11th Aug 2021, 1:59 pm | #21 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK.
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
The Mischief maker in me thinks it's an experiment to see how we manage without terrestrial broadcasts.😉
Aub
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11th Aug 2021, 2:23 pm | #22 |
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
A lot will depend on whether the mast is significantly structurally damaged. If there's no chance of a collapse then a temporary service could be established relatively quickly, which is what happened after the Oxford fire. If the mast needs to be completely demolished and rebuilt then it may be out of action for years, with any emergency service reliant on temporary masts and directional services from other transmitters.
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11th Aug 2021, 3:25 pm | #23 |
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
There are plenty of news reports, but very little actual information in them. Everything you can read has been filtered through a meeja studies qualified journalism organisation who dumbed it down to what they thought the public would understand. The name of the site and the photo of a tubular mast spewing black smoke out the top and a few intermediary holes is about all that can be trusted until some proper reports come out.
David
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11th Aug 2021, 4:11 pm | #24 |
Octode
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
The fire was mentioned on the Jeremy Vine programme on radio 2 today. They had the man who designed the mast on the phone. Now in his 90s, but as usual with J.V lots of waffle and sensationalism but not a lot of information.
Jeremy said it was being repaired and would soon be on the air again soon. I wonder if that is true or just what he thinks? Rich.
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11th Aug 2021, 4:14 pm | #25 |
Octode
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
What REALLY annoyed me was on Todays "Jeremy Vine" so called show at 12 "Radio 2"..he called anyone remotely interested in the Bilsdale fire as "NERDS"...I immediately turn that clown off anyway.
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11th Aug 2021, 5:17 pm | #26 | |
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Quote:
Are tubular masts better than the lattice type? |
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11th Aug 2021, 5:20 pm | #27 |
Heptode
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Location: Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK.
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
If this had happened in London it would be fixed immediately
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11th Aug 2021, 5:37 pm | #28 |
Nonode
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Location: Stafford, Staffs. UK.
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Arquiva haven't made any mention of it on their own website.
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11th Aug 2021, 5:59 pm | #29 |
Heptode
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Location: Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK.
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Wonder if the people who use Bilsdale Transmitter get refunds for TV licence and mobile phone contracts for lack of coverage
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11th Aug 2021, 6:21 pm | #30 |
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
There are lots of comments along those lines from the outraged residents of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough in local media outlets. It's not really the BBC's fault though.
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11th Aug 2021, 6:51 pm | #31 |
Dekatron
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Isn't "Someone else's problem" the ultimate definition of invisibility?
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11th Aug 2021, 6:52 pm | #32 |
Heptode
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Location: Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK.
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Hi Paul seen some of the comments I feel sorry for the people that TV is their only lifeline and not every one has smart TV or broadband or Sky and there will be a Mobile network black spot kind regards Bob
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11th Aug 2021, 6:58 pm | #33 |
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Immediately?
I lived through the fall and replacement of Emley, only a few miles away. Everything possible was thrown at that problem. A temporary mast was brought from Sweden, if I remember rightly and a rigging crew from Eastern Europe. These things weren't kept in reserve near London, just in case. Consideration was given to moving transmitters into temporary buildings at Holme Moss, and also to using tethered balloons. We still had BBC1 405 lines on VHF channel 2 from Holme Moss, but the IBA companies found their advertisers wanted an immediate rate cut with the diminished audience. The viewers didn't get a licence fee rebate. The people who did the work were amazing. If they'd had to work and move things in a more congested area like London, I expect it would have been slower. Concrete foundations take time to cure before they are up to taking their design load. Yes, Acme Products of Burbank CA do make instant set concrete, but it's expensive and sets instantly, wrecking mixer trucks. Readymix at Canker Lane in Huddersfield refuse to touch the stuff. David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done Last edited by Radio Wrangler; 14th Aug 2021 at 2:41 am. Reason: Holme moss was channel 2. either a typo or I'm going gaga. |
11th Aug 2021, 7:04 pm | #34 |
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
It's a serious business, especially for the elderly non-techy Freeview audience. Hartlepool in particular is a real blind spot for the Pontop Pike muxes. Mobile phone coverage is less of an issue unless you're a rambler on the moors.
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11th Aug 2021, 7:12 pm | #35 |
Dekatron
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
In times-past, tubular masts [both steel and concrete] were stabilised against crosswind-excited oscillations by hanging a chain down the centre of the mast, this chain was often covered with 'lagging' [hessian, sometimes impregnated with tallow or similar] to damp any shockwaves if the mast was wind-excited sufficiently that the chain started to hit the inside of the mast.
I guess any such combustible 'filling' inside a nice vertical chimney would burn rather well! |
11th Aug 2021, 7:18 pm | #36 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Jul 2016
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Quote:
Of course the engineers didn't know that would happen and the idea of having a mast that was enclosed was seen as a good thing for the workers/maintainers of said masts, not least because it allowed a lift to be fitted saving a lot of climbing. Note that in Britain all new masts are lattice and I haven't heard of any being built anywhere else. |
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11th Aug 2021, 7:44 pm | #37 |
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Does anybody know if the various Bilsdale relays are off air, or do they have a satellite backup feed?
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11th Aug 2021, 8:18 pm | #38 | |
Heptode
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Quote:
As for Bilsdake itself, main stations (and some important relays) are generally line/microwave fed for TV/Radio. I suppose it's lucky that this has happened where it has rather than in somewhere like the welsh valleys where it would have knocked off a lot more relays. |
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11th Aug 2021, 8:44 pm | #39 |
Octode
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
I guess it depends on what you mean by "major" relays, there are at least three relays close to where I live that may well be considered major to the folk who have lost their Freeview light services, the relays in question being Guisborough, Skinningrove and Glaisdale (I'm not sure if that's know by a different name that eludes me at present, Limber Hill perhaps?)
One of my jobs on my day off tomorrow is to go to my partner's parents and rotate their aerial to point at Pontop Pike and retune their set, so they at least have some Freeview service, they do have a Smart TV but aren't too confident in how to use it. Although I do have cable, I don't really watch TV that much. Where I live, despite being in one of Bilsdale's primary service areas, because of the lie of the land Pontop Pike is our better option for Freeview reception. Andrew |
11th Aug 2021, 8:46 pm | #40 | |
Octode
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Re: Bilsdale mast fire
Quote:
I had a discussion about this with a fiend as we walked up past the Hannington mast. He wondered if the cost of the infrastructure would be justified when everyone was "fibred up". I can certainly see a time when terrestrial TV is wound up, but some other services using the masts might keep them viable.
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