VNG' was Australia's national time signal service. It was inaugrated by the Australian Post Office on 21 September 1964.[1] Originally it transmitted on 4500, 7500 and 12000 kHz from Lyndhurst, Victoria. [2] After 1987 it relocated to Shanes Park, NSW, and transmitted on 2500, 5000, 8638, 12984, and 16000 kHz.[3]
VNG broadcast time in binary coded decimal, during seconds 21-58. It also broadcast DUT-1 information during seconds 1-16. Tones were usually of 1 kHz. VNG also broadcast a spoken time signal every 15 minutes. The exact words in earlier years were:
"This is VNG Lyndhurst, Victoria, Australia on 4.5, 7.5 or 12 MHz. VNG is a standard frequency and time signal service of the Australian Telecommunications Commission. This is VNG Lyndhurst, Victoria, Australia on 4.5, 7.5 or 12 MHz."
If a leap second were to be introduced, a further voice announcement occurred.
The original service (Lyndhurst) was shut down in October, 1987, due to a lack of funding. The replacement VNG service operated from Shanes Park, Llandillo, NSW, until June 30, 2002 on 2500 kHz and 8838 kHz. The remaining three transmitters (5000, 12984, and 16000 kHz) were finally closed down on December 31, 2002.
Many scientific and astronomical users of the service were somewhat inconvenienced at the shutdown, given that daytime reception of overseas time signal services in Australia is rather poor, the nearest HF time signal services being BPM in China and WWVH in Hawaii.
References
^ From QSL Card confirming reception on the 28th of December, 1974 in Seattle, Washington, USA on 12 mHz.
^ Klawitter, G. (1980). List of Time Signal Stations (9th Edition). Wuerzburg: Boehler-Verlag GmbH, 11-12.
^ Klingenfuss, J. (2001). 2002 Guide to Utility Radio Stations (20th Edition). Klingenfuss, 54, 97, 162, 229, 274, 384. ISBN 3-924509-02-6.
