Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 5]
Discussion
GOG440 said:
some of the old single cylinder diesels used on the old narrow boats could run in reverse, if you wanted to go back wards you throttled down then stopped the fly wheel and then gave it a push in the other direction
My be an old wive's tale but I believe there have been a few broken legs caused by these when fitted with a kickstart!Is there some genuine reason why national radio stations in the year 2020 persist in announcing traffic news? Why do I need to be told that there's a bit of a traffic jam at the opposite end of the country from me, it has no effect on me, and even if I was to drive straight to the scene the problem would be long gone - so seems a pointless waste of time for the radio station. RDS TA (which has been around for some 20yrs) will give me more relevant local station info if i'm driving and not partaking in the services of a mobile device/satnav.
drmotorsport said:
Is there some genuine reason why national radio stations in the year 2020 persist in announcing traffic news? Why do I need to be told that there's a bit of a traffic jam at the opposite end of the country from me, it has no effect on me, and even if I was to drive straight to the scene the problem would be long gone - so seems a pointless waste of time for the radio station. RDS TA (which has been around for some 20yrs) will give me more relevant local station info if i'm driving and not partaking in the services of a mobile device/satnav.
If you're referring to a BBC station - it will be part of their public service remit. If you're referring to a commercial station it will be part of the licence agreement with Ofcom. In the case of a split frequency service, different travel news will be broadcast on different transmitters simultaneously. In my previous life I was a presenter/voiceover in radio and used to do work for Metro Networks who provided travel news for various radio stations. My Saturday shift included travels news for Harriet Scott's show on Virgin Radio. Virgin (now Absolute) has national coverage but a specific frequency (105.8FM) for London. The travel news was 40 seconds and you had to pre-record the national one a minute or so before broadcast, and then play that out as you read the London one live. Between you and the editors you picked what you felt were the major national issues dotted around the country as best you could and then add one in to the bulletin as one dropped off. The information came in from various sources around the country plus the "jamline" callers. You're never going to please all of the people all of the time so it was a case of doing the best you could to pick what seemed to be the most significant issues (in the absence of a very obvious incident). For London we had the same sources plus the benefit of access to the Scotland Yard traffic cameras so it was much easier. drmotorsport said:
Is there some genuine reason why national radio stations in the year 2020 persist in announcing traffic news? Why do I need to be told that there's a bit of a traffic jam at the opposite end of the country from me, it has no effect on me, and even if I was to drive straight to the scene the problem would be long gone - so seems a pointless waste of time for the radio station. RDS TA (which has been around for some 20yrs) will give me more relevant local station info if i'm driving and not partaking in the services of a mobile device/satnav.
In addition to 48K's points above....Not everyone has or uses the RDS TA service. And one day, neither might you and you hear about something does affect you and you'll be glad of the info.
And for the national commercial stations, it provides something that generates revenue as the travel news is often sponsored.
jet_noise said:
GOG440 said:
some of the old single cylinder diesels used on the old narrow boats could run in reverse, if you wanted to go back wards you throttled down then stopped the fly wheel and then gave it a push in the other direction
My be an old wive's tale but I believe there have been a few broken legs caused by these when fitted with a kickstart!Allan L said:
The Bolinder engine was started by pushing its flywheel round with ones foot. The flywheel had suitable recesses for ones heel so "fitted with a kickstart" is not quite correct, but I expect that it could fire before TDC and hurt you if you didn't push it round hard enough.
Thanks. Hadn't heard of a Bolinder engine. Two stroke semi diesel hot bulb acc. t'internet.48k said:
If you're referring to a BBC station - it will be part of their public service remit. If you're referring to a commercial station it will be part of the licence agreement with Ofcom. In the case of a split frequency service, different travel news will be broadcast on different transmitters simultaneously. In my previous life I was a presenter/voiceover in radio and used to do work for Metro Networks who provided travel news for various radio stations. My Saturday shift included travels news for Harriet Scott's show on Virgin Radio. Virgin (now Absolute) has national coverage but a specific frequency (105.8FM) for London. The travel news was 40 seconds and you had to pre-record the national one a minute or so before broadcast, and then play that out as you read the London one live. Between you and the editors you picked what you felt were the major national issues dotted around the country as best you could and then add one in to the bulletin as one dropped off. The information came in from various sources around the country plus the "jamline" callers. You're never going to please all of the people all of the time so it was a case of doing the best you could to pick what seemed to be the most significant issues (in the absence of a very obvious incident). For London we had the same sources plus the benefit of access to the Scotland Yard traffic cameras so it was much easier.
Thanks for the interesting info 48k. I think it was BBC R2 recently that triggered me, I get the public service remit but then they've got all those local radio stations to handle the local stuff, why not do something more productive on the national level...drmotorsport said:
48k said:
If you're referring to a BBC station - it will be part of their public service remit. If you're referring to a commercial station it will be part of the licence agreement with Ofcom. In the case of a split frequency service, different travel news will be broadcast on different transmitters simultaneously. In my previous life I was a presenter/voiceover in radio and used to do work for Metro Networks who provided travel news for various radio stations. My Saturday shift included travels news for Harriet Scott's show on Virgin Radio. Virgin (now Absolute) has national coverage but a specific frequency (105.8FM) for London. The travel news was 40 seconds and you had to pre-record the national one a minute or so before broadcast, and then play that out as you read the London one live. Between you and the editors you picked what you felt were the major national issues dotted around the country as best you could and then add one in to the bulletin as one dropped off. The information came in from various sources around the country plus the "jamline" callers. You're never going to please all of the people all of the time so it was a case of doing the best you could to pick what seemed to be the most significant issues (in the absence of a very obvious incident). For London we had the same sources plus the benefit of access to the Scotland Yard traffic cameras so it was much easier.
Thanks for the interesting info 48k. I think it was BBC R2 recently that triggered me, I get the public service remit but then they've got all those local radio stations to handle the local stuff, why not do something more productive on the national level..."Hi, Tom here. Get Waze. Bye."
[spits coffee]"...Ahem, right, thanks Tom. Here's Vengaboys!"
drmotorsport said:
Thanks for the interesting info 48k. I think it was BBC R2 recently that triggered me, I get the public service remit but then they've got all those local radio stations to handle the local stuff, why not do something more productive on the national level...
This used to frustrate me, as the TA button gave you every traffic report and sometimes that meant several in a row. I think it was Classic FM that took the longest as it worked its way from Scotland down the country.If you have a standalone sat nav that has live traffic data, it actually picks it up from a datastream coming from Classic FM. I've never found it that useful except for telling me I'm going to be late, I don't think it has ever actually rerouted me.
Rostfritt said:
drmotorsport said:
Thanks for the interesting info 48k. I think it was BBC R2 recently that triggered me, I get the public service remit but then they've got all those local radio stations to handle the local stuff, why not do something more productive on the national level...
This used to frustrate me, as the TA button gave you every traffic report and sometimes that meant several in a row. I think it was Classic FM that took the longest as it worked its way from Scotland down the country.If you have a standalone sat nav that has live traffic data, it actually picks it up from a datastream coming from Classic FM. I've never found it that useful except for telling me I'm going to be late, I don't think it has ever actually rerouted me.
Miskiligade said:
I think about this one a lot while grooming.
Has anyone ever heard of, or have any anecdotal evidence that supports my theory that the law of averages suggests that someone, somewhere, has given themselves an eye injury while shaving?
On my wedding day I cut part of my ear off with a razor. Lots of blood and in the photos you can see the massive red blood scab (OK. It was about 8mm long but it bled a lot. And scabbed up) Has anyone ever heard of, or have any anecdotal evidence that supports my theory that the law of averages suggests that someone, somewhere, has given themselves an eye injury while shaving?
aclivity said:
Miskiligade said:
I think about this one a lot while grooming.
Has anyone ever heard of, or have any anecdotal evidence that supports my theory that the law of averages suggests that someone, somewhere, has given themselves an eye injury while shaving?
On my wedding day I cut part of my ear off with a razor. Lots of blood and in the photos you can see the massive red blood scab (OK. It was about 8mm long but it bled a lot. And scabbed up) Has anyone ever heard of, or have any anecdotal evidence that supports my theory that the law of averages suggests that someone, somewhere, has given themselves an eye injury while shaving?
I haven't spoken to my wife in over 2 years.
Can't get a word in edgeways.
Out walking the dogs earlier across farmland, I noticed a couple of (what I originally thought were), broken plastic things; looked like lids of some sort, I assumed they were things that had been mowed over and subsequently broken up, I wandered over into a more exposed and larger field and noticed far more of these "lids", all dotted about and broken.
I picked one up and it broke relatively easily, I came to the conclusion that they were likely clay pigeons, so, given that they were on farmland and usually this area is full of sheep (it was empty of sheep), are:
I picked one up and it broke relatively easily, I came to the conclusion that they were likely clay pigeons, so, given that they were on farmland and usually this area is full of sheep (it was empty of sheep), are:
- clay pigeons biodegradable?
- what are they actually made of?
- also this area is fully open to the public so what measures will be in place when there is a shoot, to keep general people and dog walkers safe, given there is full public access with no fencing or lockable gates?
t like paint and resin.I watched 'Se7en' again recently.
As with other films & books, the freak and his gruesome acts of violence is the manifestation of the writer's imagination.
Got me thinking - has any criminal, living or dead, actually done any crimes like the ones you see in movies?
Who would be the closest one to say, Spacey in Se7en or Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs etc.
I'm guessing someone like Fred West or Dahmer but are there worse?
As with other films & books, the freak and his gruesome acts of violence is the manifestation of the writer's imagination.
Got me thinking - has any criminal, living or dead, actually done any crimes like the ones you see in movies?
Who would be the closest one to say, Spacey in Se7en or Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs etc.
I'm guessing someone like Fred West or Dahmer but are there worse?
Fastchas said:
I watched 'Se7en' again recently.
As with other films & books, the freak and his gruesome acts of violence is the manifestation of the writer's imagination.
Got me thinking - has any criminal, living or dead, actually done any crimes like the ones you see in movies?
Who would be the closest one to say, Spacey in Se7en or Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs etc.
I'm guessing someone like Fred West or Dahmer but are there worse?
Try Ed Gein. As with other films & books, the freak and his gruesome acts of violence is the manifestation of the writer's imagination.
Got me thinking - has any criminal, living or dead, actually done any crimes like the ones you see in movies?
Who would be the closest one to say, Spacey in Se7en or Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs etc.
I'm guessing someone like Fred West or Dahmer but are there worse?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein
GOG440 said:
some of the old single cylinder diesels used on the old narrow boats could run in reverse, if you wanted to go back wards you throttled down then stopped the fly wheel and then gave it a push in the other direction
Don't need to give it a push..just need good timing!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrNlwxdGYVU
drmotorsport said:
Thanks for the interesting info 48k. I think it was BBC R2 recently that triggered me, I get the public service remit but then they've got all those local radio stations to handle the local stuff, why not do something more productive on the national level...
Am I imagining it or do the Beeb do traffic from North to South in order?Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff