Time and Frequency Broadcast With DCF77

D. Piester, A. Bauch, J. Becker, and A. Hoppmann

Abstract:	For over fifty years the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) has disseminated time signals and standard frequency by means of the low-frequency transmitter DCF77. In addition, since the 1970s legal time for Germany has been broadcast using coded time information by way of amplitude modulated second markers. This service, especially, has become very popular and DCF77 has developed to an important part of Germany’s state funded infrastructure. In the 1980s binary phase shift keying using a pseudo random noise code sequence was added to enable a high precision and reliable time reception. In 2003, the feasibility of using vacant coding capacity of the DCF77 scheme for public warning messages was tested and since 2006 the same capacity has been used for the transmission of encrypted weather forecast information under responsibility of Meteo Time GmbH. The advantages of DCF77, in particular its wide range of reception with low cost receivers, have led through the years to the use of millions DCF77 radio-controlled clocks which provide exact time throughout central Europe. We briefly report on the current broadcast program including the features listed above and the current characteristics of the transmitted signals, and we give an overview of the technical equipment used for signal generation and monitoring.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting November 14 - 17, 2011 Hyatt Regency Long Beach Long Beach, California
Pages:	185 - 196
Cite this article:	Piester, D., Bauch, A., Becker, J., Hoppmann, A., "Time and Frequency Broadcast With DCF77," Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Long Beach, California, November 2011, pp. 185-196.
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