TOT but I have to tell you

This is so ridiculous that you're going to think I'm making it up, but I
swear I'm not. A lad turned up here this afternoon to deliver a parcel. He
had obviously deduced that we have something to do with aerials, and he
asked me rather slyly if I knew anything about 'radio aerials'. Because of
his extremely Rastafarian appearance and Yorkshire-Jamaican speech I
wondered if he was into pirate radio, and after quite a lot of gentle
probing this proved to be the case. I showed no censorious attitude and
gradually the story came out. It seemed that the aerial had broken and his
group had been quoted a large sum for a new one. Hundreds of pounds. If he
brought the old one round here would I mend it? I suggested a simple half
wave but his head had been filled with so much mumbo-jumbo by this mystery
aerial vendor that he was having none of it. It had to be this exact aerial.
Nothing else would do. He tried to describe the magic aerial to me, but I
couldn't follow him at all. The discussion moved to transmission sites, and
apparently the group had fixed the aerial in the top of a tree somewhere in
the countryside.The transmitter was in "a big hole we dug."
Apparently the signal input to the transmitter came from something that
"wasn't normal radio" and would carry for three miles. This limited the
transmission site to a radius of that distance from the studio.
"Where does the power for the transmitter come from?" I asked.
"We got a biiiiiiig battery! Him very heavy!"
"How long does it last?"
"Years and years. We ain't nevva run it down man!"
"What's your transmission power then?"
"150W."
"Blimey! And the battery lasts for years?"
"Yeah well we charge it up all the time. We got a timer on the transmitter
but the charger -- it's a little one like you'd have for a car -- is on all
the time, so it keeps the battery charged up. How long's a battery last man?
Two or three years? One day we will need a new battery but until then it
keeps going OK."
"So where does the power come from?"
"We got this thing, it make mains from the battery. We plug an err, you know
that thing, an adaptor into it, and then we can plug the transmitter into it
and the charger as well."
Being a bit slow on the uptake I asked "Err, so where do you plug the
charger in?"
"Like I said, into the thing that makes the mains from the battery, with an
adaptor."
I laughed and said, "It sounds like perpetual motion to me!" but the remark
went unanswered. I didn't persue the perpetual motion issue. I just
couldn't. It would have spoilt the conversation somehow. "Are you sure you
transmit 150W?" I asked.
"Yes, it's a real good 150W transmitter.We got it on eBay from some
Pakistanis in Birmingham."
"How big is it?"
"It's a tiny thing, man. About as big as this, in a plastic box. We ain't
never looked inside." He indicated his electronic pad thingy (you know, the
one you have to sign). It was a very small pad thingy as they go, smaller
than a VHS tape. It didn't get warm.
In the end I said I'd have a look at the aerial if he wanted to bring it
round, though whether I want to be an accomplice of a pirate station I don't
know.
OK, now what was going on here? Was he pulling my leg about the charger? I'm
pretty sure he wasn't. He wasn't the sort of person for even slightly
sophisticated japes, and he seemed completely sincere. What sort of
transmitter had the Brummy Pakistanis sold him? I bet it was nearer 1.5W
than 150W.
I'm going to listen carefully to the FM band next time I'm in Sheffield,
which, I assume, is where he was from. If he comes back with the aerial I'll
keep you informed. If I end up in jail I'll try to get on the net in the
education block and tell you about my trial.

Bill

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...

"What's your transmission power then?"
"150W."
"Blimey! And the battery lasts for years?"
"Yeah well we charge it up all the time. We got a timer on the transmitter
but the charger -- it's a little one like you'd have for a car -- is on
all the time, so it keeps the battery charged up. How long's a battery
last man? Two or three years? One day we will need a new battery but until
then it keeps going OK."
"So where does the power come from?"
"We got this thing, it make mains from the battery. We plug an err, you
know that thing, an adaptor into it, and then we can plug the transmitter
into it and the charger as well."
Being a bit slow on the uptake I asked "Err, so where do you plug the
charger in?"
"Like I said, into the thing that makes the mains from the battery, with
an adaptor."
I laughed and said, "It sounds like perpetual motion to me!" but the
remark went unanswered. I didn't persue the perpetual motion issue. I just
couldn't. It would have spoilt the conversation somehow. "Are you sure you
transmit 150W?" I asked.
"Yes, it's a real good 150W transmitter.We got it on eBay from some
Pakistanis in Birmingham."
"How big is it?"
"It's a tiny thing, man. About as big as this, in a plastic box. We ain't
never looked inside." He indicated his electronic pad thingy (you know,
the one you have to sign). It was a very small pad thingy as they go,
smaller than a VHS tape. It didn't get warm.
In the end I said I'd have a look at the aerial if he wanted to bring it
round, though whether I want to be an accomplice of a pirate station I
don't know.
OK, now what was going on here? Was he pulling my leg about the charger?
I'm pretty sure he wasn't. He wasn't the sort of person for even slightly
sophisticated japes, and he seemed completely sincere. What sort of
transmitter had the Brummy Pakistanis sold him? I bet it was nearer 1.5W
than 150W.

Tell us if he comes along with a catalogue (made of strange metallic paper)
advertising parts for an interociter.

--
Max Demian

"Yeah well we charge it up all the time. We got a timer on the
transmitter but the charger -- it's a little one like you'd have for a
car -- is on all the time, so it keeps the battery charged up.

Possibly just hacked (sic) into local power line and connected to
bog-standard 12v or 24v charger? If it is really rural they may have
had to climb the nearest pole but not so very different from the tower
block roof tapped into the wrong side of the meter?

OTOH they may have something rather special from Klaatu

--
Robin

reply-to address is munged: delete the 2 obvious and invalid bits

"Max Demian" wrote in message

Tell us if he comes along with a catalogue (made of strange metallic
paper) advertising parts for an interociter.

Yeah, presumably he's using a AB-619 Bead condenser as his power source.

Or else he's been smoking one...

Jc.

In article ,
[email protected] says...

"Max Demian" wrote in message

Tell us if he comes along with a catalogue (made of strange metallic
paper) advertising parts for an interociter.

Yeah, presumably he's using a AB-619 Bead condenser as his power source.


Anyone found out what is in one of those things yet? I've tried a
diamond headed drill but it broke it and those things are darned
expensive...

Steve.

Robin wrote:

Possibly just hacked (sic) into local power line and connected to
bog-standard 12v or 24v charger? If it is really rural they may have
had to climb the nearest pole but not so very different from the tower
block roof tapped into the wrong side of the meter?


A couple of months ago the local Stevenage rag had an article about
pirate radio stations. They claimed that some aerials were being mounted
on the lighting clusters in the center of roundabouts. Stating that
someone climbed the pole, mounted the aerial and then tapped into the
power from a light. Now these poles are very very tall. You've got have
balls and dedication to climb that high and frigg around with the electrics.

G.

"Robin" wrote in message
. uk...
"Yeah well we charge it up all the time. We got a timer on the
transmitter but the charger -- it's a little one like you'd have for a
car -- is on all the time, so it keeps the battery charged up.

Possibly just hacked (sic) into local power line and connected to
bog-standard 12v or 24v charger? If it is really rural they may have had
to climb the nearest pole but not so very different from the tower block
roof tapped into the wrong side of the meter?

No, he explained it clearly. The charger ran from the inverter.

Bill

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...

"Robin" wrote in
message
. uk...
"Yeah well we charge it up all the time. We got a timer on the
transmitter but the charger -- it's a little one like you'd have for a
car -- is on all the time, so it keeps the battery charged up.

Possibly just hacked (sic) into local power line and connected to
bog-standard 12v or 24v charger? If it is really rural they may have
had
to climb the nearest pole but not so very different from the tower block
roof tapped into the wrong side of the meter?

No, he explained it clearly. The charger ran from the inverter.

Bill


So presumably he was suggesting that the inverter (powered by the battery)
was re-charging the same battrry that was powering the inverter? Is that
right Bill ?

Tony

On Sat, 7 Oct 2006 02:02:11 +0100, "Bill Wright"
wrote:

"Yeah well we charge it up all the time. We got a timer on the
transmitter but the charger -- it's a little one like you'd have for a
car -- is on all the time, so it keeps the battery charged up.

Possibly just hacked (sic) into local power line and connected to
bog-standard 12v or 24v charger? If it is really rural they may have had
to climb the nearest pole but not so very different from the tower block
roof tapped into the wrong side of the meter?

No, he explained it clearly. The charger ran from the inverter.

I've found that when people ask me to fix something, they sometimes
aren't very clear on the matter of whether the thing has been working
and gone faulty, or is something they've just bought or cobbled
together and has never worked. Maybe your visitor's pirate radio
station has not yet got any further past the planning stage than the
initial practical bit where it becomes apparent that perpetual motion
doesn't actually work, despite how convincing it might have seemed
during the initial discussions with his Brummie friends? It may then
have appeared perfectly logical to him that since he had done
everything else exactly according to instructions, the aerial must be
the cause of the problem....

Rod.

"Tony" wrote in message
...

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...

"Robin" wrote in
message
. uk...
"Yeah well we charge it up all the time. We got a timer on the
transmitter but the charger -- it's a little one like you'd have for a
car -- is on all the time, so it keeps the battery charged up.

Possibly just hacked (sic) into local power line and connected to
bog-standard 12v or 24v charger? If it is really rural they may have
had
to climb the nearest pole but not so very different from the tower
block
roof tapped into the wrong side of the meter?

No, he explained it clearly. The charger ran from the inverter.

Bill


So presumably he was suggesting that the inverter (powered by the battery)
was re-charging the same battrry that was powering the inverter? Is that
right Bill ?

That's exactly what he was saying, and I think he was sincere. I spent some
time suggesting ways that he could (hypothetically) steal electricity and I
could tell he wasn't really interested. He felt that there wasn't a problem
to solve.

Bill