[LEAPSECS] Get off my lawn!

Steve Allen sla at ucolick.org
Fri Jun 17 13:19:09 EDT 2011


Here's something I missed until today: CCTF/09-38
http://www.bipm.org/cc/CCTF/Allowed/18/CCTF_09-38_CGPM-ITU-resp.pdf
the CIPM advises the 24th CGPM that henceforth the CGPM should
assume responsibility for the definition of international time
scales while the ITU continues its intergovernmental
regulatory activities regarding the radio dissemination of
precise time and frequency signals

that lives alongside CCTF/09-37
http://www.bipm.org/cc/CCTF/Allowed/18/CCTF_09-37_UTC_possible_redefinition.pdf
which recommended that the ITU-R get the UTC process concluded
National and international agencies concerned with the
definition of international time scales urgently consider
decisions regarding the future definition of UTC so that
international agreement can be reached as early as possible.

and CCTF/09-27
http://www.bipm.org/cc/CCTF/Allowed/18/CCTF_09-27_note_on_UTC-ITU-R.pdf
which was submitted to ITU-R SG7A in 2007-09 and which said
The CCTF realizes that some misunderstanding exists regarding
the scope of application of the various time scales. It
stresses that TAI is the uniform time scale underlying UTC,
and that it should not be considered as an alternative time
reference.
which is contrary to ruminations from a decade earlier when some CCTF
members opined that folks who don't like leap seconds should use TAI,
and, the other kicker for folks like the perl developers who want to
specify TAI as an underlying API
In the case of a redefinition of UTC without leap seconds, the
CCTF would consider discussing the possibility of suppressing
TAI, as it would remain parallel to the continuous UTC.

A lot of the correspondence regarding recommendations seems to consist
of requests for some agency to revise or suppress some document which
encroaches on the territory of another. Unfortunately for the sake of
system implementors the agencies are still engaged in the negotiations
about where the boundaries are.

--
Steve Allen <sla at ucolick.org> WGS-84 (GPS)
UCO/Lick Observatory--ISB Natural Sciences II, Room 165 Lat +36.99855
1156 High Street Voice: +1 831 459 3046 Lng -122.06015
Santa Cruz, CA 95064 http://www.ucolick.org/~sla/ Hgt +250 m


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