[LEAPSECS] Ghosts of Leap-seconds past and future

[Michael Deckers]

    On 2010-12-28 12:56, Richard B. Langley wrote:


>  I have been asked to remind list members of the presentation by Ron

>  Beard, the chairman of ITU-R Working Party 7A, at ION GNSS 2010. The

>  PowerPoint slides can be downloaded from here:

>  <http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/cgsicMeetings/50/%5B16%5DITU_Status_UTC_Revision_CGSIC_50th.pdf>.

>

>  Here are the conclusions, summary, and actions from the presentation:

>  ...


    Thanks. What surprises me in that summary is not what it says
    but what it does not mention. Two examples:

    [a] While the summary mentions the "questions" circulated by the
        Working Group, it does not state which changes really are
        intended -- those of the US proposal at
              [http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/cgsicMeetings
                /50/%5B16%5DITU_Status_UTC_Revision_CGSIC_50th.pdf],
        I assume.

    [b] This proposal does not only change technicalities like
        the maximal difference |UTC - UT|, but it changes several
        other things (more important things, in my opinion). For
        instance, it removes the
              immediate availability of UT
        from the goals of UTC dissemination. Was anybody asked
        about this? Do most of the experts agree?

    The US proposal contains provisions that only take effect
    in several hundreds of years. In view of the current revision
    cycle of ITU recommendations, this is absurd. I take this as
    an indication that the US proposal has not even been subject to
    a formal review by the ITU working group.

    Michael Deckers.