Comments by "Sam Glaim" (@samglaim4274) on "Ringway Manchester"
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So it's a 'meter maid'? :-) ... Got fitted with a smart meter last year and as far as I know, it piggy backs over the normal cellular telephone service (that's what the engineer said when he fitted it).
As far as being called 'smart' meters... well.... Had a bit of a run in with my energy provider (British Gas). I phoned them because I'd noticed that the 'smart meter' monitor (the small device that shows readings from the 'smart' meter, giving an indication of how much you've used each day and the cost), had a strange delay in the reading once a device (like a kettle) had powered off.
For about 4 to 5 seconds, after the device had powered OFF, the device continued to show that the meter was still registering that it was using power... very odd, I thought? and potentially, over time, costing me a lot of money for energy that I wasn't actually using?
Anyway, after a couple of conversations with British Gas 'technical experts' (cough), the best answer I got, was that the technology is not all that 'smart' at the moment and the monitor cant respond fast enough to the 'smart' meter when it sends signals. I commented that I found this odd given that it seemed to respond VERY quickly when a device (like the kettle) was powered ON, but the delay was always after the kettle had switched OFF!
I got quite a few rather comical responses to that one... the best one I got was ... "the wi-fi signal from the 'smart meter', to the 'smart' meter monitor can take some time to reach it and things like my microwave oven could effect the signal" ... WTF!? ... I asked the 'technical expert' if they thought the fact that the wi-fi signal, travelling at radio/wireless type speeds, i.e 300 million meters per second, would take 4 to 5 seconds to reach my 'smart meter' monitor, from the 'smart meter'... a distance of about 8 meters? Again, the response came back about the 'smart meters', at the moment, are not all that 'smart'?
'Smart meters' ? ... phoooey! :-)
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Great video Lewis but wow, a BIG subject with many facets to it.
Speaking personally… I first got my (‘B’ class) licence in the early 1980’s and after about 50 days of practice, I took my Morse test with Mr Jardine at the Marine Surveyors Office in Liverpool and then applied for my (Class ‘A’) full licence.
Even then, the ‘old timers’ sort of looked down on the way the examination for Radio Amateurs (2 papers… multi-choice City and Guilds exams) was conducted as previously, the exams were full, written examinations!
Also, the requirement was for them (the ‘old timers’ 😊) that they had to do a certain amount of time using Morse Code on the bands before they could use voice modes; so again, there was a certain amount of …. ‘them youngsters of today … they have it really easy with the multi-choice exams and being able to use Voice modes as soon as they get their class ‘A’ ticket’ attitude …. So, I guess nothing is new?
I always enjoyed using CW and RTTY and very early on after getting my full licence, I got sucked into the then new digital mode of Packet Radio.
In fact, it was getting into Packet radio that led me into using computers with radio after buying a cheap, second hand (chances are it was third hand? 😊 ) 8086 IBM compatible (I’d tried using a ZX Spectrum for RTTY, but the ZX gave off more RF than my QRP rig 😉) and I ended up doing a couple of years at college (early 1990’s…. the age when computers were going to bring in the revolution of “The Paperless Office” … wow, that turned out to be a joke with the advent of cheap printers) doing ‘IT’ type stuff…. So, I always consider that the hobby of Amateur Radio got me into computing 😉
There’s always been radio ‘pirates’ on the bands and I guess there always will. Those ‘IQ0’s’, as they used to be called, who disrupted repeaters etc. are still there now it seems (maybe old ‘pirates’ never die…. They just keep blocking the local repeaters? 😊 ).
I didn’t use Amateur Radio for many years (nearly 20) until an old radio amateur pal told me about these ‘Chinese Radio’s’ that you could buy on eBay for about £15 and I was persuaded to get one.
It was about that time that I spotted your videos (and others) on YouTube, talking about Amateur Radio (wish there had been YouTube when I first started in the 80’s 😊) and finding that the hobby had taken a big turn towards digital, computer linked modes and I was again, fascinated.
I mainly now use SDR for SWL on the HF bands and again, I guess these modes are pushing the hobby forward. I always used to think that RTTY and Packet Radio were bleeding edge, but the HF bands now seem full of narrow band, digital modes… interesting stuff.
It’s hard to know how the hobby can be kept alive (when I first got my ticket, there were always discussions on the lines of … “use the bands, or lose them” … so again, nothing new I guess?) but I think people like yourself, who take the time to make videos about the hobby is a good thing and hopefully encourage others to try the hobby out.
Keep up the good work. Many thanks.
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Interesting looking device and all noted about it not being a 'radio' ;-)
For what it's worth, my own personal opinion is that Amateur Radio has a number of blurred lines now with regards what has been traditionally known in the past as 'true' radio, and technologies like DMR, for example, which employs 'real' radio, along with assistance from the internet etc.
Again, for what it's worth, I feel that all these technologies are just a continuation and a logical progression in the hobby. I well remember critics of things like Packet Radio (lots more examples of other modes in the past too, I'm sure) back in the day that it 'wasn't proper radio' (whatever that was).
Again, new technologies being advanced in the hobby and I would argue, all part of the ethos that the hobby is about 'self training and learning' , and in that respect, if it looks like a radio and acts like a radio, then you could argue, that it is radio? ;-)
Thanks for the video
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Excellent video and couldn't agree more about the price of Baofeng radios and what you get (it still blows my socks off to think you can get a dual band, hand held radio, for about £20.... amazing!).
I bought a TYT MD390 about a year ago and although I've always felt that DMR is a great mode for amateur radio, I have a feeling of frustration with the lack of information out there, particularly for new users trying to get into DMR and in particular for people getting started and using things like codeplugs.
The software available for the TYT MD390/MD380 is well.... how do I say this politely?.... hmmm..... it's cr*p! .... what was really pleasing to see in your video, when you were showing the programming software, was how much easier it is and indeed how it even has a help screen for the settings and commands. Again, for a new user... even if they've programmed the likes of the UV5r , just working your way through the settings is a major challenge.
The new DMR radio from Baofeng looks really interesting and I'm going to be checking it out. Many thanks for the video, and am looking forward to more, particularly about DMR. 73
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Great video, and even with the low cloud/poor weather, the drone shots look amazing... many thanks.
Just on the subject of TV and other transmitter sites like Winter Hill.... I was wondering what you and maybe other subscribers thought about how, in the near future, such sites will be used?
Just to explain.... given the ever increasing use of streaming services, via the internet, I wonder how long you think it might be before 'old TV' as we've known it... i.e being transmitted from sites like Winter Hill, will continue to exist?
My guess is that the days of needing a TV antenna/Satellite dish for receiving our 'standard' TV service are numbered and will move over to the internet. Winter Hill and other such transmitter sites I guess could be re purposed, to maybe transmit broadband services?
Sky have recently announced their intention to offer their Sky TV, without the need for a satellite dish. Obviously, their whole system now can be carried via broadband and other TV services, that are at the moment using standard TV transmitters, will, I think also move to have their platforms delivered via the internet?
Would be interested in your views? Cheers, and again, thanks for the video. 73
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