Directional
coaxial You
might have seen the new types of coax cable that are appearing
on the market. They use a newly developed micro-crystalline polymesmeric
compound for the dielectric, which is wound into a helix. The
outer conductor has a sheath of nitrogen-free mono-obdurate copper,
as well as the conventional braid. The inner conductor, surprisingly,
is ordinary copper, but is extruded to a tolerance of less than
a thousandth of a millimeter and has a polished surface. |
Flexible
antenna
I
saw this in that shop where you have to stand looking at a catalogue
until you find what you want. You know the place. After youve
studied the catalogue for a few hours you have to queue for a few
more, then they tell you that the item you want is out of stock.
But I got lucky this time, because I bought this fantastic little
aerial and it was only £29.95! This is a really good idea.
|
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me more >> |
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Self-employed
Sitting
drinking Monkmans Slaughter (Cropton Brewery) and wondering
why we're so bitter and twisted, my pal and I came to the conclusion
that it is because we are both members of that sad group of social
misfits, the long-term self-employed. |
mV
per kilo
Well,
it's late, but here goes. If you were to compare the amount of
signal at the terminals of aerials of various designs with the
weight of each aerial, you would obtain a mV per kilo figure. |
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me more >> |
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me more >> |
Scruffy
aerial rigger
Get
orf me land, you scruffy aerial rigger!
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Hot
Boxes
Originally
the hotel had all ten Sky receivers in a wall box. They provided
satellite channels for the TV distribution system. The box was kept
locked and was more or less airtight. It was warm-well, hot, actually-to
the touch. The wall box was in the boiler room, for goodness sake,
and the ambient temperature was about 40°C. The receivers were
dropping like ninepins. |
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me more >> |
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me more >> |
Aerial
Rigging in the 1660s
The
great diarist Samuel Pepys was a man of many parts. He was a secretary
to the Admiralty, but less well known is his career as an aerial
rigger. Reproduced below is a diary entry in which he records the
trials and tribulations of that occupation. |
Haydn’s
death brought him blissful oblivion
I'm
sure that when Haydn wrote his String Quartet in G Major, Op.
1, No 4, he didn’t envisage that it would be the musical
accompaniment to a scene in which a South Yorkshire estate agent
decided, after a bottle |
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me more >> |
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me more >> |
Letting
it all hang out
Those
of you familiar with Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire
will picture the scene easily. It was a lovely sunny late summer’s
afternoon, and the narrow twisting streets had a reasonable population
of tourists peering into the nooks and crannies. The tide was
in and the sea lapped the slipway at the end of the main street.
On the left is The Bay, the pub at one end of Wainwright’s
coast-to-coast walk.
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‘Satellite
TV not feasible’ – Newton
As
some of you will know I’ve always been fascinated by the
possibility of time travel. Well last week I finally achieved
it. The cost was considerable, as I had to use a full packet of
good quality elastic bands and the working parts from a perfectly
serviceable chemical toilet, |
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This
definitely happened to someone else, not me
I
reckon this bloke must have been a complete idiot. This is what
he told me happened to him.
"Last
night I got home from the pub and decided to do a bit of DIY.
I got everything ready and I had one of those huge aerosols of
expanding foam ('fills awkward gaps, sets rock hard, expands 60
times its original volume' – you know the stuff) to fill
the gaps, but when I pressed the trigger it wouldn't work. It
said 'shake 20 times' so I shook it an extra 50. I fiddled around
with it for a while but it wouldn't eject any foam. I took the
nozzle off and poked into the hole with... |
Aerial alignment the amateur way
Years ago there was an aerial rigger in South Yorkshire who used to tell everyone that he had no need for a signal strength meter. He boasted that he had simply learnt which way to point the aerials for every location in the county. For instance, in Doncaster he would point the aerial at Cusworth Hall, about three miles from the town centre, and in the same direction as Emley Moor when viewed from the town centre.
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me more >> |
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Are women as clever as men?
Of course they are! In many ways they are cleverer. They have better people skills, deeper intuition, more patience, better dexterity, and greater verbal fluency. But sometimes they do seem to let themselves down in other ways . . . |
Are you coming or what?
verbatim |
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Every website needs a filthy joke
Actually there are two here. But if you are an innocent young child trawling the internet and you’ve arrived here because your assignment is some stupid thing like ‘The History of Television’ then you really mustn’t read these jokes without an adult’s permission. |
Getting quite sarcastic and nasty
Quite often when there is an aerial fixing problem because the roof and walls of a new building are sheet metal the architect will specify an indoor installation. |
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Overheard at the coming-out ball of Lady Fenella Gipton-Smythe
“How odd, Lady Fortesque, that you should mention 10mm studding, or mild steel threaded bar as some people call it, today of all days! I must tell you about Ron! He’s a little man I know and if you need some 10mm studding (or mild steel threaded bar as some people will insist on calling it) he’s absolutely the perfect chap to approach. |
Sometimes you just can't make people understand
We went camping over the weekend. Well, it’s not really camping, if you go in a well-appointed motorhome. You just take with you the bits of your life that you like, and leave the rest behind. |
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This job would be great if it wasn't for the customers (part 1)
We’d completed the installation of a brand new satellite and terrestrial distribution system at this apartment block a few months previously. There are always a few people who complain about something or other in the aftermath of a job like that. |
This job would be great if it wasn't for the customers (part 2)
Half way thro' the afternoon I was on a horrible steep roof doing something that needs five hands and a monkey's tail to cling on with and the damn phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Is that Bill?" |
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This job would be great if it wasn't for the customers (part 3)
I've had Mr Angry on the phone this afternoon. What follows is an accurate account as far as I can remember, although names have of course been changed... |
This job would be great if it wasn't for the customers (part 4)
The breathless voice of the girl at the council brought the unwelcome news that the Dyke Road flats had got no TV reception, "again!" |