On 27/05/2021 10:01, charles wrote:

> go back to when the BBC, in its wisdom, decided to move "schools
> programmes" to medium wave. It was discovered, mainly by me, that medium
> wave reception in institutional buildings was generally impossible because
> of the mains-borne interference generated by fluorescent lights. This was
> when I discovered that many school teachers were technophobic.
>

I have in a box somewhere a "Radio 5 converter" produced at great
expense by the BBC to send to schools that had poor MW reception.

It's a fixed-frequency receiver (switchable between 603 and 909 kHz)
connected to a small Band II generator, intended to be installed in a
suitable place and connected to the school's VHF aerial feed.

As it happened, my school had perfectly good reception even with the
fluorescent lights; the classroom radio was usually on Radio 1!

--
rgds
LAurence
<><

There's no place like 127.0.0.1
~~~ Random (signature) 1.6.1

In article <xuCdnZsJgea1eTL9nZ2dnUU78YXNnZ2d@brightview.co.uk>,
Laurence Taylor <laurence@nospam.plus.com> wrote:
> On 27/05/2021 10:01, charles wrote:

> > go back to when the BBC, in its wisdom, decided to move "schools
> > programmes" to medium wave. It was discovered, mainly by me, that
> > medium wave reception in institutional buildings was generally
> > impossible because of the mains-borne interference generated by
> > fluorescent lights. This was when I discovered that many school
> > teachers were technophobic.
> >

> I have in a box somewhere a "Radio 5 converter" produced at great
> expense by the BBC to send to schools that had poor MW reception.

> It's a fixed-frequency receiver (switchable between 603 and 909 kHz)
> connected to a small Band II generator, intended to be installed in a
> suitable place and connected to the school's VHF aerial feed.

> As it happened, my school had perfectly good reception even with the
> fluorescent lights; the classroom radio was usually on Radio 1!

These adaptors were needed becaue many schools had recorders which only had
an FM tuner. (specially made for the schools market)

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

In message <s8nsf0$12f$1@gioia.aioe.org>,
MrSpook_r413gt8cp@liy2mfcmkhjc0mv_3.info writes
>On Thu, 27 May 2021 09:59:34 +0100
>Roderick Stewart <rjfs@escapetime.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
>>On Wed, 26 May 2021 13:10:16 +0100, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>Brian Gaff wrote:
>>>
>>>> The problem is its all going to be regretted one day, and as per usual
>>>> nobody will have seen it coming. If you want mains to carry rf, a totally
>>>> different cabling installation is needed.
>>>
>>>I don't have any powerline myself, and when asked for recommendations
>>>from friends, I always reccommend ethernet or wifi above powerline, but
>>>sometimes those options aren't workable or acceptable.
>>>
>>>I doubt there'll be any mass regret, yes you may lose a hobby, and it's
>>>a bit callous to say but only your fellow amateur radio enthusiasts will
>>>care.
>>
>>The reality about amateur radio enthusiasts is that there appear to be
>>hardly any of them left. I suppose it's no longer a novelty to be able
>>to study for a licence to mess about with electronics to be able to
>>talk to like minded individuals hundreds of miles away about the price
>>of 6SN7s and the like, now than anyone can easily talk to anyone about
>>anything anywhere in the world.
>
>I was into CB in a big way back in the day and I thought about moving to
>do an amateur license. But the idiotic restrictions such as not being able
>to discuss politics

It's not so much discussing politics, but instead about not campaigning.

> or anything controversial

Such as?

> (and no swearing)

I'm surprised that someone of your calibre feels the need to swear!

> made it seem
>fairly pointless to me. And when I listened in it seemed to be nothing but
>people talking about their signal levels, equipment and their allotments.

Nonsense! It's more about piles and prostrate problems.

>Boring.
>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkLQsO3kXpU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuwxmBLwe8Q
et multi.
--
Ian

On 27/05/2021 20:13, charles wrote:

> These adaptors were needed becaue many schools had recorders which only had
> an FM tuner. (specially made for the schools market)
>

At the time the schools in this county were tied into a buying
organisation. That meant they had to buy electronic equipment that was
often very poor, functionally -- although it was always in a lovely
wooden case!
There was an audio device meant for school halls that was really just a
lot of cheap modules screwed into a varnished box. Everything about it
it was crap. The built-in speaker had nothing (such as a coaxial
tweeter) to cater for top frequencies. The audio amp was woefully
inadequate for a normal room, never mind a hall full of kids. The FM
tuner was a total joke. Connection of a aerial cable (that carried a
good signal) had little effect. I used to try everything. 75/300
transformer, reverse balun, anything I could think of. The thing wasn't
deaf; it would usually pick up something with no aerial connected, but
there was something wrong with the aerial connections inside the unit.
It was also very unselective. In several schools I visited the teachers
used to bring their own radios and cassette players in.

Bill

On Thu, 27 May 2021 18:56:33 +0100
Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>On 27/05/2021 16:51, MrSpook_k1k99dO6@cvfdx7r6zv.info wrote:
>>
>> You're confusing ... ideas.
>
>Yawn! Stay in after school and write out 1000 times.
>
>"No-one is fooled by my using abuse to cover up losing an argument!"

Ah , the old reflection method of debate. Thank for your admitting you got
everything arse about face.

On Thu, 27 May 2021 23:26:36 +0100
Ian Jackson <ianREMOVETHISjackson@g3ohx.co.uk> wrote:
>In message <s8nsf0$12f$1@gioia.aioe.org>,
>MrSpook_r413gt8cp@liy2mfcmkhjc0mv_3.info writes
>>I was into CB in a big way back in the day and I thought about moving to
>>do an amateur license. But the idiotic restrictions such as not being able
>>to discuss politics
>
>It's not so much discussing politics, but instead about not campaigning.

Thats not what I was told but I'll take your word for it.

>> or anything controversial
>
>Such as?

Who knows, controversial topic of the day, anything woke now I suppose.
eg Calling people of colour coloured even though the semantic meaning is
absolutely identical in english.

>> (and no swearing)
>
>I'm surprised that someone of your calibre feels the need to swear!

Everyone drops the odd swear word now and then and you can guarantee there'll
be some anally rententive self righteous prick who'll be listening and report
it.

On 27/05/2021 20:13, charles wrote:
> In article <xuCdnZsJgea1eTL9nZ2dnUU78YXNnZ2d@brightview.co.uk>,
> Laurence Taylor <laurence@nospam.plus.com> wrote:
>> On 27/05/2021 10:01, charles wrote:
>>> go back to when the BBC, in its wisdom, decided to move "schools
>>> programmes" to medium wave. It was discovered, mainly by me, that
>>> medium wave reception in institutional buildings was generally
>>> impossible because of the mains-borne interference generated by
>>> fluorescent lights. This was when I discovered that many school
>>> teachers were technophobic.
>>>
>> I have in a box somewhere a "Radio 5 converter" produced at great
>> expense by the BBC to send to schools that had poor MW reception.
>> It's a fixed-frequency receiver (switchable between 603 and 909 kHz)
>> connected to a small Band II generator, intended to be installed in a
>> suitable place and connected to the school's VHF aerial feed.
>> As it happened, my school had perfectly good reception even with the
>> fluorescent lights; the classroom radio was usually on Radio 1!
> These adaptors were needed becaue many schools had recorders which only had
> an FM tuner. (specially made for the schools market)
>
My primary school (where I was 1969 to 75) had a Leak FM tuner in the
headmaster's office.
This fed into an Amp that had a mic input for addressing all the
classrooms, that fed a 100 volt distribution to each classroom.
I remember the speakers, plugged into the speaker outlet socket on the
wall, with a volume control pot on the side.

The assembly hall had the same, and this was woefully inadequate.

When my dad upgraded to stereo hi-fi in 1972, he offered our old speaker
(something my grandfather had built in the 50s)
which was in a huge triangular cabinet, it was about 4ft high, and each
side was 2-3ft. My dad transplanted the 100v transformer
and pot over from the existing speaker, and it was able to fill the
assembly hall with sound.

It was still in use when I visited in the 80s

On 28/05/2021 11:55, MrSpook_wou2@2b2ty327vce5pr4bam8d_.info wrote:
> On Thu, 27 May 2021 18:56:33 +0100
> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> On 27/05/2021 16:51, MrSpook_k1k99dO6@cvfdx7r6zv.info wrote:
>>>
>>> You're confusing ... ideas.
>>
>> Yawn! Stay in after school and write out 1000 times.
>>
>> "No-one is fooled by my using abuse to cover up losing an argument!"
>
> Ah , the old reflection method of debate. Thank for your admitting you got
> everything arse about face.

Except I didn't, you did! When, if ever, are you going to grow and
learn to admit when you're wrong? It's not as though you don't get many
opportunities to practise it!

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

On Fri, 28 May 2021 13:37:58 +0100
Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>On 28/05/2021 11:55, MrSpook_wou2@2b2ty327vce5pr4bam8d_.info wrote:
>> On Thu, 27 May 2021 18:56:33 +0100
>> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>> On 27/05/2021 16:51, MrSpook_k1k99dO6@cvfdx7r6zv.info wrote:
>>>>
>>>> You're confusing ... ideas.
>>>
>>> Yawn! Stay in after school and write out 1000 times.
>>>
>>> "No-one is fooled by my using abuse to cover up losing an argument!"
>>
>> Ah , the old reflection method of debate. Thank for your admitting you got
>> everything arse about face.
>
>Except I didn't, you did! When, if ever, are you going to grow and
>learn to admit when you're wrong? It's not as though you don't get many
>opportunities to practise it!

Do keep it up, its most amusing :) I'll get some popcorn...

On 28/05/2021 16:15, MrSpook_ee378s@uojx39_ugyoj39v69_.co.uk wrote:
> On Fri, 28 May 2021 13:37:58 +0100
> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> On 28/05/2021 11:55, MrSpook_wou2@2b2ty327vce5pr4bam8d_.info wrote:
>>> On Thu, 27 May 2021 18:56:33 +0100
>>> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>> On 27/05/2021 16:51, MrSpook_k1k99dO6@cvfdx7r6zv.info wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> You're confusing ... ideas.
>>>>
>>>> Yawn! Stay in after school and write out 1000 times.
>>>>
>>>> "No-one is fooled by my using abuse to cover up losing an argument!"
>>>
>>> Ah , the old reflection method of debate. Thank for your admitting you got
>>> everything arse about face.
>>
>> Except I didn't, you did! When, if ever, are you going to grow and
>> learn to admit when you're wrong? It's not as though you don't get many
>> opportunities to practise it!
>
> Do keep it up, its most amusing :) I'll get some popcorn...

Go and play on the motorway, dear.

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

In article <s8o35p$16uh$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Java Jive
<java@evij.com.invalid> scribeth thus
>On 26/05/2021 18:49, Tweed wrote:
>>
>> Robin <rbw@outlook.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Are you saying the adaptors aren't covered by the Wireless Telegraphy
>>> (Control of Interference from Apparatus) Regulations 2016[1]? (I know
>>> the RSGB wanted more than Ofcom offered in consultation but thought the
>>> regs had been used to deal with interference - albeit I'm sure not as
>>> often as Brian et al would like.)
>>>
>>> [1]not 2015 as I said before. Sorry about that
>>
>> It doesn’t matter- there’s no enforcement.
>
>This may illuminate the argument, or not ...
>
>https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/power_line_technology_plt
>
>(I came across this while looking for something else, so haven't read it
>all and am not making my own point here, but it seemed relevant and
>potentially useful to the subthread.)
>

There are a few BBC reports on interference from PLT's to DAB reception
around...
--
Tony Sayer

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a keyboard, and he will reveal himself.

On 29/05/2021 14:21, tony sayer wrote:

> There are a few BBC reports on interference from PLT's to DAB reception
> around...

But was the pickup on Band 3, or was it on the down-converted signal,
before demodulation, which would be an unintended reception problem, and
possibly one involving conducted signals.

Consumer products are under-engineered such as to be good unintentional
receivers, as well.

In article <s8tkai$co3$1@dont-email.me>, David Woolley <david@ex.djwhome
..demon.invalid> scribeth thus
>On 29/05/2021 14:21, tony sayer wrote:
>
>> There are a few BBC reports on interference from PLT's to DAB reception
>> around...
>
>But was the pickup on Band 3, or was it on the down-converted signal,
>before demodulation, which would be an unintended reception problem, and
>possibly one involving conducted signals.
>
>Consumer products are under-engineered such as to be good unintentional
>receivers, as well.

Here you go...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/whitepaper195

&&

https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/whitepaper222
--
Tony Sayer

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a keyboard, and he will reveal himself.

On Tue, 1 Jun 2021 23:59:12 +0100, tony sayer <tony@bancom.co.uk>
wrote:

>In article <s8tkai$co3$1@dont-email.me>, David Woolley <david@ex.djwhome
>.demon.invalid> scribeth thus
>>On 29/05/2021 14:21, tony sayer wrote:
>>
>>> There are a few BBC reports on interference from PLT's to DAB reception
>>> around...
>>
>>But was the pickup on Band 3, or was it on the down-converted signal,
>>before demodulation, which would be an unintended reception problem, and
>>possibly one involving conducted signals.
>>
>>Consumer products are under-engineered such as to be good unintentional
>>receivers, as well.
>
>
>Here you go...
>
>https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/whitepaper195
>
>&&
>
>https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/whitepaper222

From paragraph 4:

"It is difficult to extrapolate with precision from these results in
just the two homes visited".

I accept that it would be equally difficult to extrapolate with
precision from my own results in just the one home I occupy, but they
have consistently indicated no interference at all, zero, zilch, nada,
with any other equipment I've ever tried to use, and no evidence of
stray radiation unless a portable shortwave radio was held less than a
foot away from one of the devices.

I no longer use PLTs myself since finally making the effort to install
an ethernet cable from the router in my hallway to my main computer in
the living room (in the interests of improved internet as I had no
other reason to do it), but another family home continues to use them
without any disturbance to the DAB radio which is in use for most of
the day.

Rod.