[LEAPSECS] dismaying news

[Brooks Harris]

LEAPSECS is back in business!

-Brooks

On 2015-11-18 12:25 AM, Steve Allen wrote:
> Last Thursday the chair of WRC-15 Special Working Group 5A3 submitted
> Temporary Document [68]
> Proposals relating to agenda item 1.14
> http://www.itu.int/md/R15-WRC15-151102-TD-0068/en
> No further meetings of SWG 5A3 are on the calendar.
>
> The contents of that will not be available until after it is
> considered by a plenary session, but Saturday the CEPT ECC published a
> MSWord document of news from the second week of WRC-15 at
> http://www.cept.org/ecc/groups/ecc/cpg/page/news-from-cept-at-wrc-15,-second-week
>
> The dismaying news in that document says there will be no decision
> from WRC-15.  That means the earliest decision is at WRC-19, so there
> will be leap seconds in the radio broadcast time scale at least until
> 2023.  The news item reads
>
>      The sub working group (SWG 5A3) has finished its work and has
>      developed a draft new WRC Resolution (as part of way forward)
>      which will be discussed at WG5A meeting.
>
>      The draft Resolution sets out the framework for further work in
>      collaboration with relevant bodies (i.e.  BIPM/CIPM/CGPM etc) as
>      ITU is not a proper body to decide the definition of UTC, and will
>      report back in 2023 and meanwhile the ITU-R Recommendation TF
>      460-6 (with leap seconds) will continue to apply until 2023.
>
>      The draft resolution was agreed in the sub working group however
>      the group could not reach an agreement on proposals to modify the
>      article 1.14 of the Radio Regulations (RR) and both options now
>      will be will be discussed at the next WG5A level.
>
>      Next step: Further discussions at the WG5A level.
>
> By 2023 the process of reconsidering leap seconds will have gone on
> for more than two decades.  I suspect that many technical applications
> will find they have enough agency to choose a better time scale in the
> absence of an international recommendation.
>
> --
> 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
> _______________________________________________
> LEAPSECS mailing list
> LEAPSECS at leapsecond.com
> https://pairlist6.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
>
>