Economy 7 and ending of RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service)

MWT

matelodave said:

I am old enough to remember the transition from town gas to natural gas where a whole area was targeted - meters were changed where necessary, filters were fitted and cookers, boilers and gas appliance were all adapted and sorted out, usually in one visit. 

Same here, but the difference then was that it was mandatory and you were told when your street was being done, no option and no excuses.

Most of the issues with the current program are down to giving people a choice unfortunately...

Qyburn

inspectorperez said:

If the valve build quality is anything like the old analogue meters which never blinked, one imagines the RTS system will be operational for many years to come. 

It was 14 years ago that the BBC stated that the transmitter uses a pair of valves with a service life which could only be a few years each. Round about that time it was stated that only ten spare valves of that type existed in the whole world. It was also reported that the BBC had managed to acquire all that were still available. Now we hear that all their spares have been used, when either of the current pair fails it cannot be replaced.

inspectorperez

Qyburn said:

inspectorperez said:

If the valve build quality is anything like the old analogue meters which never blinked, one imagines the RTS system will be operational for many years to come. 

It was 14 years ago that the BBC stated that the transmitter uses a pair of valves with a service life which could only be a few years each. Round about that time it was stated that only ten spare valves of that type existed in the whole world. It was also reported that the BBC had managed to acquire all that were still available. Now we hear that all their spares have been used, when either of the current pair fails it cannot be replaced.

That's amazing.

And yet with the right skills you can go online and learn how to construct radio valves.

They must have been really special or maybe didn't fit a particular agenda.

QrizB

inspectorperez said:

They must have been really special or maybe didn't fit a particular agenda.

They are really special.

Having said that, if there was a desire to keep R4 long wave on the air I'm certain that it could all be replaced by a new solid-state transmitter. But the UK (along with most of the rest of Europe) has decided that broadcasting on long wave is no longer necessary, so R4 LW will go off the air.

The list of closed stations here is much longer than the list of operating ones.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longwave_radio_broadcasters

Qyburn

inspectorperez said:

That's amazing.
And yet with the right skills you can go online and learn how to construct radio valves.
They must have been really special or maybe didn't fit a particular agenda.

You sound doubtful.  What's your estimate of the total cost to design and build radio frequency valves with rating of over a Megawatt (that's a million Watts). Total cost for a production run of say 10 valves, including design, prototyping, testing and certification as well as actual manufacturing costs.

inspectorperez

Qyburn said:

inspectorperez said:

That's amazing.
And yet with the right skills you can go online and learn how to construct radio valves.
They must have been really special or maybe didn't fit a particular agenda.

You sound doubtful.  What's your estimate of the total cost to design and build radio frequency valves with rating of over a Megawatt (that's a million Watts). Total cost for a production run of say 10 valves, including design, prototyping, testing and certification as well as actual manufacturing costs.

Yes I am doubtful because I don't know.

It would be interesting to know what the cost/benefit would actually be bearing in mind my understanding that long wave was a very reliable, proven and tested method of sending radio signals. Compare and contrast with the reported comms difficulties with a number of smart meters which rely on "more modern" methods of connectivity.

QrizB

The decision to not replace the valved transmitter was taken back in 2011, it seems:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/09/bbc-radio4-long-wave-goodbye

ChaunceyGardiner

inspectorperez said:

Qyburn said:

inspectorperez said:

That's amazing.
And yet with the right skills you can go online and learn how to construct radio valves.
They must have been really special or maybe didn't fit a particular agenda.

You sound doubtful.  What's your estimate of the total cost to design and build radio frequency valves with rating of over a Megawatt (that's a million Watts). Total cost for a production run of say 10 valves, including design, prototyping, testing and certification as well as actual manufacturing costs.

Yes I am doubtful because I don't know.

It would be interesting to know what the cost/benefit would actually be bearing in mind my understanding that long wave was a very reliable, proven and tested method of sending radio signals. Compare and contrast with the reported comms difficulties with a number of smart meters which rely on "more modern" methods of connectivity.

RTS meters don’t support two-way communication, so can’t support modern TOU tariffs. Why spend good money nursing the RTS system along for several more years, rather than standardising on smart meters, improving the network where necessary?

Sterlingtimes

QrizB said:

inspectorperez said:

They must have been really special or maybe didn't fit a particular agenda.

They are really special.

Having said that, if there was a desire to keep R4 long wave on the air I'm certain that it could all be replaced by a new solid-state transmitter. 

Only two stations are remotely receivable on long wave today at 11 AM using a loop aerial: one from France with no sound, and BBC Radio 4. In the afternoon, Algeria will pop up on 252 kHz. 

UncleK

Maybe we should do away with decimal currency at the same time?