Comments by "Bond25" (@Bond2025) on "The 'Telegraph Pole' In This Field Is Not What It Seems!" video.

One thing that was popular int eh 1980s was "PIRATE TV". I bought a TV transmitter known as a "Video Sender" in the late 80s to transmit the output from a VCR around the house to TVs. I still have it to this day in a box and it still works! People would use them and then leave them on broadcasting films. You had to know about them or find them by chance when tuning around. There was someone local to me that did this at weekends and must have been using a computer generated test card. It was one film after another, no contact details. The output was only around 10-20mW on mine, so I suspect people were using amateur equipment for a bit of fun to amplify them. I never used mine this way as connecting it to a TV aerial wouldn't have got far, only at the back of all the other TV aerials ! In those days I knew nothing about RF, so nothing about UHF aerial designs and the Internet wasn't a thing then. It still does CH21-68 analogue with a video in and audio in plug. If I could have turned the aerial around to face everyone elses I might have tried it out. It was definitely possible to interfere with TV for a few houses nearby using the small telescopic aerial.
19
Another fact about microwaves, hope it isn't classified, is that they were used to entice the enemy closer in order to attack them. Planes would pick up the signal and think there was something there... Door safety switches were messed with so the microwave would be left running with the door off and pointing in to the sky so it looked like a RADAR installation.
4
No, use Drone Assist and it will show no-fly areas and the drone should not take off anyway to protect the user. I would be more worried about the RF knocking it out of the sky! I had to go to a number of radio sites in the 90s and one car I hated taking was a Land Rover. There was no way of getting up a steep hill and path without it, but when it was locked, it refused to unlock or start in some areas. It had to be unlocked with the key and pushed down the hill before it would come back to life. We did once try driving up a steep hill in Wales in an XR3i and got it completely stuck to half way up the wheels. Some transmitter sites are often remote or well hidden. One was by a Country Park at the top of Hope Mountain in Wales, but the aerial was disguised as an actual tree ! Amazing bit of design, it took me ages to find as I was looking for a mast.
3
There were two serving estates at the end of the M53, but I can't find the exact details. I think they were on the MB21 site. People were wondering why there were two TV aerials on a lamp post. One was a horizontal group C/D pointing at Winter Hill, and underneath was a vertical Group A pointing to two estates by J2/3 M53. This was analogue TV. Another filler repeater was by J1 M53 and outside a council tip on a lamp post, same arrangement, Group C/D horizontal towards Winter Hill and Group A vertical to local area or housing. The power output was only 1 or 2 Watts and 5 channels when in operation. Maybe anyone local can have a look or confirm this. The M53 J2/3 one was no longer required when the Storeton Transmitter (M53 J4/5) went on air. People could use that, including a lot of people in Liverpool who were line of sight and a mile or two away compared to Winter Hill. The only problem was they got S4C and not Channel 4 as it was installed to transmit to Wales, not Wirral and Liverpool. That might have changed now. Moel-Y-Parc still doesn't cover all areas despite it's presence. There were lots of these smaller TV repeaters about in the days of analogue, most not on big masts. One or two appear to have been unofficial, set up by people to help locals out.
2
So do I for versatility and not having to keep changing aerials in tests, but they have a lower gain than a dedicated aerial tuned to a specific frequency. I prefer the Grid Type antennas and used a 4 stack dipole array for years on TV. Far more reliable than a flimsy TV aerial, it also had around the same gain figures but had a wider acceptance angle and a cardioid pattern. Handy for picking up more than one TX. It was just a piece of mesh and 4 "X" shaped elements with a built in phasing harness. For horizontal polarisation the "X" elements stood vertical one above the other, so the longest side of the reflector was vertical. Vertical polarisation meant having it as [X X X X]. Great aerials.
2
This is the problem that the Storeton TV TX had when it first went online. Locals got no signal and it was a big story in the newspapers, but a bit further away it was full strength. It was the wrong type of antenna in use. Once changed to tilt the radiation pattern down correctly, it covered the required areas. It was an example of poor design and understanding of RF. People think RF comes straight out and all around. It doesn't, it can be steered and set at different angles depending what the installation is for. That's why phone masts tilt the radiation pattern down to give a more blanket coverage with a lower range. The same for broadcast stations, you don't want a fancy 6dB colinear with a 30-35degree takeoff , you want a simple aerial like a slim jim, J pole or mixed polarisation dipole that will cover the local area and not win a DX award. Sometimes people will get NO signal or a very low one due to multipath interference, two of the signal arriving at the same time effectively trying to cancel each other out! That can be rectified by moving the aerial, or in some cases fitting two aerials and a splitter and messing with them. I used to have two very long Group C/D aerials pointing at Winter Hill to get OnDigital when it first come out. I tried them phased side by side, then stacked for more gain one above the other etc. To get shut of multipath I spaced them side by side and then moved one aerial back about 2ft and it cured it. I also fitted a masthead preamp to overcome coax losses. There are lots of interesting things you can do with aerials.
1
It's not even a very good site due to local hills completely blocking it to large areas. Maybe that's why it was chosen! It covers parts of Liverpool, Wales and Chester, and some parts of Wirral, but there are problems with the other side of the Bidston and Oxton Ridges, hundreds of feet ASL that block all coverage beyond them. I remember the news reports of when the TV transmitter was first switched on and locals were complaining they couldn't receive it. It was later found to be the type of aerials used that were firing the RF upwards and over local areas. Once it was all corrected it was fine. The radio stations that use it don't get out to Wirral or Liverpool too well because of the hills.
1
Can members of the public buy old phone poles? I would love one to concrete in the back garden and then fit some poles with aerials on the top!
1
National WiFi will never be a thing, the major cable companies do not want you to be able to come and go as you please. They want you tied to contracts. This is why you will never get decent 4G/5G WiFi or Broadband in your home in a City Centre. Many of the companies I contacted said I can have it on my phone, but not with a 4G/5G router and SIM. I would just at the chance to get shut of cable.
1