NR NR/SIN/098 ISSUE 3 PDF

This SIN applies to all Network Rail maintainers who have a responsibility for telecoms operational and non operational equipment dependent on the MSF Clock signal.

The purpose of this SIN is to address all MSF dependent systems over the 6 months following the MSF change to Anthorn.

Cab Secure Radio Management Processor and SMA Management Processor MSF sites are more urgent than other sites and so an action has already been put in place to check the MSF reception at these sites. These sites are listed in Table 1.

This SIN is primarily aimed at the remaining equipment, as shown in Table 2, which will be visited during planned maintenance over the next 6 months.

Purpose

From 1^st April 2007 the location from which the National Physical Laboratory broadcasts the MSF (Rugby) time signal is to be transferred from Rugby to Anthorn in Cumbria.

Network Rail has various systems that receive the 60kHz MSF time and date signal for a number of applications. These include Cab Secure Radio, NRN radio, customer information systems, voice recorders and several other applications.

The new signal is expected to be of sufficient signal strength to be received nationally. However, antenna at some locations may need to be repositioned to point towards the new signal source in order to receive the time signal properly. There is also the possibility that in some cases a new antenna location may be required owing to shielding by metal buildings and structures.