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History of WWVH

WWVH began operation on November 22, 1948 at Kihei on the island of Maui, in the then territory of Hawaii (Hawaii was not granted statehood until 1959). The original station broadcast a low power signal on 5, 10, and 15 MHz. As it does today, the program schedule of WWVH closely follows the format of WWV. However, voice announcements of time were not added to the WWVH broadcast until July 1964.

The original WWVH station site was constantly threatened by an eroding shoreline, and much of the station's equipment and property had been damaged. It was estimated that 75 feet of shoreline were lost in the period from 1949 to 1967. By 1965, the ocean was within a few meters of both the main building and the 10 MHz antenna, and it was obviously necessary to move WWVH to a new location.

In July 1971, the station moved to its current location, a 30 acre (12 hectare) site near Kekaha on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii.

 Questions? Send mail to: wwvh [at] boulder.nist.gov (wwvh[at]boulder[dot]nist[dot]gov)

Created April 28, 2015, Updated August 25, 2016