What's on Radio 4 Longwave now? - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Stuart R · 20th Aug 2021, 11:59 am

I've got an endless loop promotional channel for '5 Live Sports Extra'

That can't be right.....had at least 20 minutes of this...

Waiting to see if it switches to something more interesting at noon.

Ah yes, bang on time, the pips and "Here is the News"

SR

(Probably should have asked this question earlier to see what others found. It now seems back to normal, local DAB and FM was OK but must have been a switching error somewhere. Nobody seemed to notice)

DonaldStott · 20th Aug 2021, 4:31 pm

Stuart - you are not alone!

I was in the middle of manually tuning the Oscillator and Signal Frequency Circuits on a Bush DAC10 and had just finished tweaking MW

Moving on to LW I couldn't understand why I was getting '5 Live Sports Extra' where BBC Radio 4 LW should be on the dial - oh dear I thought, I've seriously messed up this set!

And then the reassuring pips just before the News at 12.00 followed by the Shipping Forecast - normality had been restored and all was well with the world!

Stuart R · 20th Aug 2021, 5:00 pm

I'd just turned the bathroom radio on whilst having a clean around, assumed it was just a short promo, but it just kept going on and on. The script said "You are listening to 5 Live Extra" which was a little confusing. I had to go and fire up the old Ekco A22, just to be sure.

Even more confusing for you in the middle of your alignment!

Glad it wasn't just me, thanks for the response.

Regards,

SR

20th Aug 2021, 5:13 pm

I had something similar on DAB a while ago, makes me think that humans are involved somewhere in the chain. But no one listening to the output though!

G6Tanuki · 20th Aug 2021, 5:37 pm

I suspect that the majority of main BBC transmitters have some sort of automated playout-system that kicks in if their content-feed is lost. Perhaps someone loaded the wrong memory-stick into the R4LW unit?

[I guess that the reversion-to-normal happened around midday because there's probably a 'join' of the R4LW and R4FM feeds for the news.]

Thought: was there meant to be cricket being broadcast on R4LW that maybe got cancelled?

paulsherwin · 20th Aug 2021, 6:10 pm

It's just a cockup caused by manual intervention during the cricket. The loop sounds like the standard R5L Extra loop put out on DAB when Extra isn't carrying anything. The service switching between R5L and R4LW must be quite complex with lots of opportunities for human error.

Stuart R · 3rd Sep 2021, 10:26 am

I've heard that the loop played for over an hour as the result of a 'scheduling problem'. It's sad that no-one at the Beeb seemed to notice it, or do anything about it.

Doesn't bode well for the future of the LW service when things like this can happen un-noticed.

20th Aug 2021, 11:59 am	#1
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 693	What's on Radio 4 Longwave now? I've got an endless loop promotional channel for '5 Live Sports Extra' That can't be right.....had at least 20 minutes of this... Waiting to see if it switches to something more interesting at noon. Ah yes, bang on time, the pips and "Here is the News" SR (Probably should have asked this question earlier to see what others found. It now seems back to normal, local DAB and FM was OK but must have been a switching error somewhere. Nobody seemed to notice) Last edited by Stuart R; 20th Aug 2021 at 12:15 pm. Reason: Post Script additions to make more sense.

20th Aug 2021, 4:31 pm	#2
DonaldStott Octode Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Glasgow, UK. Posts: 1,842	Re: What's on Radio 4 Longwave now? Stuart - you are not alone! I was in the middle of manually tuning the Oscillator and Signal Frequency Circuits on a Bush DAC10 and had just finished tweaking MW Moving on to LW I couldn't understand why I was getting '5 Live Sports Extra' where BBC Radio 4 LW should be on the dial - oh dear I thought, I've seriously messed up this set! And then the reassuring pips just before the News at 12.00 followed by the Shipping Forecast - normality had been restored and all was well with the world! __________________ BVWS Member

20th Aug 2021, 5:00 pm	#3
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 693	Re: What's on Radio 4 Longwave now? I'd just turned the bathroom radio on whilst having a clean around, assumed it was just a short promo, but it just kept going on and on. The script said "You are listening to 5 Live Extra" which was a little confusing. I had to go and fire up the old Ekco A22, just to be sure. Even more confusing for you in the middle of your alignment! Glad it wasn't just me, thanks for the response. Regards, SR Last edited by Stuart R; 20th Aug 2021 at 5:15 pm.

20th Aug 2021, 5:13 pm	#4
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	Re: What's on Radio 4 Longwave now? I had something similar on DAB a while ago, makes me think that humans are involved somewhere in the chain. But no one listening to the output though!

20th Aug 2021, 5:37 pm	#5
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 13,995	Re: What's on Radio 4 Longwave now? I suspect that the majority of main BBC transmitters have some sort of automated playout-system that kicks in if their content-feed is lost. Perhaps someone loaded the wrong memory-stick into the R4LW unit? [I guess that the reversion-to-normal happened around midday because there's probably a 'join' of the R4LW and R4FM feeds for the news.] Thought: was there meant to be cricket being broadcast on R4LW that maybe got cancelled?

20th Aug 2021, 6:10 pm	#6
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,934	Re: What's on Radio 4 Longwave now? It's just a cockup caused by manual intervention during the cricket. The loop sounds like the standard R5L Extra loop put out on DAB when Extra isn't carrying anything. The service switching between R5L and R4LW must be quite complex with lots of opportunities for human error.

3rd Sep 2021, 10:26 am	#7
Stuart R Heptode Join Date: May 2011 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. Posts: 693	Re: What's on Radio 4 Longwave now? I've heard that the loop played for over an hour as the result of a 'scheduling problem'. It's sad that no-one at the Beeb seemed to notice it, or do anything about it. Doesn't bode well for the future of the LW service when things like this can happen un-noticed.