NRC Telephone Talking Clock
NRC runs two telephone numbers that announce the time of day. Voice announcements of Eastern Time are made every 10 seconds, followed by a tone indicating the exact time. This service is available to the general public by dialing +1 (613) 745-1576 for English service and +1 (613) 745-9426 for French service. The call is automatically cut off after 30 seconds or three announcements. Long-distance charges apply for those calling from outside the Ottawa/Gatineau area.
The English message, voiced by former CBC Radio announcer Harry Mannis, is in the following format, repeated every ten seconds:
| “ | "NRC, Eastern (Standard/Daylight) Time, x hours, x minutes, and x seconds." | ” |
The French service uses the voice of Radio-Canada news anchor Simon Durivage, with the following message format:
| “ | "CNRC, Heure (Normale/Avancée) de l'Est, y heures, y minutes, et y seconds." | ” |
This is followed by a single 800 Hz beep lasting 0.3 seconds. The word "exactly" (in French, "précises") replaces "and x seconds"/"et y seconds" at the top of the minute. Additionally, there is an 800 Hz "tick" every second in the background.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, a modified version of the NRC Telephone Talking Clock was transmitted over television channel CPAC while the House of Commons was not sitting. The announcements alternated between English and French, and cycled through all six of Canada's time zones, as well as UTC.
Read more about this topic: National Research Council Time Signal
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