[time-nuts] Re: BBC Radio Pips

[Rsec Van der leij]

> On 2 Feb 2024, at 12:03, Andy Talbot via time-nuts <time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:
> 
> But on VHF they were 3 milliseconds late.

It's about 3.3 µs per kilometer and VHF-transmitters have a shorter range, so you're likely to listen to a local transmitter. However, often these are coupled to the main transmitter with digital lines. In this country the link has been digital since the early eighties of the last century. The AD, transmission and DA of the signal introduces another source of latency.

For me, the AM pips were 150µs late, and the FM pips were 1150µs late. Even though I could almost see the FM transmitter and the AM transmitter is in the center of the country, ~100km away. 

As you noted, buffering delays for streaming services can be significant and occur on all legs of the journey from source to your ear. Several minutes is not uncommon. 

-- 

Ruben