Atomic Clock Station in Fort Collins May Close Down – Is it Needed?

Those eight antennas north of Fort Collins that send out the atomic-clock time have been in operation since 1963. Has the time come to turn them off?

The National Institue of Standards and Technology (NIST) established the atomic-clock station (WWV) north of Fort Collins for nearly $1M in 1960's dollars. The station receives the time from the NIST atomic-clock in Boulder. 

Those eight antennas have been broadcasting for over 50 years, synchronizing the time for appliances, cameras and irrigation controls. The original WWV station was in Maryland and began operation in 1919.

BizWest has the story on how if proposed budget cuts get passed, the operation will close down. 

But in today's age, it's all about GPS satellites providing atomic time, anyway. So, it wouldn't be like anyone would really notice- aside from those eight antennas leaving the horizon.