Orolia, Inc. (formerly Spectracom Corporation) was a global manufacturer of precision time and frequency instruments and network-centric equipment used in a wide range of industries. Spectracom was founded in Rochester, New York USA in 1972. Its first product was a

WWVB WWVB is a time signal radio station near Fort Collins, Colorado and is operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Most radio-controlled clocks in North America use WWVB's transmissions to set the correct time. The 70 ...

Receiver-Comparator, an instrument used to calibrate oscillators with traceability to national standards. Other early products included WWVB frequency and time standards which offered

atomic clock An atomic clock is a clock that measures time by monitoring the resonant frequency of atoms. It is based on atoms having different energy levels. Electron states in an atom are associated with different energy levels, and in transitions betw ...

accuracy at a fraction of the cost. This led to widespread use of these products in vital communications networks, such as two-way police radio simulcast systems, and master clocks for accurate time stamping of data and events within emergency call centers (such as

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency n ...

public safety answering points). When

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

signals became publicly available in the 1990s, Spectracom began offering its time and frequency products with embedded GPS receivers. These products are known by the registered trademarks Ageless and NetClock, the second being a popular brand of network time servers and

master clock Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

s. In 2005, Spectracom acquired the KSI line of bus-level timing products. These plug-in computer or instrument chassis cards provide precise timing within dedicated applications using GPS or

IRIG timecode Inter-range instrumentation group timecodes, commonly known as IRIG timecode, are standard formats for transferring timing information. Atomic frequency standards and GPS receivers designed for precision timing are often equipped with an IRIG outp ...

. In 2007, Spectracom was acquired by the Orolia Group and operated as part of its Timing, Test & Measurement group. The Spectracom brand has been applied to other Orolia acquisitions: Temex Sync, France (2007), Rapco Electronics, UK (2008), and

Pendulum Instruments {{primary sources, date=July 2012 Pendulum Instruments is a line of scientific instruments for high-resolution time and frequency measurements. Pendulum was originally created in the 1960s as the Philips time and frequency competence center. Afte ...

, Sweden (2009). Facilities in all these locations now operate as the Navigation & Timing division of Safran S.A.

WWVB changes affect early products

In 2012, the

NIST The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

made changes to the WWVB broadcast signal, which was used for synchronization within, among others, early Spectracom devices.Spectracom informational item: https://spectracom.com/sites/default/files/document-files/Pending%20Changes%20in%20the%20WWVB%20Radio%20Signal%20Affects%20Precision%20Frequency%20and%20Timing%20Reference.pdf While the signal changes were compatible with more recent equipment using those broadcasts, Spectracom has provided a list of older equipment, unsupported since 2005, which will no longer function properly as a result of the WWVB change:

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Safran
formerly Orolia and Spectracom

Company information includes $3M contract with US Air Force in January 2011. 1972 establishments in New York (state) 2007 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1972 American companies disestablished in 2007 Computer companies established in 1972 Computer companies disestablished in 2007 Defunct computer companies based in New York (state) Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Defunct networking companies Instrument-making corporations Networking hardware companies Timekeeping