WWV is a shortwave (also known as "high frequency" or HF) radio station, located near Fort Collins, Colorado. It is best known for its continuous time signal broadcasts begun in 1945, and is also used to establish official United States government frequency standards, with transmitters operating on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz, as well as an "experimental mode" transmission on 25 MHz. WWV is operated by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), under the oversight of its Time and Frequency Division, which is part of NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory based in Gaithersburg, Maryland.