The VLF transmission records used to be published by the US Naval Observatory.
As the transmissions are military, we could never find out what the schedules
were exactly. However, if one phoned the VLF transmitter sites, they were
pretty open about giving one the regular past schedule - "well, we shut down
last week, and the week before on Tuesday - today is Tuesday and we are not
transmitting right now."
I went through the USNO web site, and could find no reference to VLF
transmission records, so perhaps they have stopped publishing them. All my
telephone numbers are pretty old, so they probably won't work. When you call,
the first thing usually said is "this is not a secure line", after that, you may
be asked why you want to know. I think it is a comfort to these guys that
someone actually uses their transmissions for a practical purpose.
Here are a couple of links I found and some text about NSS.
I would recommend calling the US Naval Observatory first, and then a transmitter
site directly.
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/vlf.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/k6dc/history.htm
"Specially designed sophisticated multiplex transmission equipment is used and
all traffic is computer encrypted. Although NSS is going stronger than ever,
with a terribly vital mission in this nuclear powered world, sad to say, the
call letters NSS are now never transmitted.
The Naval Radio Transmitting Facility is presently staffed by about 70 military
and civilian personnel under command of Lt. Commander Samual G. Curry.
Danny G. Cartwright, Electronics Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer is the
maintenance Chief in charge of the VLF installation and the man responsible for
keeping it on the air. I am deeply indebted to him for digging into the
historical files, procuring and taking photographs and "showing me the works."
Regards
Peter Kowalcyzk
Placer Dome Inc.
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