[LEAPSECS] Caveat emptor!

[Tony Finch]

Ian Batten <igb at batten.eu.org> wrote:

>

> I think it's messier than that.  De facto UK time is UTC, as we've

> discussed, but the only source of de jure legal time now is MSF: it

> broadcasts UTC(NPL), but DUT1 is available in the payload (and that's

> (UT1-UTC), not (GMT-UTC), because as you say GMT is unmaintained).


NPL have other time services, including (in increasing order of accuracy)
a dial-up telephone time service (which provides DUT1), their NTP servers
(which do not), and a GPS common view time transfer service (which
provides UTC(NPL) though GPS itself also provides DUT1).

The Radio 4 time signal pips used to be produced by the RGO time service,
so they were also a means of broadcasting official legal time. The Radio 4
long-wave transmitter also was and remains a frequency standard. However
since the RGO's time service was terminated the BBC have generated the
pips themselves from GPS.


> So in the grand British tradition of compromise and fudge, UK Legal Time

> would converge on whatever was most easily available, without any

> primary legislation being needed.


I expect so.

I note that the last time this was discussed in parliament, most of the
discussion about Greenwish was about its past glories and not the fact
that the RGO was to close the following year.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199798/ldhansrd/vo970611/text/70611-10.htm

Tony.
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