientifically precise time and frequency. First issued on cassette in 1992, in a greatly expanded edition on CD in 2009, and now in a definitive deluxe download, the set represents a huge cross-section of the stations’ “life and times,” including recordings of obsolete formats, original voices and identifications, special announcements, format changes, “leap seconds,” and other aural oddities from 1955 to 2019 (the station’s 100th anniversary). Presented by shortwave ethnographer and radio producer Myke Dodge Weiskopf, At The Tone is alternately strange and mundane, monotonous and compelling, erudite and obscure. Recommended for fans of The Conet Project, The Ghost Orchid, and other radio-related ephemera.